This study explores how women entrepreneurs in a resource-constrained setting adopt and experience personal technology for business purposes within the broader context of digital transformation. Drawing on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and work–life border theory (WLBT), qualitative data were collected through 32 semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs operating micro and small enterprises in Mauritius. Findings reveal that perceived usefulness, ease of use, and institutional support drive the adoption of personal devices, enabling flexibility, cost savings, and improved responsiveness to clients. However, constant connectivity also blurs boundaries between work and family life, heightening stress, emotional fatigue, and security concerns, particularly in the absence of technical support. These dynamics unfold in gendered contexts shaped by cultural expectations and caregiving responsibilities, with technology simultaneously supporting business needs while intensifying work–life conflict. Building on these insights, this study proposes a conceptual model highlighting personal technology's dual impact on business performance and well-being, as well as the moderating and mitigating roles of gender norms, structural constraints, and support systems. The findings contribute to scholarship on gender and digital entrepreneurship, offering implications for gender-sensitive policies that promote equitable and supportive technology adoption in similar Global South (GS) contexts.

This study adopts a positive and contextually grounded representation of married women in Global South (GS) countries through the theory of gender and power (TGP) and Kabeer's empowerment framework, to examine factors driving financial independence (FI) and empowerment among women in Mauritius and Zimbabwe. Drawing on 55 in-depth interviews with married women (28 in Mauritius and 27 in Zimbabwe), findings indicate that gendered power relations and institutional forces are pivotal in shaping empowerment for married women. Three interconnected themes emerged: “societal and institutional factors,” “context-embedded financial independence and autonomy,” and “women's relational empowerment.” Theoretically, we intersect Kabeer's empowerment framework with the TGP to illustrate how FI operates at the nexus of resources, agency, gendered power relations, and structural constraints, both aligning with and challenging universalized assumptions in gender, development, and empowerment research. Empirically, the paper advances scholarship by providing nuanced insights into empowerment processes within under-researched GS contexts.