Digital technologies are rapidly transforming how people live and work. Many women who have left the workforce are now turning to entrepreneurship as a way to generate income and rebuild their careers. However, compared to other entrepreneurs, they of...
Digital technologies are rapidly transforming how people live and work. Many women who have left the workforce are now turning to entrepreneurship as a way to generate income and rebuild their careers. However, compared to other entrepreneurs, they often have fewer
opportunities to access formal support systems and reliable information, placing them at a disadvantage.
This study examines whether digital competency influences their intention to start a business, and also explores how organizational support and fear of failure relate to that intention.
The subjects of this study were career-interrupted women aged between 20 and 50 who were either prospective entrepreneurs or within three years of starting a business. Among the 276 collected responses, 173 valid samples that met the research criteria were used for analysis.
The survey, conducted by a professional research agency, consisted of questions on demographic characteristics (14 items), digital competency (7items), organizational support—emotional, informational, and institutional (structural) (12 items)—entrepreneurial intention (8 items), and fear of failure (6 items). SPSS and AMOS were employed to conduct reliability and validity testing, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM). The mediating effects were verified using the bootstrapping method.
The analysis results showed that digital competency had a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial intention, while organizational support—comprising emotional, informational, and institutional (structural) support—partially mediated this relationship. Fear of failure was found to have a negative effect on entrepreneurial intention, but its moderating effect on the relationship between digital competency and entrepreneurial intention was not statistically significant.
This study empirically demonstrates that digital competency and organizational entrepreneurial support intentions are of both key factors influencing the career-interrupted women. It also
incorporates the psychological dimension by examining how fear of failure affects this relationship. From a practical perspective, the findings highlight the need for customized digital education and integrated support programs that address emotional, informational, and institutional needs. Furthermore, offering psychological support to reduce fear of failure can help women approach entrepreneurship with greater confidence and persistence.