Acknowledging alternative perceptions of success among internally displaced Palestinian women entrepreneurs: An intersectional perspective

This study addresses the misrepresentation of women entrepreneurs in scientific research as underperformers based on objective, financial measures in defining success. The aim is to understand how perceptions of entrepreneurial success are shaped with heed to contextual considerations of the lives of internally displaced people (IDPs) by looking at Palestinian women entrepreneurs running businesses in the West Bank region of the Palestinian Territories. To this end, the subjective nature of success is demonstrated with reference to the critical realist positional approach to intersectionality, emphasising how success is shaped by:
(i) overlapping identity categorizations of gender, ethnicity, and social class
(intersectionality); (ii) historical and contemporary influence of patriarchy and military occupation (temporal positionality); (iii) city or refugee camp as business location (spatial positionality); and (iv) how disadvantage and privilege are perceived in light of their circumstances (transfactuality). The results of this study emerging from data collected from a sample of IDP Palestinian women entrepreneurs encourages policy-makers and financial institutions to acknowledge and appreciate alternative non-financial measures of success
influencing decisions to support IDP Palestinian women entrepreneurs who can make a significant impact on the well-being of their society without having an outstandingly financial success.