Transforming futures: women social entrepreneurs in Uganda in a digital age

Digital social entrepreneurship in Uganda exposes blind spots in mainstream entrepreneurship theory, which assumes neutral ecosystems and universal resource access. This study shows that women social entrepreneurs in Kampala operate within gendered, resource scarce, and digitally uneven environments that conventional models cannot explain. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the analysis reveals how women leverage digital tools to counter resource scarcity, assert mission driven legitimacy, and resist structural biases that penalise both their gender and their non profit maximising ventures. Integrating Dees’ mission driven entrepreneurship with Brush et al.’s gendered ecosystem theory, the study advances the Gendered Digital Agency Framework to explain entrepreneurial agency in constrained environments.