Barriers Without Borders: Women's Entrepreneurship in Central Asia and Central-Eastern Europe.

This thesis analyzes and compares the main barriers facing women entrepreneurs in Central Asia and Central-Eastern Europe, focusing on Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Lithuania, and Poland. Using a comparative approach, the study examines how socio-economic, cultural, institutional, and financial factors create obstacles for women in entrepreneurship. The research highlights the gap between formal legal equality and the informal barriers women face in practice. Including limited access to finance, sociocultural pressuers, and weak institutional support. The findings reveal that while formal support mechanisms exist in all four countries, structural and informal barriers persist, suggesting a need for more targeted and accessible implementation of existing policies.