Gender, Entrepreneurship, and Institutional Context: Filling the Research Gap on Female-Led High-Growth Ventures in Nigeria

This study empirically examines the institutional barriers and enabling conditions that determine whether female entrepreneurs in Nigeria are able to build high-growth ventures, addressing the critical research gap on the determinants of differential growth ambition and achievement between female-led and male-led enterprises in the Nigerian context. While extensive research documents women's dominance of Nigerian micro-enterprise activity, far less evidence exists on the specific institutional, social, and human capital factors that constrain or enable female entrepreneurial ambition to scale beyond the subsistence level. The study employs a comparative mixed-methods design, combining a survey of 200 female founders of growth-oriented enterprises across Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, and Kano with 20 in-depth interviews. Quantitative data examine the relationship between institutional access, human capital, and venture growth trajectory. Qualitative data explore the subjective experience of navigating institutional barriers. Regression analysis and thematic analysis were applied respectively. Findings indicate that access to formal finance, membership in mixed-gender professional business networks, and prior corporate employment experience are the strongest predictors of high-growth venture development among female entrepreneurs. Regulatory compliance costs impose disproportionate burdens on female-led enterprises, which are smaller on average. Qualitative data reveal persistent gender-based credibility deficits in interactions with investors and corporate clients that quantitative measures underestimate. The study argues that a female-specific entrepreneurial growth policy framework is needed in Nigeria. Keywords: female entrepreneurship, high-growth ventures, institutional barriers, Nigeria, gender and enterprise.