How women in the UAE enact entrepreneurial identities to build legitimacy

This article examines how women enact an entrepreneurial identity as a means to secure legitimacy for their activity. Using netnographic analysis of media interviews with in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we identify construct identity. Findings indicate that highlight micro aspects identity, provide both personal and external sources evidence substantiate claims, adhere potentially conflicting institutional logics. The findings contribute knowledge entrepreneurship is legitimised can disrupt arrangements constrain women. We gendered novel contextual view, adding theoretical depth contemporary conceptualisations legitimacy.