Current women’s economic empowerment interventions are not enough to overcome all obstacles facing female entrepreneurs. The emerging evidence from psychology and experimental economics on agency; mindset, and leadership show that for successful interventions to be transformative, they need to move beyond basic access to financial and human capital and also tackle central psychological, social, and skills constraints on women entrepreneurs. Emerging evidence from recent studies on different capital-based, training-based, and gender-based interventions using randomized control trials, present promising interventions to support women entrepreneurs.

To truly empower women, policymakers need to address constraints. As Andrea Cornwall—a leading anthropologist from the University of Sussex—proposes two elements of change: first, consciousness needs to be shifted—overturning internalized constraints and aspirational barriers that keep women in situations of subordination—and second, cultural beliefs about gender and power must be challenged.