Empowering Change: Factors Influencing the Success of Women-Led Social Enterprise Projects in Pakistan

Purpose: Women entrepreneurs in Pakistan face cultural constraints, mobility, and a lack of access to resources. Whereas, women-led social enterprises projects are significant to communities’ development, there is little research on them especially the application of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) which is aimed at identifying what makes them successful in South Asia. This paper compares the role of creativity, access to finance, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and previous social engagement in the development and sustainability of women-led social business in Pakistan Design/Methodology: The analysis was conducted using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine direct and indirect relationships. Data was collected from 331 respondents using the entrepreneurial intention as a mediator and perceived social support as a moderator. Findings: These findings indicate that financial availability and social activism play crucial business roles in enterprise success, and high entrepreneurial self-efficacy could provoke cultural opposition, decreasing performance. It was not creativity that had direct effect. Entrepreneurial intention was found to be a powerful mediator variable, but social support did not have any significant moderator role. Originality: The paper presents the SCT-oriented model to suit patriarchal settings and provides practical recommendations in designing gender-sensitive training, financing schemes, and support systems. Future studies will do research on the impacts of lasting and compare other similar environments in South Asia.