Toward recognizing characteristics of women’s entrepreneurial intelligence: a comparative study

Purpose Recognizing women’s potential and directing their talents to realize these potentials can be of great benefit. Accordingly, this paper aims to identify the characteristics of entrepreneurial intelligence in female entrepreneurs, drawing on a national-level study and the international literature on this topic. Design/methodology/approach The present paper conducted two studies. First, 15 female entrepreneurs in the Guilan province of Iran, who were selected using purposive sampling, were interviewed to identify the characteristics of entrepreneurial intelligence nationally. The data gathered by interviews were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Then, their validity was tested using qualitative validation and analyzed using Shannon entropy. In the second study, the characteristics of female entrepreneurial intelligence were identified through a qualitative metasynthesis. The results of the two studies were compared together. Findings This categorized entrepreneurial intelligence into six categories, namely, entrepreneurial insights, cognitive intelligence, social intelligence, intuitive intelligence, presumptuous intelligence and provocative intelligence. Ultimately the characteristics of women’s entrepreneurial intelligence in each category were compared according to the national-level study and the international literature. Originality/value This study has the potential to discover credible and robust approaches for further examining the contextualization of women’s entrepreneurial intelligence at both national and international levels, thereby advancing new insights. By conceptualizing various dimensions of entrepreneurial intelligence for the first time and exploring how contextual factors differ across nations and internationally for women’s entrepreneurship, this paper challenges the assumption that the characteristics of women’s entrepreneurial intelligence are uniform across the world.