Abstract
Women’s entrepreneurship is often framed as a pathway to economic empowerment, yet its oppressive dimensions in patriarchal societies remain underexplored. This study critiques the dominant market-based, individualist approach that overlooks systemic gender constraints. While entrepreneurship can offer economic opportunities, it frequently reinforces traditional gender roles, limiting women’s autonomy. In many cultural and religious contexts, women’s participation in entrepreneurship is not always a choice but rather a necessity imposed by socio-cultural norms, restricting access to mainstream employment and reinforcing subjugation. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this study examines the experiences of 38 Nigerian women entrepreneurs, revealing the intersection of patriarchy, social reproduction, and neoliberal economic ideologies in shaping their entrepreneurial journeys. The findings illustrate how entrepreneurship often functions as an extension of domestic responsibilities rather than a genuine path to empowerment. Many women are compelled into business within family structures, where their roles remain undervalued, and their agency constrained. This paper argues that entrepreneurship, rather than serving as a liberating force, can perpetuate systemic gender inequalities by masking structural oppression under the guise of economic participation. By shifting the focus from entrepreneurship as an inherently positive economic activity to its role in reinforcing patriarchal norms, this study contributes to critical feminist scholarship on gender, work, and economic autonomy. The research challenges mainstream narratives of women’s entrepreneurship and calls for a more nuanced understanding of its implications within patriarchal societies.