Probing into Taiwan’s Startup Ecosystem for Women’s Entrepreneurship

Abstract

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Taiwan’s aging population has led to concern over the continued viability of Taiwan’s economy for more than a decade. Meanwhile, the emergence of both digital and social innovation startups have begun to impact Taiwan’s industrial trajectories and economic development. The aim of this study is to delve into women’s entrepreneurship in Taiwan’s startup ecosystem as an increase in entrepreneurship yields better employment opportunities, higher government tax revenues, and improved personal incomes. This study employs a qualitative approach as a means to uncover the topic. Data were collected from a series of semi-structured interviews with eight women entrepreneurs and twelve other stakeholders from the startup communities. Taiwan is chosen as the context of this study because the Taiwanese government not merely see the women entrepreneurs as part of the solutions for Taiwan’s aging society, but also the turning point for the economy. For this purpose, this study applies the 5M framework, which includes facets such as money, management, market, meso and macro environment, and motherhood to unveil the low share of women’s entrepreneurs in Taiwan’s startup ecosystem. Findings revealed that the most discussed facets are management, money, and motherhood. But, motherhood contributes to the low share of women’s entrepreneurship in Taiwan. These findings have crucial implications for the Taiwanese Ministry of Labor on policies regarding to the leave application.