The relevance of the problem of women’s entrepreneurship is caused by the need to level the existing gender gap in the field of entrepreneurial activity, which can
become a significant source of sustainable economic growth. Based on an analysis of existing research on the problem, the article shows the process of understanding women’s entrepreneurship and provides an overview of assessments of its current state. The main goal is to discover general patterns and distinctive features of the development of women’s entrepreneurship in Russia. At the same time, attention is focused on three main issues: identifying the motivational factors that encourage women to enter business, the barriers that prevent this, as well as policies that can contribute to the development of women’s entrepreneurship. Based on an analysis of the results obtained by researchers in Russia and abroad, the author comes to the conclusion that women’s participation in business is determined by the same motivational factors in all
countries. The difference lies only in their different ratios. In high-income countries, factors of voluntary entrepreneurship dominate; in low-income countries, forced entrepreneurship dominates. Equally similar are the obstacles women face in the process of creating and developing their businesses. The only significant difference is that women entrepreneurs in Russia face a support system that is not only less developed, but also suffers from the presence of gender stereotypes. It is concluded that it is precisely these circumstances that hinder the active transition to entrepreneurship of Russian women, who theoretically have greater psychological readiness to engage in entrepreneurial activity. The practical significance of the study lies in highlighting those problems that limit the development of women’s business in Russia, as well as in identifying omissions in the policy of supporting it.
