Entrepreneurship is recognized as critical to economic development and sustainability worldwide (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2014). As small businesses are vital for economic progression of any developing country, the contribution of female entrepreneurs to this sector assumes great significance. Women all over the world have managed small-scale projects successfully. However, regardless of an upturn in the number of female entrepreneurs in recent years, entrepreneurial movement among males is greater, and noteworthy differences are evident across national settings (Shinnar et al., 2012). The gendered nature of entrepreneurship has become a topical research area (Cochrane, 2015) and represents a legitimate research practice (Marlow and McAdam, 2012). The prominence of national context is important in entrepreneurship (Bruin et al., 2007) as different socio– cultural and institutional contexts affect female entrepreneurial commotion because of their differing roles ascribed to them (Venugopal, 2016). According to (Maier, 2013), females constitute 77 per cent of the university students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With an increasing number of female graduates and a proliferation of Western business practices, male-dominated environment and national policies evolve to accommodate Emirati women’s interest in entrepreneurial endeavors (Madichie and Gallant, 2012). This has created a cultural shift by promoting the rights of females with regard to business ownership and management (Pervan et al., 2015). UAE females contribute about US $3.6bn to the country’s economy and over 80 per cent of this contribution comes from femaleowned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (Al-Ansari et al., 2013). UAE is ranked 19th out of 132 countries and has the highest score (61.4) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region in terms of favorable conditions for female entrepreneurs (Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute, 2016). Although Emirati females account for 49 per cent of the UAE Emirati population, their entrepreneurial participation is lower than males. Emirati males are 30 per cent more likely than their female counterparts to be early stage entrepreneurs. In addition, the rate of early stage female entrepreneurs is 7.6 per cent, compared to their male counterparts 11.8 per cent (El-Sokari et al., 2013).