Women's entrepreneurship in the GCC: a systematic review and bibliometric analysis

Purpose Women's entrepreneurship in the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) countries has become a central pillar of regional economic development strategies. Arab women entrepreneurs are increasingly contributing to both national and global economies. However, despite the growing body of research in these countries, the field remains relatively underexplored. Design/methodology/approach To fill this gap, we conducted a systematic review and a bibliometric analysis of 262 academic articles published between 2003 and 2024, including early accepted 2025 papers. We used Scopus and Web of Science as complementary bibliographic databases to map the intellectual landscape of women's entrepreneurship research in the GCC. Findings The findings reveal that women's entrepreneurship is no longer analyzed solely from a gender perspective. It is instead integrated into broader theoretical frameworks and is often at the center of broader themes. In addition, the analysis shows complementarity between clusters emerging from keyword co-occurrence analysis and article co-citation analysis. This result reveals nuances and emerging perspectives in both types of analysis. From a social perspective, the study identifies institutional and ecosystem gaps, in some countries in particular, and provides evidence-based insights to create targeted public policies that move beyond symbolic gender inclusion toward structural empowerment. The study also highlights the growing recognition of women entrepreneurs as strategic economic actors in the GCC region, which represents a traditionally male-dominated context. Narratives around their economic participation is reshaped, supporting the national transformation agendas fostering diversification and inclusive growth. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by offering a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of women's entrepreneurship in the GCC region. By considering women's entrepreneurship both as a dependent and an independent variable, and drawing on clustering results, this study enhances our understanding of the field in a rapidly evolving region.