Women’s Roles in Middle Eastern Family Businesses: Identity Construction Amid Structural Inequality

Neda Azad-Honari; Jahangir Yadollahi-Farsi; Abolghasem Arabiun

doi:10.24310/ejfb.15.1.2025.21902

Authors

Neda Azad-Honari Department of Entrepreneurship, kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Kish, Iran, Islamic Republic of https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1169-0025
Jahangir Yadollahi-Farsi Department of New Business Creation, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic of
Abolghasem Arabiun Department of technological Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic of https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6542-0933

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24310/ejfb.15.1.2025.21902

Keywords:

Women's role, Identity, Family business, Daughters

Agencies: No supporting agency

Abstract

This study explores the roles of women—specifically daughters—in family businesses in the Middle East, a context marked by pronounced structural gender inequality and limited scholarly attention. Drawing on identity theory and a multiple case study approach, we examine how daughters in 17 family firms construct and navigate their professional identities. Our analysis identifies 26 distinct roles, which cluster into six categories: (1) management and leadership, (2) transformative and innovative, (3) ownership and succession, (4) facilitative and social responsibility, (5) identity, continuity and sustainability, and (6) operational and executive roles. The findings reveal that daughters often adopt multiple, layered, and context-dependent identities, and must engage in continuous negotiation to attain visibility, influence, and authority within the family and firm. This study contributes to the literature on family business and identity by illuminating the complex role enactment and identity work of women in patriarchal settings.

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