Empowering next generation: Women entrepreneurs, gender equality and social cohesion

Advancing gender equality, is critical for women’s empowerment, employment, and entrepreneurship, which contributes to overall economic growth and development and social cohesion (World Bank, 2022). To provide opportunities to help address gender disparities and promote social cohesion in the Arab region, this project proposes (1) provision of Arab-based immersive experiences and (2) an international symposium. Arab-based immersive experiences promote female entrepreneurship career opportunities and strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial capacity, by connecting aspiring entrepreneurial students from Australia, Oman, Cairo and Dubai, with women social and digital entrepreneurs in peer-to-peer learning, masterclasses, and mentoring. An international symposium comprising students, women social and digital entrepreneurs, scholars and other stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem will follow, to share, synthesize, and disseminate lessons learned and best practices. Thus, the project promotes a holistic and contemporary mutual understanding of opportunities for female entrepreneurs, gender equality and social cohesion among the project’s Australian and Arab stakeholders.