From Exclusion to Enterprise: Lived Experiences of Disability Entrepreneurship in Egypt

Abstract

Despite growing recognition of entrepreneurship as a pathway toward economic inclusion, understanding of how persons with disabilities experience entrepreneurship beyond Western contexts remains limited. This study explored how persons with disabilities in Egypt make meaning of the supports and barriers they encounter in their entrepreneurial journeys. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Egyptian entrepreneurs with disabilities. Three interconnected themes emerged: transforming exclusion into entrepreneurial motivation, navigating compounded challenges as a “double burden,” and constructing alternative support ecosystems through disability communities and family networks. The findings illuminate how participants actively reframed structural exclusion as a basis for self-determined economic participation, drawing upon collectivist networks in ways that existing Western entrepreneurship literature has yet to adequately theorize. The study challenges deficit-based narratives of disability and individualistic models of entrepreneurship, underscoring the need for culturally grounded approaches that attend to Egypt’s informal economy, kinship structures, and collectivist values.