http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/7 Sun, 03 May 2026 12:23:05 GMT 2026-05-03T12:23:05Z 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. Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4831 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. Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4827 2026-04-20T00:00:00Z http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4824 SKILL GAP ANALYSIS OF THE MIGRANT WORKERS OF BANGLADESH Islam, Md Shahedul Bangladesh, the eighth most populous and most densely populated country in the world, faces severe challenges as its population exceeds the available land and resources. This imbalance has resulted in widespread unemployment and underemployment, placing immense pressure on the economy, social safety nets, basic human needs, and the Human Development Index (HDI). In response, large-scale migration for employment began in the 1970s, primarily toward Middle Eastern countries. Today, overseas employment has become a critical driver of foreign currency earnings, contributing approximately 27 billion United States dollars (USD) in 2024, or 5.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This trend is expected to accelerate. However, the overseas employment sector has long faced numerous challenges, exacerbated by the rapid rise of automation and digitalization in the era of Industry 4.0, as a large proportion of Bangladeshi migrant workers remain unskilled and less educated. Skilled workers earn significantly more than unskilled workers, enjoy greater job security, and benefit from improved working and living conditions. This study explores the critical skill development needs in the service sector of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for skilled and semi-skilled jobs, identifying both the skill needs and skill gaps among Bangladeshi workers. The research employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative data from 12 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with quantitative analysis based on surveys of 100 employers and 408 workers. Grounded in Human Capital Theory, which asserts that investments in skills directly improve productivity and earning potential, the study followed a systematic analytical process involving reliability tests (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.944), sample adequacy tests (KMO = 0.911), and correlation and regression analysis (R = 0.940; R² = 0.883). The findings reveal significant skill gaps among Bangladeshi workers, including lack of experience, inadequate educational backgrounds, absence of professional technical skills, poor language proficiency, and deficient communication skills. Statistical analysis shows that technical training (Beta = 0.684, p = 0.000) and work experience (Beta = 0.224, p = 0.000) are strong predictors of higher earnings. English-speaking and writing proficiency, educational qualifications, ICT skills, manners and etiquette, cultural awareness, and basic knowledge of legal aspects were also found to influence wage earnings. 8 To develop the aforementioned skills among Bangladeshi workers, the study recommends strengthening the vocational and technical education system, improving ICT skills, enhancing language proficiency, and developing soft skills such as communication, manners and etiquette, and cultural adaptability. Furthermore, the study advocates for the establishment of a standardized national certification system aligned with GCC market requirements. These measures are expected to improve the skill levels of Bangladeshi workers, ultimately enhancing the employability and earning potential of Bangladeshi migrant workers. This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4824 2026-04-19T00:00:00Z http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4823 Transmission Mechanism of Monetary Policy: The Effect on Bank Competition Abedin, Sultana Shahida The changes in monetary policy affects the channel of bank lending directly as by the change of interest rate banks are given the signal of lowering the flow of loanable funds to the prospective borrowers if the interest rate is set higher by the policy makers. Some recent studies have confirmed that in the economy where banks are competitive with each other, the lending channel has comparatively minor adversity by the interest rate change. The primary objective of this study is to find out the effect of the change of monetary policy on banks when they are competitive among themselves. To obtain this objective, the measures of bank competition would be calculated and then they would be tested via empirical model to find out the effect interest rate change on banks when they are in a competitive situation. Finally, there will be comparative analysis between Western and Eastern regions‟ banks. In this study, 10 countries were selected, a mix of developed and developing, to see whether the banks are competitive or monopolistic and finally how the demand for loanable funds gets affected by the monetary policy change. To measure the competition Panzar- Rosse H statistics were calculated and the bank level data are collected from Bankscope. To analyze the impression of competition on bank lending channel the empirical model of Ehrmann et at (2003) was adopted, which is been followed by many other studies as well. As the data covered the global financial crisis era, to check whether the banks‟ competition could have the same impact on bank loan supply through and afterwards the catastrophe, the samples were divided into two groups – during and after the crisis, and the model was tested again. Interestingly the countries where there is monopolistic competition show less sensitivity compared to those which have no competition among themselves for interest rate change. It was observed that, during global financial crisis, bank competition cannot perform strongly to x | P age xi | P a g e combat the policy rate changes by ensuring their loanable funds‟ demand to be fulfilled smoothly and banks of eastern region needed more time to heal even after the crisis period. The study overall proves that the monetary transmission mechanism gets weaker when the banks are competitive in a country and suggests the policy makers to come up with some alternatives to preserve the true intention of Monetary Policy Change. This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/xmlui/handle/123456789/4823 2026-04-19T00:00:00Z