The double-edged sword effect of women-only business networks

Purpose Entrepreneurial ecosystems are crucial for fostering entrepreneurial activity, with business networks playing a key role in socially embedding entrepreneurs (Jack and Anderson, 2002; Wigren-Kristoferson et al., 2022). However, gendered dynamics often disadvantage women entrepreneurs in this process (Murnieks et al., 2020; Brush et al., 2019; Mcadam et al., 2019). To address these disparities, women-only business networks have emerged, aiming to enhance gender capital and legitimacy (Mcadam et al., 2019). While beneficial, these networks may limit access to broader ecosystem networks and affect symbolic capital negatively (Harrison et al., 2020; Marlow and Martinez Dy, 2018). This paper examines which mechanisms shape women entrepreneurs’ decisions regarding business network engagement and their access to resources. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a qualitative approach combining a resource generator with semi-structured interviews with 45 women entrepreneurs who are members of mixed-gender or women-only business networks via purposeful sampling in 2022 and 2023. We used two analysing methods. First, we performed quantitative descriptive analysis on the qualitative resource generator using NodeXL to understand the utilisation of different resources. Second, we qualitatively analysed all interview transcripts using MaxQda software. Findings The empirical findings illuminate how women entrepreneurs actively select, shape, and adapt their engagement with both women-only and mixed-gender networks. In addition, the findings demonstrate that women entrepreneurs’ decisions regarding membership-based business network engagement are shaped by the mechanisms network consciousness, gendered encounters, and time constraints, which collectively influence their utilisation of resources. Originality/value This study contributes to the gender and entrepreneurship literature in three ways. First, it empirically refines the concept of network consciousness by linking women entrepreneurs’ awareness of network value with their strategic engagement and resource enactment. Second, it reframes time constraints not merely as structural barriers but as strategic filters shaping selective and purposeful network participation. Third, it offers a situated understanding of gendered encounters, showing how women interpret and respond to inclusion and exclusion in both women-only and mixed-gender business networks. Together, these contributions foreground the dynamic and agentic ways in which women entrepreneurs navigate and curate business networks to access and mobilise resources.