Resumo

NICOLAS MARTINEZ, Catalina; GARCIA PINA, César; MANZANARES GUTIERREZ, Ángel  e  RIQUELME PEREA, Prudencio José. LEADER a policy to boost rural female entrepreneurship in Murcia. Convergencia [online]. 2021, vol.28, e16533.  Epub 06-Dez-2021. ISSN 2448-5799.  https://doi.org/10.29101/crcs.v28i0.16533.

Rural women have evolved in recent decades, being considered a fundamental actor for the revitalization of the territory by rural development policies. In the literature (Stough, 2016; Bjärstig y Sandström, 2017; Navarro et al., 2018b), it is speculated that these policies, together with the alternative activity to agriculture, have encouraged women to become empowered by start a business and, with their activity, energize the rural environment. In order to contribute to the knowledge of the effectiveness of rural development policies, this research is proposed in which the cases of eleven female entrepreneurs benefiting from LEADER policies in Murcia (Spain) at least fifteen years ago are analyzed. The results indicate that female entrepreneurship caused both the dynamization of the territory and the professional development of rural women. In addition, it was observed that these policies attract women with distinctive characteristics and that the LEADER policy was decisive for them to decide to become entrepreneurs.

Palavras-chave : LEADER initiatives; rural women; rural entrepreneurs; revitalization of the territory; Region of Murcia.