Gender paradoxes and social innovation in the context of refugee entrepreneurship

Abstract

This chapter examines the experiences of Syrian Refugee Women Entrepreneurs (SRWE) in Jordan between 2019–2021 in ways that highlight the significant challenges and tensions faced across personal, family, and business domains. Using Paradox Theory, gender paradoxes experienced by SRWE are examined. The study reveals that SRWE employ adaptive management processes to navigate these tensions, demonstrating entrepreneurial agency to transform social structures and achieve upward social mobility. The chapter underscores the importance of home-based entrepreneurship in providing SRWE with opportunities for personal, familial, and economic revival, thereby enhancing their own social and economic standing and contributing to broader social innovations and societal transformations, by challenging entrenched gender norms to advance gender equality (SDG 5), while also reducing wider ranging inequalities (SDG 10). SRWE's efforts intersect with global development and social innovation agendas, fostering inclusive and equitable growth for displaced women and their communities, thereby advancing global development agendas.