Self-determination and empowerment in rural women-led innovation: a relational perspective from Slovenia

Mikolič, Sara (author), Kobal Grum, Darja (author), Lampič, Barbara (author), Potočnik Slavič, Irma (author), Boštjančič, Eva (author), Hawlina, Hana (author)

This study examines how women-led innovations in rural Slovenia are experienced through the fulfilment and interaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, the three basic psychological needs identified in Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Using a qualitative, exploratory design, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with 20 women innovators from the FLIARA (Female-Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas) project. The interview material was analysed through thematic content analysis supported by ATLAS.ti, combining deductive coding based on SDT dimensions with inductive identification of empirically grounded subthemes. The revised ATLAS.ti-based analysis also enabled a more transparent assessment of how broadly key subthemes were represented across participants. Findings show that women-led innovation supported autonomy through self-initiation, boundary-setting, temporal control, resistance to restrictive norms, and value-driven purpose; competence through experiential learning, novelty-related experimentation, adaptive problem-solving, recognition, and growing self-efficacy; and relatedness through emotional support, professional collaboration, community contribution, and intergenerational and gendered solidarity. Mentorship emerged as a context-specific mechanism linking competence support with relational involvement and, in some cases, autonomy support. The study contributes by applying SDT to women-led rural innovation and showing how established SDT concepts can illuminate the motivational, relational, and place-based conditions under which rural women initiate, sustain, and give meaning to innovation. The findings suggest that rural development policies and support programmes may benefit from strengthening psychosocial and relational conditions, including autonomy-supportive environments, competence development opportunities, mentorship, peer learning, and participatory networks. These implications should be interpreted in light of the qualitative and context-specific nature of the study.

• Language: English
• Keywords: self-determination theory (SDT), women-led innovation, rural innovation, rural development, empowerment, mentorship, Slovenia
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 19.08.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 1 spletni vir (1 datoteka PDF (14 str.))
• Numbering: Vol. 127, [article no.] ǂ104348
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-187582
• UDC: 711.3+63-051:316.346.2-055.2(497.4)
• ISSN on article: 1873-1392
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2026.104348
• COBISS.SI-ID: 288431363
• Publication date in RUL: 11.09.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of rural studies
• Publisher: Pergamon Press
• ISSN: 1873-1392
• COBISS.SI-ID: 23225861

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: teorija samodoločanja (SDT), inovacije pod vodstvom žensk, inovacije na podeželju, razvoj podeželja, krepitev vloge, mentorstvo, Slovenija

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: HE
• Project number: 101084234
• Name: FLIARA: Female-Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas
• Acronym: FLIARA