The main objective of this project is to foster cross-cultural understanding of challenges women face when starting and/or running their business and pay particular attention to women entrepreneurs in the informal economy in Pakistan. To this end we want to build capacity for social science skills needed for high quality entrepreneurship training and research in Pakistan by providing training in entrepreneurship psychology as a field currently not being thought in Pakistan, research methodologies and hosting conferences on female entrepreneurship to foster collaboration with university and non-university stakeholders alike, thereby building strong networks between the partners. Targeting a wide range of target groups, including senior researchers (e.g. professors, post-docs), early-career researchers (PhD students), students (Master) and non-university stakeholders we will ensure the creation of a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem that can result in high quality teaching and research networks that also transfer knowledge to women entrepreneurs in Pakistan. At the end of the project, project members will have conducted joint teaching sessions, as well as first research studies regarding the motivations and challenges of female entrepreneurs belonging to different socio-economic sectors and exchanged knowledge across borders. The planned activities intend to create an outlook for joint German-Pakistani teaching and research projects that go beyond the scope of this project

• Train-the-trainers:

The project will especially focus on uplifting the skills in young academics at LUMS, especially in the field of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The Pakistani early career researchers will subsequently get the opportunity to learn about best practices of Saarland University on the topics of integrating labour market orientation with academic rigour. There is a lack of research coming out of Pakistan or for that matter the rest of the Muslim World at large in the area of Entrepreneurship in high impact journals. One key reason is the lack of trained academics with the required skills to carry out such studies with the methodological rigour and ethicality demanded by these journals. Hence this project primarily targets two groups of academics: senior academics (i.e., Post-Docs and university teachers) and early career researchers (i.e., PhD students) who play a crucial role in teaching and research within the Pakistani academic system. It is expected that research stays, trainings and workshops in which young academics participate will provide them with a foundation on which they can themselves create learning opportunities for the next generation of entrepreneurship graduates, while training of senior researchers will ensure that there is sustainability of the project results (e.g., by establishing teaching formats discussed and developed in the project). Professional development training will be centred around the intersection of psychology and entrepreneurship, creating a young cohort of highly specialised and highly relevant experts in the field of Female entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

• Cultural exchange

Having started the dialogue on women’s challenges in Pakistan to start and sustain a business will lead to a better understanding of how patriarchal societies impact the running of a business by women. The first insights of this dialogue, be it through experiences in the jointly conducted courses or jointly conducted research projects will provide a solid foundation to inform interested academics about the insights and cross-cultural differences, ideally leading to ways on how to find solutions to the still very low number of female founders across the globe. The detailed understanding regarding the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Pakistan, which is a representation of the larger Muslim world, achieved as a result of the activities of the project will be showcased in Germany for academic discussions to happen. A roundtable conference will take place in Germany where students, academics, and outside stakeholders will participate to share their findings, their thoughts and on female entrepreneurship and create opportunities for future collaboration between university and industry/non-university stakeholders. The first roundtable of the project engaged the two partner universities and Pakistani non-university stakeholders and the second one will call upon German non-university stakeholders in order to cross-compare their findings. Through the exchange, a joint teaching and research agenda that involves universities role for having an impact at the society in large can be sketched that is to be followed up upon in the future. This will lead to more possibilities of collaboration strengthening the German-Pakistani Exchange.

• Building networks for future initiatives:

In the first phase of the project, the basis for cooperation will be created between the two partner institutions and cross-cultural differences and similarities in female entrepreneurship will be focused on. To achieve this, we start with intercultural trainings, sensitizing the senior project members on how to find constructive norms for conflict resolution and effective transnational collaboration. The goal is to discuss intercultural competencies in order to address any differences resulting from cultural basis as the project moves forward. Initially the German participants will get the opportunity to get an in-depth understanding of the entrepreneurial landscape of Pakistan through an extended study trip that will involve establishing linkages with both academic and non-university stakeholders. For example, Religion is a strong institutional order in Pakistan like other countries in the Muslim World. It dictates everything from motivations and belief systems to everyday actions of the participants. The intersection of religion with a patriarchal system in the country is a unique combination that requires nuanced understanding by all members of the project. Hence the initial phase where an exchange of ideas happens between the partner institutions as well as outside stakeholders will create a sound basis for future initiatives. A central element is that a broad range of different stakeholders from business and the university environment are already involved in this phase in order to provide important impetus right at the start and to significantly incorporate the expectations of the labour market and entrepreneurial expertise from the local environment into subsequent decision-making processes. MOUs will be signed with various stakeholders for continued participation in the project at this stage.