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The aim of this research is to determine the stages that women in resource-constrained environments go through in order to emancipate themselves through entrepreneurial activities. Based on their fieldwork, the authors develop a process framework of emancipation-through-entrepreneurship.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 57 female entrepreneurs in two resource-constrained countries in West Africa. Non-participant observations were employed as a secondary data collection technique to provide important sources of information for triangulation.

This study's findings indicate that the process of female emancipation through entrepreneurship begins with the perception of one's personal motivations, followed by the choice of economic activities, the gathering of various necessary resources, and finally the commencement and running of a venture to bring about the desired emancipation. Various factors, such as family, the external environment, personal qualities and ease of operations, were found to influence the choice of entrepreneurial activities. We also found that human, social, cultural and political capital interact to produce economic capital, a central form of capital for the starting and running of ventures in resource-constrained environments.

Although extant studies have shown that entrepreneurship can be a vehicle for women to liberate themselves from various constraints, it is as yet unclear which process these women follow to achieve such emancipation. The development of a process framework of emancipation-through-entrepreneurship is the key contribution of this paper. Despite extant research demonstrating that entrepreneurship can assist women in financially limited settings to achieve economic independence, the specific steps these women take in the process remain unclear. Thus, this paper presents a process framework that focuses on women in constrained environments and their journey to emancipation through entrepreneurship.

Drawing on social feminist theory, this paper aims to close gaps between knowledge about gender-related barriers to information, communication and technology (ICT) adoption and the provision of entrepreneurship education and training (EET) programs.

Empirical findings are drawn from 21 semi-structured interviews (22 informants) possessing differing training expertise regarding digital technology among women entrepreneurs. An open-coding technique was adopted where descriptive codes were first assigned to meaningful statements. Interpretive and pattern codes were then assigned to indicate common themes and patterns, which were reduced to higher-order categories to inform the research questions.

The findings specify and validate further gender influences in the digital economy. Digital skills are identified, and strategies to close gender barriers to ICT adoption with EET are described. The findings are discussed in reference to a large-scale, Canadian ICT adoption program.

Perceptual data may be idiosyncratic to the sample. The work did not control for type of technology. Gender influences may differ by type of technology.

Findings can be used to construct gender-inclusive ICT supports and inform ICT adoption policies. This includes program eligibility and evaluation criteria to measure the socio-economic impacts.

The study is among the first to examine the intersection between knowledge about gender-related barriers to ICT adoption and EET. The findings can be adopted to ICT support programs targeted at small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Lactose intolerance is lactose digestive disorder due to lactase enzyme deficiency. This can affect the quality of life by restricting the intake of certain foods. The aim of this study is to show the lactose intolerance to the restriction in food intake and quality of life.

This study was conducted with adults aged 18–60 years. A survey was used to gather information on the demographic characteristics of the patients and their symptoms related to lactose intolerance. In addition, the Visual Analog Scale was administered to identify common symptoms and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-Bref Quality of Life Scale to determine their quality of life.

The average quality of life subscale scores was 56.25 ± 14.06 for physical, 58.29 ± 11.72 for mental, 63.28 ± 21.35 for social and 62.36 ± 16.37 for environmental. When VAS scores obtained for the common digestive system symptoms in lactose intolerance were compared with Quality of Life scores; it was found that physical life quality scores decreased (r = −0.239, p = 0.030) as the complaints of diarrhea increased and physical and environmental life quality decreased (r = −0.316, p = 0.004/r = −0.277, p = 0.012, respectively) as abdominal pain increased.

People reduce dairy consumption due to digestive system complaints. Therefore, it is important to inform the people about the effects of lactose intolerance because discomfort caused by intolerance can affect nutrient intake and lower the quality of life.