The Effect of Empowerment and Resilience on the Entrepreneurial Success of Rural Women in Sistan Region

Rural women’s small businesses make huge contributions to the rural development. However, success and survival of these businesses has been a concern. Hence, it is critical to understand the factors influencing success of rural women’s small businesses. The present study examined whether two psychological sources, namely entrepreneurial resilience and empowerment were positively related to the entrepreneurial success of rural women. The statistical population of the study included all rural women entrepreneurs in Sistan region, Iran  (N = 1546). Then, 250 people were selected as the sample using a non-probability convenience sampling procedure. The research instrument was a questionnaire, which its face validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was confirmed by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α > 0.74). The results of structural equation modeling showed that entrepreneurial resilience and empowerment were positively and significantly related to the entrepreneurial success of rural women. The results also indicated that empowerment was indirectly related to the entrepreneurial success of rural women through the resilience. Therefore, it is suggested that rural women entrepreneurs’ psychological resources, especially resilience and empowerment be strengthened and developed in order to improve the level of their entrepreneurial success.