Yaser Mohammadi, Freshteh Avatefi Akmal,
Volume 14, Issue 52 (9-2025)
Abstract
Objective: In recent decades, the issue of empowering rural women has attracted significant attention from rural development planners. One of the factors that plays a crucial role in this process is the establishment and expansion of microenterprises. The present study was conducted with the aim of examining the impact of creating and developing microenterprises on the empowerment of rural women.
Methods: This study employed meta-analysis as a statistical and systematic method for synthesizing the findings of previous research in the field under investigation. The statistical population consisted of accessible studies addressing the relationship between microenterprises and rural women’s empowerment, published in scientific databases (Sid, Ensani, Noormags, Magiran, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Scopus) during the years 2000–2024. In total, 720 studies were identified, of which 30 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were analyzed using CMA2 software. Based on the results of heterogeneity tests (Q index and I² statistic), a random-effects model was selected. Furthermore, to map the research network and identify frequently occurring concepts in this domain, VOSviewer software was used. For this purpose, research keywords were searched in international databases, and the extracted data from selected articles were stored in CSV format and imported into VOSviewer. Domestic sources were searched separately, and the relevant articles were manually entered into the software. Subsequently, scientometric indicators were analyzed using this tool.
Results: The results of the thematic network analysis using VOSviewer revealed co-occurrence between rural women’s empowerment and topics such as entrepreneurship, microcredit, and income. According to Begg and Mazumdar’s correlation test, the included studies demonstrated relative symmetry, confirming the absence of publication bias in the present research. The combined effect size was calculated at 0.453, which, based on Cohen’s criteria, indicates a moderate impact of microenterprise development on the empowerment of rural women.
Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate that the establishment and expansion of microenterprises have a significant and positive effect on the empowerment of rural women. Therefore, strengthening rural women’s businesses can serve as a key driver of empowerment, a process that requires supportive systems and institutional backing.
