http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/57 2026-04-29T13:15:37Z http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4831 Women as Social Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh: An Exploratory Study Tabassum, Tahsina By considering the rising notion of social entrepreneurship, the study intends to contribute to this novel phenomenon by exploring the lived experiences of women social entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. This study aims to sketch an experiential understanding of women social entrepreneurs' thoughts of devotion to addressing social entrepreneurship, which is embedded with social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The study adopted a phenomenological approach to advance methodological understanding, capturing in-depth interviews with nine diverse women social entrepreneurs. It tried to uncover the experiential structure that shapes their journeys to make them sustainable. The protocol analysis method has been adopted to engage with the noetic process that is designed to reveal noematic elements. These noematic elements include 'aggregate essences' along with essences. The first aggregate essence, named 'drives', including essences such as personal, entrepreneurial, and societal drives, reflects their pursuit of social entrepreneurship. The second aggregate essence highlighted as 'challenges' the women social entrepreneurs have encountered so far, which include essences such as gender discrimination, remote regions, workforce complexity, negative perception, inadequate preparation, and poor networking. Moreover, the third aggregate essence is termed 'opportunities', which clarifies how women social entrepreneurs capitalize on empowerment, financial stability, and positive transformation issues. Finally, the analysis uncovered the fourth aggregate essence - 'strategies' they deployed, such as building entrepreneurial capability, social values, proposing rewards, providing empowerment opportunities, promoting networking ability, and focusing on sustainable business models as essences that guide their paths to become sustainable social entrepreneurs. By considering the rising trend of social entrepreneurship, the study seeks to understand how women as social entrepreneurs shape the dynamics of this novel phenomenon. With an emphasis on the lived experiences of women social entrepreneurs, the study aims to contribute fresh insights to the existing body of knowledge on social entrepreneurship. The study aims to identify the driving forces in their respective social entrepreneurial fields that certainly foster the country’s sustainable development. In pertinence, this study highlights actionable strategies and illuminates practical mechanisms for negotiating with crucial challenges and ensuring future sustainability. Ultimately, the study serves as a guide for inspiring and supporting other women who aspire to become sustainable social entrepreneurs in the near future. xviii The study limited its scope by offering a nuanced, context-specific perspective on women social entrepreneurs. Future research projects could overcome this restriction and uncover a broader range of experiences by including both men and women covering developed and developing countries. However, this study urges the concerned authorities, including policymakers and governmental bodies, to provide appropriate attention, guidelines, and support (policy-related, technical, financial, and infrastructural) to encourage participatory contributions and mitigate challenges faced by women social entrepreneurs. This study put forth further investigations emphasizing innovative strategies and sustainable business models driven by social entrepreneurs. This thesis is submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy. 2026-04-21T00:00:00Z http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4827 Learning Experiences and Social Capital in Social Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh Sabet, Nazra Mahjabeen This doctoral research presents a qualitative phenomenological investigation into the lived experiences of social entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, with a focus on how learning experiences (LE) and social capital (SC) shape their social entrepreneurship development (SED) within volatile socio-economic, political, and cultural contexts. Drawing on Verbal Protocol Analysis (VPA), unstructured “think-aloud” interviews were conducted with five nationally recognized social entrepreneurs. The narratives were transcribed verbatim and analyzed through phenomenological reduction, bracketing researcher bias to allow the essences of social entrepreneurship development (SED) to emerge authentically. Through this process, distinct essences of SED were identified, each linked to noematic shapers—classified as either learning experiences (LE) or social capital (SC)—mapping the noetic processes of conscious learning, intentional action, and reflective adaptation. Findings demonstrate that LE and SC function in a dynamic, interdependent relationship rather than as discrete categories. Social capital—embodying networks, trust, knowledge flows, and resource access—interacts continuously with learning experiences to foster resilience, strategic adaptability, and innovation. This interplay enables social entrepreneurs to transform systemic constraints into opportunities for impact and sustainability, thereby advancing inclusive solutions to pressing social challenges. The study contributes a novel phenomenological framework that decodes the interwoven dimensions of social entrepreneurial experience in resource-constrained environments. By centering intentional consciousness and contextual interplay, it extends theoretical understanding of social entrepreneurship while offering practical insights for strengthening ecosystem support in emerging economies. In doing so, the thesis underscores how social entrepreneurship is not a linear trajectory but an iterative process of learning, trust-building, and adaptive practice sustained amid uncertainty This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 2026-04-20T00:00:00Z http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4695 Glass Ceiling and Career Advancement of Women Executives in Readymade Garment Industry of Bangladesh Sharmin, Kanta This dissertation delves into the pervasive phenomenon of glass ceiling within Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garments (RMG) industry, analysing complex amalgamation of societal, organizational, and personal factors that hinder women’s ascent to senior managerial and decision-making roles. The research examines existence of glass ceiling and factors contributing to the same. This research primarily adopted the “Gendered Organization Theory” to classify different factors that may affect women’s career advancement in an organization hierarchy. This study selected post-positivism research philosophy due to its ability to combine the empirical rigor of positivism with an understanding of the complexities inherent in social sciences, employing a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative technique. By this design data were collected from in-depth interviews of 13 female executives and survey of 108 female respondents from the RMG industry. For the qualitative aspect of the study, a purposive sampling technique was employed to select participants for the interviews. For quantitative analysis, convenience sampling techniques has been used. To ensure diversity and depth in the sample, efforts were made to include participants from various levels of seniority, job roles, and years of experience. Thematic analysis was conducted with data extracted through interviews using NVivo 14. Survey data was analysed through structural equation modelling (SEM) using SmartPLS (Partial Least Squares) version 4 to test 17 hypotheses consisting independent variables and two mediating variables. This dual perspective methodology enriches the findings and presents a comprehensive picture of glass ceiling’s impact on women’s professional advancement in RMG industry. The qualitative exploration exposes clear evidence of existence of glass ceiling. The quantitative analysis further validates the findings and confirms profound influence of organizational and social factors hindering upward mobility of women in corporate ladder and creating glass ceiling. One hand, societal norms and traditional gender roles often place constraints on women’s participation in workforce. Other hand, organization’s hiring and promotion policies, work culture and gender-based work segregation obstructs progress of female executives in career growth. The key contribution of this research is the identification of two previously unexplored factors—risk aptitude and work engagement—having mediating effect to the dynamics of glass ceiling. This research calls for a comprehensive approach, challenging social stereotypes, promoting inclusive work cultures and policy interventions to create equitable pathways for women’s career advancement. This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 2025-07-08T00:00:00Z http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/3603 SDG 4 and Quality of Secondary Business Education in Bangladesh Faruque Sarker, Mohammad Education is the key to scientific and technological development, employment generation, and economic advancement (Chimombo, 2005). Quality education is the center stage of Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG 4) and is supported by a general commitment to ensuring inclusiveness, equitability, and sustainability (Saini et al., 2022). SDG 4 is a foundational goal that has an enabler role in realizing most of the other SDGs. Seven SDGs (3, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, and 17) are directly related to SDG 4 (Lawrence, 2020). This study aims to conceptualize the quality of secondary business education from the perspective of SDG 4, to identify the critical dimensions of quality in secondary business education, and to develop a framework model for the quality of secondary business education based on SDG 4. This study has employed a cross-sectional sample survey. Teachers and students in secondary high schools, both government and non-government, have formed the universe. The sample for the study has been determined systematically through a multi-stage cluster sampling method for collecting data. Quantitative data were collected through a validated questionnaire, and the secondary high school teachers and students from the business studies group and head teachers were the respondents of this research from schools of four grades- A, B, C, and D of the different types of Upazilas. This study has developed a model for evaluating quality in secondary business education based on SDG 4. 11 hypotheses and two mediating variables were proposed in that research model. Data collected from different respondents focusing on the dimensions of quality education have been analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Microsoft Excel, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, as well as Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique- Smart PLS 4 (Version 4.0.8.9) software (Ringle et al., 2022), have been used to analyze the data and research model. Two types of validity- ‘Convergent validity’ and ‘Discriminant validity’- were examined to assess the measurement model. The proposed hypotheses were tested using the SEM technique to examine the structural model. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the model is significant because most of the hypotheses are accepted. The mediating effect of the two variables – ‘Quality of students’ and ‘Quality of Teachers’ has also been found. Based on demographic data (Gender), one xvii control variable is created in the structural model and tested using the bootstrapping method. No significant gender effect on the quality of secondary business education was found. The study also conducted an ANOVA test to examine the multigroup effects and found substantial effects on the quality of secondary business education. This model established some influential dimensions and subdimensions to evaluate the quality of secondary business education. Moreover, it is straightforward to examine the relationship among the different factors or dimensions identified in the model through the result of path coefficients. Through the lens of SDG 4, this study has developed three emerging antecedents of quality education: inclusive education, equitable education, and lifelong learning. Thus, this study has filled a gap in the body of research on the quality of secondary business education. Additionally, this research has practical implications as it has developed and empirically tested the model within the framework of secondary business education. At the policy level, this research will provide necessary data to educationists, lawmakers, and secondary education administrators. As a future research direction, this study suggests further research on the quality of secondary business education for cross-cultural comparisons of different countries' developmental stages, especially between developing and developed countries. This study also recommended that future research on the efficacy of technology-driven education might be carried out to ensure safe, effective, and sustainable technology in the classroom. A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 2025-02-10T00:00:00Z