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

Figueiredo et al., 2023; Gergess, 2021). They are privileged compared to other higher education graduates who are heavily affected by unemployment (Maamar, 2011; Kante, 2020). The diploma thus becomes a lever for creating one's own job. Family support is mainly provided by spouses and parents, who have supported them in their higher education and are planning projects for social advancement. Women entrepreneurs also benefit from family help with childcare and household chores (Ben Makhlouf, 2019; Mohammed, 2019; MEYABE et al., 2022). They also benefit from a degree of involvement from their spouses. In this respect, Allali (2008) and Ascher (2012) argue that even though the values of solidarity and mutual help within the family provide these women with a great deal of support, the need to conform to a standard of investment in family life plays a part in the trade-offs they make with regard to the development of their business. Family relationships are just as critical to this development. In Tunisia, social capital is linked to the family environment (Belhaj, 2005; Hamdouch, Berrada and Mahmoudi, 2006), since Tunisian women entrepreneurs build up their customer base through personal and family contacts. Their leadership style is directive, but also paternalistic (Berabez and Beztout, 2022). We deduce from this that our second hypothesis has been confirmed. Women entrepreneurs encounter more difficulties linked to their status as women in the professional world (Hobad et al., 2023). Most of them have worked as employees and their desire to set up a business is a response to the frustration they felt in those jobs. For Le Loarne-Lemaire (2013) and Werbel and Danes (2010), this is another example of the importance of the spouse, who is often involved in financing the business at start-up, and who also acts as an advisor for the management and growth of the business. The family and social environment is necessary to identify business partners and market opportunities, to approach new customers and to be recommended (ABOUSAID, 2023; Hossain et al., 2023; Mohammed, 2020). In the literature, women entrepreneurs have a relational leadership style, which favours the satisfaction of their colleagues and a warm and familiar climate (St- Pierre, Nomo and Pilaeva, 2011; Vier-Machado and Rouleau, 2002; Félix and Zammar, 2021). However, in Tunisia, women entrepreneurs have a very directive and authoritarian management style, which corresponds to the leadership style in the country's companies (Allali, 2008; Bourqia, 2010; Doubogan, 2019). Several female entrepreneurs spoke of resistance from their employees, for whom female authority is not always accepted (Hamdi and Hamdi, 2021). Women entrepreneurs feel excluded from networks, which are often organised for men, even though some attend chambers of commerce and industry. Balancing work and family leaves little time for networking. In addition, the lack of access to the public space where most business relationships take place is a major brake on business growth. Most women entrepreneurs prefer not to turn to banks, in order to maintain their autonomy (Cornet and Constantinidis, 2004), and rely on their savings and family to find the funds they need to start up. From this we can deduce that our third hypothesis is also confirmed. The lack of training and qualifications excludes women cooperators from the labour market (Filali and Rioux, 2010; Kante, 2020: Florent Tasso, 2021). They are often very poor, with no start-up capital, and their only asset is know-how that is passed down from family to family. The family context is more complex (Hqieq, 2006; Dargis, 2021). These women receive no financial support from their parents or spouses. The only family support very often comes from the eldest daughter, who looks after the brothers and sisters and the meals (Mouaqit, 2003). These eldest daughters are then penalised because they leave school very early. These cooperative networks are characterised by solidarity between the women grouped together to ensure their survival and that of their families, and to escape poverty. Some use microcredit to finance their business (Alaoui and Boulahbach, 2014). As far as customers are concerned, women cooperators feel that they are not taken seriously because of their lack of training and experience (Bates, 2002; Kante, 2020; Ben Makhlouf, 2019; Hossain et al., 2023). Women in cooperatives suffer from a triple oppression. They are women, they are poor and they live in rural areas (Avnimelech, 2023; Oukaci et al., 2019). Although these women are proud to have been able to launch a business that will enable them to ensure their family's survival, they regret the lack of government support to help them out of their precarious situation, and the difficulties they encounter in dealing with administrative formalities, due to their illiteracy and low level of education. V. C onclusion All the efforts made by the State, NGOs and civil society have led to the creation of women's federations bringing together different categories of female entrepreneurs. So, endowed with technical, commercial, managerial and personal skills, Tunisian women are part of a dynamic to create women entrepreneurs likely to motivate their peers and encourage them to set up businesses. Like most developing countries, Tunisia is aware that gender inequality is harmful to society as a whole and is holding back development. It aims to give Challenges and Prospects for Women Entrepreneurs in Tunisia Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) XXIII Issue IX Version I Year 2023 48 © 2023 Global Journals