Global Journal of Management and Business Research, A: Administration and Management, Volume 23 Issue 9

women is 5958,000, or 50.4% of the total population, compared with 49.6%, or 5861,000. In Tunisia, women account for 67% of higher education graduates, but only 24.6% of them are employed. In fact, unemployment affects women twice as much as men (22.5% compared with 12.4%). This disparity is even greater in the interior of the country: Gabès, Kasserine, Jendouba, Kébili, Gafsa and Tataouine, where the female unemployment rate has reached 35%. Notwithstanding these academic results, the rate of integration into economic life is very low. The lack of recruitment in the public sector, where women account for 39% of the workforce, is thought to partly explain this situation, as is the absence of quality support systems for mothers, who are unable to reconcile work and family. In any case, these inequalities are holding back the country's economic development by depriving it of some of its vital forces. Tunisia's performance in relation to other countries in the MENA region is only apparent. In fact, the trend is alarming and the gains made are fragile. The lack of equal economic rights penalises women, who are at a disadvantage when it comes to access to credit and land ownership. According to the World Economic Forum on Gender Inequality (2020), less than 3% of Tunisian companies have a female majority. If we add the provisions of the inheritance code, which stipulates that women inherit only half of the man's share, we understand why women's economic rights are blocked. Historically, since independence, women have entered the labour market by moving from the domestic to the public sphere. According to Zirari (2006), women initially opted to work from home and chose traditional trades such as embroidery, sewing, weaving and subsistence farming. With the acceleration in the urbanisation and schooling of girls, women have entered the labour market outside the family (Bihas, Cherif and Jammari, 1995), entering fields such as textiles and retailing (Barkallil, 2005), and subsequently becoming consul- tants, engineers, lawyers, doctors, etc. (Assaad, 2009; Gray, Foster and Howard, 2006). According to Paterno, Gabrielli and D'Addato (2008) and Avnimelech (2023), the traditional division of family roles explains the low activity rate of women, who give priority to family life. Naciri (2002), Soudi (2002) and Cullen (2023) add that salaried women have limited access to positions of responsibility, lower pay and little trade union involvement. Many of them work in the informal sector (Mejjati, 2006; Paterno, Gabrielli and D'Addato, 2008; Beijing National Report, 2015; Bobek et al., 2023), particularly in rural areas (Benradi, 2012; Sarr and Fall, 2021). According to the World Bank (2005) and the OECD (2004), in many developing countries, entrepreneurship is an alternative to unemployment, temporary work, social exclusion or discrimination in the workplace. The World Bank (2005), Paterno, Gabrielli and D'Addato (2008) and Stossier (2023) add that it is a form of survival to meet the daily needs of their families. c) The Family Context In Tunisia, women are recognised as having a traditional role within the family, managing the home and bringing up children. Patriarchal culture still prevails. Decisions are taken solely by the man in the majority of cases (60.7%), or jointly in 31.9% of cases, and more rarely by the woman alone (Benradi, 2007). Harrami (2005) adds that the father is at the top of the family hierarchy and the wife acts in a complementary capacity. Nevertheless, the rate of women's participation in decision-making is higher for older women, women with several children, divorced, separated or widowed women and women with a high level of education. According to Zirari (2006): "when women have paid work outside the home, they enjoy more power and a better status within the household, enabling them to negotiate more egalitarian relationships". d) Professional Context Small family businesses were the first women's businesses in Tunisia. They generally produced craft products, which, according to Mejjati (2001), enabled them to reconcile their domestic and professional activities. Thus, women in Tunisia target areas that do not require specific training, require little investment and involve low risk (Barkallil, 2005; Mejjati, 2006). Although Tunisian women entrepreneurs can call on various entrepreneurship support organisations to assist them, they still encounter obstacles such as cumbersome administrative procedures and access to finance (World Bank, 2012), and are generally subject to systematic discrimination as women by customers, suppliers, banking institutions and general support and advice services (Boussetta, 2011). e) The Institutional Context It should be noted that Tunisia has chosen the market economy as its model, resulting in a fairly high level of private sector participation in the economy. Tunisia is a low- to middle-income country, with a population of around 12 million. According to the World Bank, the average monthly per capita income is $278, or $3,340 per capita per year. According to an INS survey 4 4 National Institute of Statistics , the informal sector weighs heavily on the Tunisian economy, employing 1, 598,000 people compared with 1,976,000 working in the formal sector. This sector accounts for 44.8% of jobs in Tunisia. According to the same source, the agriculture and fishing sector is the most affected by the informal sector, with 85.6% of employees not being declared, followed by the building sector with 69.2% and the trade sector with 64.7%. Challenges and Prospects for Women Entrepreneurs in Tunisia Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) XXIII Issue IX Version I Year 2023 42 © 2023 Global Journals