A

PROJECT REPORT
ON

Attitude of Female Management Students towards

Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study
Submitted in the partial fulfillment for the award for
the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Under the guidance of:

Submitted By:

DR. ARTI GAUR

SHEENU GAGNEJA

Assistant Professor

Roll No. 12146210028

Department of Business Administration

M.B.A 2 Year 4th Semester

CHAUDHARY DEVI LAL UNIVERSITY, SIRSA (2012-14)

1

DECLARATION

I the undersigned hereby declare that the final project report submitted to my University i.e. Chaudhary
Devi Lal University Sirsa in partial fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Business administration on
Attitude of Female Management Students towards Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study is a
result of my own work under continuous guidance and kind co-operation of our University professor
Dr.Arti Gaur. I have not submitted this project report to any other University for the award of any degree.

SHEENU GAGNEJA

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project titled Attitude of Female Management Students towards
Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study is an original work of the student and is being submitted in
partial fulfillment for the award of the Masters Degree in Business Administration from Chaudhary
Devi Lal University Sirsa. This report has not been submitted earlier either to this University or to any
other University/Institution for the fulfillment of the requirement of a course of study.

_____ ______________________
SIGNATURE OF PROFESSOR
PLACE :
DATE:

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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Feelings get expression in words and words express feelings

Many Thanks to Almighty God for granting me the wisdom, health and strength to
undertake this project task and enabling me to its completion. It is He who has blesses me with
the people whose names I feel privileged to mention here.
I am highly indebted to Dr. Sultan Singh (Head of the Department) whose gracious
initiative, sublime suggestion, excellent guidance, constant encouragement, constructive
criticism and increscent aberrance during the course of investigation and preparation of this
manuscript.
It is proud privilege for me to express my profound regards and deep sense of gratitude to
Dr. Arti Gaur (Assistant Professor) for encouragement, inspiring guidance, giving me their
valuable time & provide me decent information.
My special thanks to Ms. Khushbu Singla (Research Scholar) to provide me supportive
& excellent work facilities. I also extend my thanks to non-teaching staff for their valuable cooperation on various occasions.
With heartiest reverence I admire confidence bestowed on me by my parents. The
untiring pains taking dedicated help, affection and blessing received on me to this level, it is
beyond my capacity to express in words.
Finally I am grateful to all those who helped me directly or indirectly to achieve the goal
and to whom I have not been able to express my gratitude as individual.
Place: Sirsa
(Sheenu Gagneja)
Date: /03/201

CONTENTS

Sr. No.

Title
Page No. (s)

Introduction

Review Of Literature

Research Methodology

Data analysis and interpretation

Conclusions and Findings

Bibliography
Annexure (s)
Sample Questionnaire

CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
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Chapter-1: Introduction
The educated women do not want to limit their lives in the four walls of the house. They demand
equal respect from their partners. However, Indian women have to go a long way to achieve
equal rights and position because traditions are deep rooted in Indian society where the
6

sociological set up has been a male dominated one. Women are considered as weaker sex and
always made to depend on men folk in their family and outside, throughout their life. The Indian
culture made them only subordinates and executors of the decisions made by other male
members, in the basic family structure. While at least half the brainpower on earth belongs to
women, women remain perhaps the worlds most underutilized resource. Despite all the social
hurdles, India is brimming with the success stories of women. They stand tall from the rest of the
crowd and are applauded for their achievements in their respective field. The transformation of
social fabric of the Indian society, in terms of increased educational status of women and varied
aspirations for better living, necessitated a change in the life style of Indian women. She has
competed with man and successfully stood up with him in every walk of life and business is no
exception for this. These women leaders are assertive, persuasive and willing to take risks. They
managed to survive and succeed in this cut throat competition with their hard work, diligence
and perseverance. Ability to learn quickly from her abilities, her persuasiveness, open style of
problem solving, willingness to take risks and chances, ability to motivate people, knowing how
to win and lose gracefully are the strengths of the Indian women entrepreneurs.

CONCEPT OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

One of the biggest challenges-ENTERPRENEURSHIP has been recognized as an important
element in the dynamics of modern economics. This rapid growth of entrepreneurship is
envisaged to promote social, economic, political and spiritual well being of an individual and
social development. The involvement of women in the economic struggle is of paramount
importance. Developing them to have the spirit and drive towards entrepreneurship would mean
preparing them to become potential employment creators and in the same manner making the
society entrepreneurial.
Freedom depends on economic conditions even more than political. If a woman is not
economically free and self earning, she will have to depend on her husband or someone else and
dependents are never free. These were ideas of Pandit Jawaharlal lal Nehru, first prime minister
of India, who highlighted the significance of economic independence of women.
Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who initiate, organize
and operate a business enterprise. The Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs as
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an enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51 per
cent of the capital and giving at least 51 per cent of the employment generated in the enterprise
to women. Women entrepreneurs engaged in business due to push and pull factors which
encourage .women to have an independent occupation and stands on their own legs. A sense
towards independent decision-making on their life and career is the motivational factor behind
this urge. Saddled with household chores and domestic responsibilities women want to get
independence. Under the influence of these factors the women entrepreneurs choose a profession
as a challenge and as an urge to do something new. Such a situation is described as pull factors.
While in push factors women engaged in business activities due to family compulsion and the
responsibility is thrust upon them. Women entrepreneurs have been designated as the new
engines for growth and the rising stars of the economies in developing countries to bring
prosperity and welfare. A variety of stakeholders has pointed at them as an important untapped
source of economic growth and development. The World Economic Forum identified women
entrepreneurs as the way forward at their annual meeting in 2012 (WEF, 2012). Others speak
of women entrepreneurs as if they are the New Womens Movement. They state: forget aid,
focus on foreign investment in women entrepreneurs as key drivers for growth and development
(Forbes, 2011).
The growth of the proportion of women entrepreneurs in developing countries has drawn the
attention of both the academic and the development sector. Donors, international public
institutions, national and local governments, NGOs, private companies, charities, knowledge
institutes and business associations have initiated programs or policies to promote and develop
womens entrepreneurship. They initiate programs for capacity-building of entrepreneurial skills,
Strengthening womens networks, provide finance and trainings, or design policies that enable
more and stronger start-ups and business growth. They all claim that women entrepreneurship is
essential for growth and development. Some even argue that women entrepreneurs contribution
tends to be higher than that resulting from entrepreneurial activity of men. In recent years, the
general attention to women and entrepreneurship in developing countries has increased to a great
extent and the focus on this untapped source of growth seems to be indispensable nowadays for
development practitioners and policy makers. However, despite this growing number of
initiatives and resources made available to promote and develop womens entrepreneurship in
developing countries, women still own and manage fewer businesses than men, they earn less
8

money with their businesses that grow slower, are more likely to fail and women tend to be more
necessity entrepreneurs.

REASONS FOR WOMEN BECOMING ENTREPRENEURS

The glass ceilings are shattered and women are found indulged in every line of business. The
entry of women into business in India is traced out as an extension of their kitchen activities,
mainly 3Ps, Pickle, Powder and Pappad. But with the spread of education and passage of time
women started shifting from 3Ps to modern 3Es i.e., Energy, Electronics and Engineering.
Skill, knowledge and adaptability in business are the main reasons for women to emerge into
business ventures. Women Entrepreneurs a person who accepts challenging role to meet her
personal needs and become economically independent. A strong desire to do something positive
is an inbuilt quality of entrepreneurial women, who is capable of contributing values in both
family and social life. With the advent of media, women are aware of their own traits, rights and
also the work situations. The challenges and opportunities provided to the women of digital era
are growing rapidly that the job seekers are turning into job creators. Many women start a
business due to some traumatic event, such as divorce, discrimination due to pregnancy or the
corporate glass ceiling, the health of a family member, or economic reasons such as a layoff. But
a new talent pool of women entrepreneurs is forming today, as more women opt to leave
corporate world to chart their own destinies. They are flourishing as designers, interior
decorators, exporters, publishers, garment manufacturers and still exploring new avenues of
economic participation. The following flow chart shows the.

REASONS FOR SLOW PROGRESS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA

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The problems and constraints experienced by women entrepreneurs have resulted in restricting
the expansion of women entrepreneurship. The major barriers encountered by women
entrepreneurs are:

The greatest deterrent to women entrepreneurs is that they are women. A kind of
patriarchal- male dominant social order is the building block to them in their way towards
business success. Male members think it a big risk financing the ventures run by women

Male chauvinism is still prevalent in many parts of the country yet. Women are looked
upon as able i.e. weak in all respects. In a male dominated society, women are not
treated equal to men that act as a barrier to womans entry into business.

Women entrepreneurs have to face a stiff competition with the men entrepreneurs who
easily involve in the promotion and development area and carry out easy marketing of
their products with both the organized sector and their male counterparts. Such a
competition ultimately results in the liquidation of women entrepreneurs.

Lack of self-confidence, will-power, strong mental outlook and optimistic attitude

amongst women creates a fear from committing mistakes while doing their piece of work.
The family members and the society are reluctant to stand beside their entrepreneurial
growth.

Women in India lead a protected life. They are even less educated, economically not
stable nor self-dependent which reduce their ability to bear risks and uncertainties
involved in a business unit,

The old and outdated social outlook to stop women from entering in the field of
entrepreneurship is one of the reasons for their failure. They are under a social pressure
which restrains them to prosper and achieve success in the field of entrepreneurship

Unlike men, women mobility in India is highly limited due to many reasons. A single
women asking for room is still looked with suspicion. Cumbersome exercise involved in
starting with an enterprise coupled with officials humiliating attitude towards women
compels them to give up their spirit of surviving in enterprise altogether.
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Women's family obligations also bar them from becoming successful entrepreneurs in
both developed and developing nations. The financial institutions discourage women
entrepreneurs on the belief that they can at any time leave their business and become
housewives again.

Indian women give more emphasis to family ties and relationships. Married women have
to make a fine balance between business and family. The business success also depends
on the support the family members extended to women in the business process and
management.

Womens family and personal obligations are sometimes a great barrier for succeeding in
business career. Only few women are able to manage both home and business efficiently,

devoting enough time to perform all their responsibilities in priority.

The educational level and family background of husbands also influences women
participation in the field of enterprise. Absence of proper support, cooperation and backup for women by their own family members and the outside world people force them to
drop the idea of excelling in the enterprise field. They are always making many
pessimistic feelings to be aroused in their minds and making them feel that family and

not business is a place meant for them.

Many women take the training by attending the Entrepreneurial Development programme
without an entrepreneurial bent of mind. Women who are imparted training by various

institutes must be verified on account of aptitude through the tests, interviews, etc.
High production cost of some business operations adversely affects the development of
women entrepreneurs. The installations of new machineries during expansion of the
productive capacity and like similar factors discourage the women entrepreneurs from

venturing into new areas.

Women controlled business are often small and it is not always easy for women to access
the information they need regarding technology, training, innovative schemes,
concessions, alternative markets, etc. Just a small percentage of women entrepreneurs
avail the assistance of technology and they too remain confined to word processing
software in the computer. They hardly make use of advanced software available like
statistical software SAP, Accounting Package like TALLY, Animation software 3D MAX,
internet, etc
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Lack of awareness about the financial assistance in the form of incentives, loans, schemes
etc. by the institutions in the financial sector. So the sincere efforts taken towards women

entrepreneurs may not reach the entrepreneurs in rural and backward areas.
Achievement motivation of the women folk found less compared to male members. The
low level of education and confidence leads to low level achievement and advancement
motivation among women folk to engage in business operations and running a business
concern.

Apart from the above discussed problems there may occur other series of serious problems faced
by women entrepreneurs as improper infrastructural facilities, high cost of production, attitude of
people of society towards the women modern business outlook, low needs of enterprise. Women
also tend to start business about ten years later than men, on average. Motherhood, lack of
management experience, and traditional socialization has all been cited as reasons for delayed
entry into entrepreneurial careers.
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE GROWTH OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
Right efforts from all areas are required in the development of women entrepreneurs and their
greater participation in the entrepreneurial activities. Entrepreneurship basically implies being in
control of ones life and activities and women entrepreneurs need to be given confidence,
independence, and mobility to come out of their paradoxes. The following measures are
suggested to empower the women to seize various opportunities and face challenges in business.
There should be a continuous attempt to inspire, encourage, motivate and co-operate women
entrepreneurs.

An Awareness programme should be conducted on a mass scale with the intention of

creating awareness among women about the various areas to conduct business.

Attempts should be there to enhance the standards of education of women in general as

well making effective provisions for their training, practical experience and personality
development programmes, to improvise their over-all personality standards.

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Organize training programmes to develop professional competencies in managerial,

leadership, marketing, financial, production process, profit planning, maintaining books
of accounts and other skills. This will encourage women to undertake business.

Vocational training to be extended to women community that enables them to understand

the production process and production management.

Skill development to be done in women's polytechnics and industrial training institutes.

Skills are put to work in training-cum-production workshops.

Educational institutes should tie up with various government and non-government

agencies to assist in entrepreneurship development mainly to plan business projects.

International, National, Local trade fairs, Industrial exhibitions, seminars and conferences
should be organized to help women to facilitate interaction with other women
entrepreneurs.

Women in business should be offered soft loans & subsides for encouraging them into
industrial activities. The financial institutions should provide more working capital
assistance both for small scale venture and large scale ventures.

Making provision of micro credit system and enterprise credit system to the women
entrepreneurs at local level.

The weaker section could raise funds through various schemes and incentives provided
by the government to develop entrepreneurs in the state. E.g. the Prime ministers Rozgar

Yozna, The Khadi and Rural village industries scheme, etc.

In the initial stages women entrepreneurs may face problems but they must persevere,

believe in themselves and not give up mid way.

Attempts by various NGOs and government organizations to spread information about
policies, plans and strategies on the development of women in the field of industry, trade
and commerce. Women entrepreneurs should utilize the various schemes provided by the

Government.
Women should try to upgrade themselves in the changing times by adapting the latest
technology benefits. Women must be educated and trained constantly to acquire the skills
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and knowledge in all the functional areas of business management. This can facilitate

women to excel in decision making process and develop a good business network
Self help groups of women entrepreneurs to mobilize resources and pooling capital funds,
in order to help the women in the field of industry, trade and commerce can also play a

positive role to solve this problem.

Womens entrepreneurship must be examined both at the individual level (i.e. the choice
of becoming self-employed) and at the firm level (the performance of women owned and
managed firms) in order to fully understand the differences between mens and womens

entrepreneurship.
To establish all India forums to discuss the problems, grievances, issues, and filing
complaints against constraints or shortcomings towards the economic progress path of
women entrepreneurs and giving suitable decisions in the favor of women entrepreneurs
and taking strict stand against the policies or strategies that obstruct the path of economic
development of such group of women entrepreneurs.

Thus by adopting the following aforesaid measures in letter and spirit the problems associated
with women can be solved. Entrepreneurship is not a bed of roses to women. Women
participation in many kinds of economic activities to complement to their family income, their
participation in no way reduces their family duties. The task of women has become more tedious
and full of challenges. Let us all make efforts to help women rediscover her.
STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT
Development of women has been a policy objective of the government since independence. Until
the 70s the concept of womens development was mainly welfare oriented. In 1970s, there was a
shift from welfare approach to development approach that recognized the mutually reinforcing
nature of the process of development. The 80s adopted a multi-disciplinary approach with an
emphasis on three core areas of health, education and employment. Women were given priorities
in all the sectors including SSI sector. Government and non government bodies have paid
increasing attention to womens economic contribution through self employment and industrial
ventures.

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 The First Five-Year Plan (1951-56) envisaged a number of welfare measures for women.
Establishment of the Central Social Welfare Board, organization of Manila Manuals and
the Community Development Programmes were a few steps in this direction.
In the second Five-Year Plan (1956-61), the empowerment of women was closely linked
with the overall approach of intensive agricultural development programmes.
The Third and Fourth Five-Year Plans (1961-66 and 1969-74) supported female
education as a major welfare measure.
The Fifth Five-Year Plan (1974-79) emphasized training of women, who were in need of
income and protection. This plan coincided with International Womens Decade and the
submission of Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India. In1976,
Womens welfare and Development Bureau was set up under the Ministry of Social
Welfare.
The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980-85) saw a definite shift from welfare to development. It
recognized womens lack of access to resources as a critical factor impending their
growth.
The Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985-90) emphasized the need for gender equality and
empowerment. For the first time, emphasis was placed upon qualitative aspects such as
inculcation of confidence, generation of awareness with regards to rights and training in
skills for better employment.
The Eight Five-Year Plan (1992-97) focused on empowering women, especially at the
Gross Roots Level, through Panchayati Raj Institutions.
The Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002) adopted a strategy of Womens Component Plan,
under which not less than 30 percent of funds/ benefits were earmarked for women
related sectors.
The Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-07) aims at empowering women through translating the
recently adopted National Policy for Empowerment of Women (2001) into action and
ensuring Survival, Protection and Development of women and children through rights
based approach.
At present, the Government of India has over 27 schemes for women operated by different
departments and ministries.

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Some of these are:

Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)
Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)
Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM)
Prime Ministers Rojgar Yojana (PMRY)
Entrepreneurial Development programme (EDPs)
Management Development programmes
Womens Development Corporations (WDCs)
Marketing of Non-Farm Products of Rural Women (MAHIMA)
Assistance to Rural Women in Non-Farm Development (ARWIND) schemes
Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD)
Working Womens Forum
Indira Mahila Yojana
Indira Mahila Kendra
Mahila Samiti Yojana
Mahila Vikas Nidhi
Micro Credit Scheme
Rashtriya Mahila Kosh
SIDBIs Mahila Udyam Nidhi
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Mahila Vikas Nidhi

SBIs Stree Shakti Scheme
NGOs Credit Schemes
Micro & Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programmes (MSE-CDP).
National Banks for Agriculture and Rural Developments Schemes
Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP)
Priyadarshini Project- A programme for Rural Women Empowerment and Livelihood in Mid
Genetic Plains
NABARD- KfW-SEWA Bank project
Exhibitions for women, under promotional package for Micro & Small enterprises approved by
CCEA under marketing support .The efforts of government and its different agencies are ably
supplemented by NGOs that are playing an equally important role in facilitating women
empowerment. Despite concerted efforts of governments and NGOs there are certain gaps. Of
course we have come a long way in empowering women yet the future journey is difficult and
demanding.
2. The gender gap in entrepreneurship
The gender gap in entrepreneurship has been identified and studied by a growing number of
scholars. The gender gap is commonly defined as the difference between men and women in
terms of numbers engaged in entrepreneurial activity, motives to start or run a business, industry
choice and business performance and growth.
2.1 Womens and mens engagement in entrepreneurial activity
As compared to men, there are a slight lower number of women worldwide engaged in
entrepreneurial activity. An important resource of data is the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
project which estimates that more than 187 million women are engaged in entrepreneurial
activity. On a global scale, the gender gap does not seem to be that alarming. GEM data
18

demonstrates that men make up 52% of all entrepreneurial activity, compared to 48% of women
entrepreneurs. In fact, some data suggest that women have outpaced men in the rate of new
business they form. However, when studied more closely at country level, the gender gap varies
greatly in size across the world. It ranges from 1.5% to 45.4% women of the adult population
who actively operate a business as entrepreneurs or who are thinking about starting a business. In
Panama, Venezuela, Jamaica, Guatemala, Brazil, Thailand, Switzerland and Singapore the rates
of men and women engaged in starting a business are equal. The only economy with currently
more female than male entrepreneurs is Ghana where 55 % of entrepreneurial activity is
conducted by women. Is the gender gap in entrepreneurship bigger in certain regions or
countries? Here research is not conclusive and empirical evidence mixed. From the 2012 survey,
it is apparent that in Latin America and the Caribbean the overall level of entrepreneurship is
high, including that of women. Generally, countries in the Middle East and North Africa have the
fewest women entrepreneurs. Iran and Pakistan for example have the lowest levels of all
countries in the world. A relatively low rate of women entrepreneurs can also be found in Eastern
Europe. The exception is Russia, where women represent 44% of total entrepreneurs, but overall
in this region no more than 10 % of women are starting or running new businesses. In contrast, in
Sub-Saharan African economies women make up close to or more than half of entrepreneurs,
whereas general levels of entrepreneurship are also high. Asia and Western Europe have both low
and high relative levels of womens participation. Singapore and Switzerland exhibit
comparatively high levels, while France and the Republic of Korea report low rates - about one
fourth of the entrepreneurs are women there.
When linked to GDP per capita, the gender gap in entrepreneurship is most visible in the middle
income and transitional countries where men are 75% more likely than women to start a
business. In high income countries, the gender gap is relatively small and men are 33% more
likely to start a business whereas in developing countries it is 41%. However, a multi-year
analysis shows that even though the gender gap has persisted across most economies, changes
are occurring and the gap, at least measured in terms of male to female ratio, may be closing.
2.2 Gender differences in motives: opportunity or necessity entrepreneurs
The gender gap becomes more apparent though when womens motives to start or run a business

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are compared to mens. Worldwide, women are much more likely to be driven by necessity than
men when starting a business. In developing countries, the vast majority of women are engaged
in entrepreneurial activity driven by pure survival - out of necessity rather than opportunity
because there are no jobs or any other options for income generation. This partly explains why
globally women are overrepresented in the informal economy and own no more than 25% of
formal sector businesses, and stands in contrast to the vast majority of women in high-income
countries, where 2/3 of women start a business because they see opportunities or want to be
independent. However, the gender gap in entrepreneurship measured by motive may gradually
disappear as recent data demonstrate that as economies develop and grow, and job opportunities
become available, this gap may be closing with time. Thus, the proportion of women with
necessity motivations declined in recent years, especially in Brazil and China and some of the
countries in Eastern Europe, thereby contributing to a narrowing of the gender gap. In Western
Europe however, many economies nowadays show an increase or no change in necessity
motivated women entrepreneurs compared to men. A possible reason could be that the economic
downturn affected both men and women with rising numbers of unemployment. Necessity-based
entrepreneurship, then, substitutes employment during economic crisis when there is less jobs
available.
2.3 Industry choice and entrepreneurial orientation
The gender gap in entrepreneurship is most apparent when reviewed by industry choice and
entrepreneurial orientation. Women seem to pursue certain businesses at the expense of others.
For example, they are virtually absent from the manufacturing and construction sector while they
are overrepresented in the consumer sector and mostly engaged in retail businesses. In Latin
America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, women entrepreneurs dominate the consumer
sector and retail business by more than 75%, compared to just 48% of men entrepreneurs. Men,
on the other hand, operate more frequently in manufacturing, construction and the business
services sector, especially in the more developed and high income countries.
2.4 Business performance and growth expectations
The gender gap is also visible in business performance. As mentioned earlier, women are not
only less likely than men to start a business, their businesses also tend to be smaller, have fewer
20

staff and less growth expectations. Furthermore, women generate relatively lower revenues than
men, and earn less income from entrepreneurial activity. Finally, maintaining and growing the
business beyond start-up is a serious challenge for all women entrepreneurs, especially in
developing countries. Even though the exit rate of new businesses is high everywhere (40 50
%), exit rates of women-owned businesses are even higher, especially in developing countries.
Some reasons mentioned for high exit rates among women entrepreneurs are lack of financing,
insufficient profitability, and family responsibilities. Improvement of macroeconomic conditions
(higher wages, increase of available jobs, lower discrimination) is also a factor, and retirement.
Often mentioned by respondents - but largely unexplored or specifically identified by researchers
as an explanation for high exit rates among women entrepreneurs - are personal reasons.
3. Explaining the gender gap: proximate and ultimate determinants
Recent global surveys thus indicate that the gender gap in entrepreneurship persists albeit at
different levels and varying widely across countries. Yet a quick scan of current research
suggests that there are some commonalities as to the proximate and ultimate determinants of
these differences.
3.1 Access to financial resources
Even though the literature is not conclusive, a common challenge for women to establish and run
a business is access and control over finance. Women entrepreneurs appear to have less access to
external sources of capital than men when securing finances.
3.2 Inadequate training and access to information
One challenge often mentioned in research on women entrepreneurs in developing countries is
that they enjoy a relatively low level of education and skill training. This, combined with a lack
of career guidance, generally seems to limit their access to various publically and privately
offered support services including business development services and information on business
growth. Others found that a lack of experience and skills also accounted for the fact that women
entrepreneurs had a preference in industry orientation and thus were less well
represented in industrial activities. For instance, it is finding that Tunisian women entrepreneurs
experience challenges as they do not as yet benefit from existing entrepreneurship support. In
21

particular, the authors claim that their results confirm that professional agencies have not been
efficient in disseminating information to entrepreneurs, and that the training and assistance
provided by support services do not meet the specific needs of women entrepreneurs. Similar
challenges identified in other developing countries are a lack of access to ICTs, insufficient
entrepreneurial and management skills, together with problems in finding the markets and
distribution networks. For instance, in their study of womens SMEs in Ethiopia, mention that
the absence of technological know-how and access to technology and ICTs poses a challenge for
women entrepreneurs. Other studies reveal that African women do not (yet) possess the
necessary skills to adapt to the impact of globalization, evolving technologies and changing
patterns of trade. However, to what extend this is the case compared to men in order to establish
the gender gap more country and region specific research is needed.
3.3 Work-family interface
Another more recently frequent mentioned challenge is the combination of the business with
family responsibilities, which may undermine the success of the business. Women entrepreneurs
indicate that they deploy several strategies to cope with the double workload and challenges
deriving from combining business with family. But while self-employment may provide
flexibility, Williams found that (in Europe) the amount of time spent caring for children are
negatively related to success (as measured by self-employment duration). Furthermore, the
location of the business at home may also undermine the legitimacy of the business as perceived
by customers and creditors. Furthermore, some studies indicate that women strongly rely on
support from husbands, partners, and relatives in order to successfully start and grow a business.
Much more research is needed on the topic of coping strategies to combine business with family
in general and specifically, on how to engage husbands and other family members in supporting
women entrepreneurs in developing countries.
3.4 Womens safety and gender based violence
Others identify the issue of safety and protection of women entrepreneurs, especially those
operating in the informal economy. Even though less documented in academic research, there are
numerous stories of killings, harassment and rape of female vendors and micro-business owners.
This results in stress, constant fear and not having the opportunity to freely choose your business
22

location and time of opening hours which seriously limits the chances and choices of becoming a
successful entrepreneur for women in some developing countries. However, more research is
needed on for example alternative coping strategies (besides policy frameworks) and how
women that are facing these challenges can best be supported.
3.5 Lack of societal support
Furthermore, scholars point out that normative constraints and societal attitudes based on cultural
and religious beliefs in some countries are not supportive of the work of women in general or
that of women in entrepreneurship in particular . In a variety of countries, the perception is that
entrepreneurship is an appropriate career choice for men and not women, or only for the poor
and not the educated, which in most cases are women. These perceptions are mostly based on the
association of entrepreneurship with traditional male stereotypes.
3.6 Legal barriers and procedures
Varying across countries, the lack of government support in terms of policy, laws and services
has been identified as a barrier for women entrepreneurs. Even though this varies greatly across
countries, most research indicates that regulations, taxation and legal barriers can pose serious
obstacles for running and starting a business. This may affect both men and women to a certain
extent and more research is needed to identify country specific issues. Data from the annual
report Women Business and the Law (World Bank) measured that in all Middle Eastern and
North African countries, women have fewer inheritance rights than men and moreover, there are
1 or more legal differences between women and men that limit womens economic opportunity
in over 75% of the worlds economies. According to that same report, women only own 1% of
the worlds property and in 2/3 of countries, legal rights of women decline with marriage, 44
countries restrict the number of hours women can work and 71 countries restrict the types of
industries.
4. Explaining the gender gap: an overview of different analytical perspectives
Why do the differences between men and women in entrepreneurship persist? What conditions
impact on women entrepreneurship? What determines the proportion of women entrepreneurs in
a particular country and what explains the differences between countries and even within
23

countries? Whereas it is widely agreed that there is still a lack of reliable and consistent data on
women entrepreneurship to explain both commonalities and differences across and within
countries, over the past few decades a whole host of authors has been trying to explain the
gender gap in entrepreneurship. In the 1980s and 90s it was common to set out from microeconomic factors and characteristics to explain the gender gap in entrepreneurs. Some scholars
even sought for answers in the psychological makeup of women. In 1989 Nelson for example
argued that the gender gap is due to irrational behavior of women entrepreneurs as they tend to
turn to their unqualified family members for help, which, he observed, has consequences for
business performance. Others have argued that women are less entrepreneurial because they are
risk-averse and lack the necessary skills, attitude and education for entrepreneurship. In an
overview of the more micro-level approaches to the gender gap in entrepreneurship lists a
number of studies that identify differences between men and women entrepreneurs e.g. with
respect to self-perception, opportunity recognition, decision-making styles and networking
behavior. Perhaps these micro level explanations are best documented but, such studies do not
account for the variety across and within countries found in global surveys of the gender gap in
entrepreneurship. Therefore, it is now more and more accepted that micro-level explanations of
the gender gap in entrepreneurship cannot stand on their own but need to take into account
contextual factors at other levels of explanation.
4.1 From the gender neutral entrepreneur to gender sensitive analysis
Increasingly, then, it is recognized that the gender gap cannot be merely explained from
individual choices and challenges but that the practices and orientations of entrepreneurs are
shaped and determined by the macroeconomic en socioeconomic environment in which they
operate, including deeply entrenched norms of behavior . This recognition is important because,
as among others, and Brush, de Bruin and Welter point out, mainstream economic thinking tends
to consider itself gender neutral, assuming that the entrepreneur is a rational, self-interested,
money-driven and market-oriented individual who has no sex, no gender, no class, no age,
no family, no religion or ethnicity, and who lives outside of any specific historical,

social or geographical context. Such an imaginary entrepreneur makes decisions unhindered by

socioeconomic inequality, unequal distribution of power and income, and relieved of family
obligations or care responsibilities. As opposed to this imaginary gender neutral entrepreneur
24

Brush, de Bruin and Welter introduce a gender sensitive framework to explain and understand
the gender gap in entrepreneurship that takes into account the socioeconomic and normative
context in which they operate and behave. For instance, they propose to add motherhood to
research frameworks on entrepreneurship because they ignore family responsibilities and
reproductive work as important determinants and are mostly focused on markets, money and
management. Just as and Jennings and, Brush, de Bruin argue that family responsibilities, such
as child-rearing and caring for the sick and elderly (which in most cultures are assigned to
women) define your chances of becoming a successful entrepreneur. They also point at the
behavioral norms at the level of society, including media representations of entrepreneurs, and
the adverse effects that norms of appropriate female behavior in social networking can bring to
bear on the success of women entrepreneurs. Jamaal highlights the usefulness of such a multilevel framework as it sheds light on the specific normative context of entrepreneurship. To
illustrate this, Jamaals applies the framework to highlight the salience of normative constraints
encountered by Arab women in general, and women entrepreneurs in particular, something
which is not addressed in mainstream, micro level studies relating to the topic.
4.2 Work-family interface: becoming super woman and other coping strategies
A gender sensitive, multi-level analysis along the lines proposed by Brush, de Bruin and Welter
lends itself rather well to analyze the intrinsic relationships between business and the family that
play an important role in business performance and growth. There is evidence that family support
(both financial and emotional) is an important determinant of entrepreneurial behavior: it shapes
the confidence of women entrepreneurs to achieve their ambitions, enhancing the chances for the
growth of their business. More importantly, the division of work and care responsibilities within
the household between husband and wife plays a vital role in the performance of entrepreneurs
and the growth of their businesses .Jennings and McDougal demonstrate that women
entrepreneurs (in developed countries) are more likely to experience time conflict, stress spillover due to incompatibility between the family domain and care responsibilities on one hand,
and the business domain and work responsibilities on the other. Consequently, women are more
likely to use coping strategies that (intentionally or unintentionally) limit rather than enhance the
growth of their businesses. Among such coping strategies are superwoman attempts to respond
to all demands, career delay or lower career aspirations, reduction of working hours, turning
25

down business, travel or relocation opportunities, and cutting back on community involvement or
time spent with family. Other strategies are the one job/ one-career strategy where one partner
takes on a part-time or less demanding job so that the other can pursue a business or career. Very
common, especially in upper class families is the phenomenon of hiring a wife, which in most
countries is a female domestic helper - often underpaid and undocumented migrant - to
assist with child care, household duties, meal preparation, etc. Jamaal observes that

women entrepreneurs who struggle to reconcile work and family do so within largely
internalized and taken-for-granted norms of appropriate female behavior in their society. She
argues that the gendered ascription of women to family and childcare responsibilities creates
tensions and negative feelings such as guilt that put pressure on women entrepreneurs to
conform with prevailing (un-codified) value standards. This results in difficulties in managing
their businesses next to their family responsibilities, a lack of mobility to pursue an optimal
business location in terms of access to markets and services.
4.3 Powerless networks: a reflection of assigned gender roles
A gender sensitive, multi-level analysis of women entrepreneurship also sheds light on the
importance of social networks. It is commonly agreed that both male and female entrepreneurs
rely on role models and social networks for information and access to resources. A strong
positive and significant correlation exists between knowledge of another entrepreneur and a
persons involvement in starting a new business. However, there is evidence to suggest that
womens networks are important but often not (yet) very helpful for business growth or strong
startups due to their limited size, accessibility and quality. According to Aides, Welter, Small ,
this is mainly the reflection of womens assumed gender role in the household and society at
large: because women hold a certain position in society, this affects a) their ability and
willingness to use household resources for entrepreneurial activities;
and b) their access to formal and informal networks compared to men. Thus, Welter, Small bone
found evidence that access to finance is a huge struggle for women entrepreneurs in both
Lithuania and Ukraine compared with their male counterparts, in part because women have
fewer contacts from Soviet times. So besides the fact that women business networks or
communities are still limited in size, these networks remain relatively powerless as women are

26

underrepresented at higher levels where men tend to have more acquaintances and contacts.
Women in general have less access to more powerful male networks
which are more strongly rooted within society simply because of a longer historic tradition of
male networks. Therefore, the authors suggest that a good strategy for women entrepreneurs to
pursue is to engage husbands, brothers or other male family members in paving the way into
male networks, thereby improving their access to other entrepreneurs.
4.4 Institutional theory: understanding the context in which entrepreneurship is embedded
Another valuable attempt to answer the question as to why the gender gap in some countries is
bigger or more persistent then in others is the institutional analysis. Institutional theory focuses
on the role of social, economic and political systems in which entrepreneurs operate and their
choices and behavior is embedded. It departs from the position that these systems are deeply
rooted and embedded within in the social fabric of societies which produce normative
expectations that are gendered. Meaning: they prescribe appropriate attitudes and tell us (men
and women) how to behave. When such normative expectations and attitudes are wide spread,
broadly diffused and deeply rooted: they take on a rule-like status in social thought and action.
4.5 Gender equality: push & pull factors
Bough, Chua and Newport describe how the institutional context produces gendered push & pull
(defined by the levels of gender equality) that contribute to entrepreneurial activity. Their study
finds evidence that gender inequality is an inhibitor for development & growth whereas negative
gender attitudes in societies can restrain or hinder individual choices and chances. Gender
inequality then functions as an inhibiting pull factor for entrepreneurship; a barrier for successful
start-up as a result from lack of access to financial and social capital. Gender equality on the
other hand functions as an enhancing pull factor that may increase the level of womens
participation in entrepreneurship. Other push factors that drives men or women into
entrepreneurship are survival, unemployment (especially in transitional countries and emerging
economies), the idea that self-employment provides flexibility and enables a good balance
between work and family care responsibilities, dissatisfaction with current job, frustration with
the glass ceiling in salaried careers. Pull factors are mostly shaped around the pursuit for
satisfaction and independence: autonomy, creativity, status attainment, financial gains, personal
27

success. It is also find evidence that gender inequality leads to gender-based occupational
segregation, which may help explain the gender gap in entrepreneurship, especially why women
are absent in certain industries or earn less than their male counterparts. Based on the Model of
Effectuation, both men and women start a business based and built upon existing skills,
knowledge and networks usually acquired in a paid job or enjoyed education. Compared to men,
the majority of women start a business while still employed in a paid job. This is both the case in
low-income countries (74%), middle income countries (91%) and high-income countries (82%) .
Also, both men and women entrepreneurs rely on role models and social networks for
information and access to resources. As said, a strong positive and significant correlation exists
between acquainted with another entrepreneur and a persons involvement with starting a new
business. When levels of gender equality are low, women are concentrated in the lowest and least
valued positions. Women entrepreneurs therefore may find themselves competing in segments
that are cheaper to enter, but in which one must struggle to survive. To the extent that female
self-employment simply connotes manual task labor as a means of subsistence, it may reinforce a
negative image of such activity.
4.6 Do we need a separate theory on women and entrepreneurship?
The parsimony of institutional- and multi-level gender sensitive analysis, has led some scholars
to raise the question if there is in fact a need for a separate theory on women and
entrepreneurship. Among others, propose that a separate theory may not be required to explain
the gender gap in entrepreneurship. Institutionalism provides a substantial and sufficient
theoretical conceptual framework that can uncover the hidden and implicit, as well as the
explicit institutional constraints to women entrepreneurs. These scholars argue that instead of
searching for a separate theory on women entrepreneurship, there is need for adopting a more
comprehensive research program than that offered by mainstream approaches, including countryspecific studies of entrepreneurship in relation to a variety of institutional contexts, such as the
family and the legal system especially in developing countries. Furthermore, there is need for
much greater analysis of the entrepreneur, separate from the business unit, along with an
appreciation of the institutionalized barriers that women entrepreneurs are facing.
5. Closing the gender gap: what is the impact of women entrepreneurship promotion?
28

Policies?
Successfully explaining the gender gap in entrepreneurship thus entails a multi-level framework
of analysis based on consistent and reliable gender-segregated data, that pays due regard to the
extra economic , normative context of entrepreneurship, considers the work-family interface, and
that takes on a feminist perspective on gender. By implication, it would seem that a potentially
successful policy or support program that aims to address the gender gap in entrepreneurship
would need to be based at least in part on such a framework. Hence the questions emerge as to
what kind of policies and support programs are currently conducted (and by whom), and what we
know about their effects, results and impacts? What are the key factors and critical conditions for
successful support programs and policies? The following section addresses the need for
systematic impact assessment of women entrepreneurship promotion and development policies
and support programs.
5.1 Women entrepreneurship promotion and development
Not only the research community has taken on the challenge to explain and close the gender gap
in entrepreneurship, also the development community has embraced the promise of the women
entrepreneur as a resource to achieve economic growth. Headlines such as Forget Foreign Aid,
focus on Foreign Investment in Women Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship Is the New Women's
Movement or The Rise of the Female Entrepreneur are paramount in the media, conferences,
studies and materials that circulate in the development sector. A whole host of development
practitioners, policy makers and stakeholders from private sector have initiated support programs
to close the gender gap in entrepreneurship. Examples of such programs can be found in the
offering of international (public) institutions, civil society organizations and NGOs, charities,
religious organizations, knowledge institutes, private companies, social entrepreneurs and publicprivate partnerships1. May it be noted that the interest in women entrepreneurs goes hand in
hand with a general interest in the role of entrepreneurship in economic growth and
development. As discussed, though, women are often assigned a special role as drivers of
development due to their expenditure patterns. These organizations engaged in women
entrepreneurship promotion are deploying a variety of instruments and methodologies, ranging
from entrepreneurial skill training; business development services (BDS) and technical support,
to capacity development, empowerment and the provision of credit and investment funding.
29

Recent years have also seen a growing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and
public-private partnerships. A quick scan of current programs suggest that the majority of them
set out from the premise that women entrepreneurs are an untapped resource for development
and purport to contribute to economic growth, raise income levels of households, empower
women economically and, to a much lesser extent, contribute to gender equality. For example
has just initiated a project in partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation and Milliohm
International Cellular that offers trainings and business education to empower women
economically in Tanzania, Rwanda and Ghana. The World Bank offers projects such as the
Women Entrepreneurship Development Project for Ethiopia. Here the main objective is to
increase the earnings and employment of women-led micro and small enterprises. The main
instruments are credit provision and financial training, entrepreneurial and technical skills
development, and technology and product development support for. The ILO is a particular
important player in the field of Women entrepreneurship Development (WED) as it has
developed extensive range resources
and instruments jobs; build institutional capacity and development of tools and support services
for women entrepreneurs. The ILO explicitly mentions that gender equality is at the forefront of
their policies and support programs. An example of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) is the
Third Billion Campaign (2012), that is preparing women to drive global economic growth and
aims to unite governments, NGOs, corporations, youth and others to ensure access to the
resources necessary for women to reach their full economic potential. The above quick scan
teaches that of the available gender perspectives on entrepreneurship i.e. gender neutral, gender
sensitive and feminist the gender sensitive perspective is dominant in current support programs
and policies. Only the ILO may be seen to adopt at least in part a feminist perspective as it
specifically lists gender equality as a policy goal. The most commonly employed instruments are
training, networking and financing mostly targeted at poor micro entrepreneurs who are driven
by necessity motives. However, there is an emerging trend to target women entrepreneurs with
more growth potential. Many support programs aim to assist women in starting up new
businesses through training, empowerment and the provision of resources. Some seek to support
women entrepreneurs with more technical assistance, vocational training and business education
to help achieve growth. There are also a few examples of initiatives aimed at promoting change
in societal attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and in particular, womens engagement in
30

entrepreneurship. These initiatives use several intervention strategies, including empowerment

trajectories, start-up support, growth support, credit and loans, building associations,
strengthening networks, match making with investors, etc.
5.2 Assessing impact of women entrepreneurship promotion
There is a wide variety of studies and project evaluations available from public institutions and
development agencies involved in women entrepreneurship promotion (ILO, EU, World Bank
and OECD). Even though these studies bring valuable and useful information and conclusions,
the validity of these studies are subject of debate2. Also, a growing number of academic working
papers using interesting research methods, such as field experiments and randomized trials, are
becoming available. Some conclusions can be drawn from these studies. Randomized impact
evaluations from for example Sri Lanka and Peru suggest that the effects of business skills
trainings are quite limited as the authors found little to no evidence for the impact of these
programs on womens business performance . This evidence is significant because many women
entrepreneurship development programs seek to address a perceived knowledge gap by means of
training. Another randomized field experiment in Afghanistan found that obligatory womens
participation in development programs did positively impact on womens involvement in income
generation but did not change their position in the household nor the attitudes toward the general
role of women in society at large. In other words, deeply rooted gender discrimination was left
intact. Such findings underscore the need for a systematic effort to investigate the premises (and
impact) of women entrepreneurship policies and support programs offered by public and private
institutions and governments also rightfully points out that is unrealistic to seek for
miracle solutions that can achieve gender equality in policy efforts focused at either economic
development or womens empowerment for that matter. Based on a literature review she finds
evidence that womens empowerment and economic development are closely interrelated and
that equity between men and women is only likely to be achieved by continuing policy actions
that favor women at the expense of men, possibly for a very long time. This suggests that we
need to temper our expectations of the impact of women entrepreneurship promotion as the new
engine for growth to bring gender equality, social change and economic development for both
men and women.

31

5.3 Lessons from assessing impact on gender equality

Thus the question remains: does women entrepreneurship promotion and development turn
women into successful ventures with greater sales while creating employment opportunities, thus
Contributing to economic growth? Moreover, does it change the gender biased context in which
entrepreneurship is embedded and create gender equality or social change? And if so, how? As
part of a larger scholarly endeavor to address these questions, it would be worthwhile to create an
overview and historic analysis on the stated and omitted rationale for these support programs and
policies in developing countries. Furthermore, an inventory and critical analyses of the different
policies and programs offered and enacted by international, regional and national institutions
would help determine the coherency and impact of women entrepreneurship promotion and
development in developing countries. Pending such an endeavor, some observations and
conclusions can be drawn from case studies and general evaluations of the impact of gender
development programs that can serve to inform an analytical framework for a systematic impact
assessment. For example, in a landmark collection of essays on the rise of gender in
development, Pearson argues that the problem with a lot of programs and policies is that they are
based on the assumption that market engagement and income generation will automatically lead
to womens economic empowerment, changing the gendered normative practices within the
household and beyond. This is nowhere more widespread (but least theorized) then in literature
and practice on micro-finance. Undoubtedly many individual women
benefit from micro-credit loans even though systematic analysis is lacking and empirical
evidence not conclusive. Some argue that micro-finance schemes help women achieve autonomy
and independence, while others claim that it only makes women responsible for credit while
husbands remain in control of decision-making. The problem is that impact is usually measured
in terms of economic indicators while other effects, such as social change are left ignored. Also,
it remains unclear how individual gains and benefits contribute to macroeconomic change, let
alone political decision-making and enhanced levels of gender equality in society. Depending on
country context, virtually all the NGOs and international donors that promote microcredit as a
policy for economic empowerment have left gender inequality and other structural conditions
that cause and produce poverty among women, unchallenged and unchanged.
5.4 Lessons from evaluating entrepreneurship development policies
32

Despite a growing number of contributions, the debate whether we can actually teach individuals
to be entrepreneurs is still very much unsettled. Some argue for the need to distinguish between
the art of entrepreneurship and the skill of entrepreneurship, suggesting that some aspects of
entrepreneurship can successfully be taught but that business education does not make a
successful entrepreneur per se whereas other variables are at play. More promising in this regard
appears to be awareness-raising efforts aimed at perceptual variables e.g. empowering the
perception of possessing skills. On that note, findings presented by Aces and Herb point at the
importance of starting enterprise development policies early because the main drivers are
perceptual variables that take a long time to change. Likewise, promising evidence has been
found for a group of policies that focuses on enduring local interventions. Here informal and
formal support structures are created, for example by chambers of commerce, through trainings
publically sponsored incubators, research and development. It is findings suggest that a diverse
set of context-driven policies delivered at multiple levels (national, regional and local) are more
conducive to entrepreneurship than single-issue policies (e.g. focused on access to financial
resources). A suitable framework for analysis that can measure impact and long-term change can
also draw important lessons from the work of as she questions whether, and if so, governments
are able to positively influence entrepreneurial activity. Even though focuses here on general
policies and not those focused on women per se, some conclusions are of interest for WEP policy
research. Concurring with Pearson also finds that there is inconclusive evidence for the impact of
policies that are designed to enhance access to finance for entrepreneurs. Likewise, she finds
little evidence for the positive effects of tax breaks for start ups, export subsidies, credits and
export guarantees and other national policies aimed at stimulating, regulating or restricting
business movement.
5.5 New inspiring directions in women entrepreneurship promotion practice
An alternative approach to close the gender gap in entrepreneurship is suggested. Drawing on
institutional theory, they propose to improve the legitimacy of women's efforts to become
entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa, by means of social marketing. The concept of social
marketing is defined as: specifically selected communication goals and messages that are
tailored to promote shifts in beliefs and related attitudes towards women, work and their
enterprises. These shifts in beliefs and attitudes are formulated at three related levels. First they
33

propose actions in the regulatory environment consisting of promotional activities for womens
political leadership at the highest level to bring about changes in laws to improve the social
status of women. These actions are set to enhance access to capital (microcredit loans) and
ownership of land (to be used as collateral). Secondly, they propose a series of actions in the
normative environment consisting of large-scale, regional, long-term advertising campaigns.
Based on anti-smoking campaigns, they need to bring about attitude change among men towards
their wives and daughters as individuals with the right of self-determination and as future
business people. Thirdly, they suggest actions in the cognitive environment that entail adequate
educational and training programs for girls and women. Amine here suggest instruments to use
such as outdoor billboards and posters, mobile units equipped with video and sound equipment,
radio advertising, promotional events, relationship marketing through peer-to-peer contacts, viral
and buzz marketing through the use of opinion leaders and word-of-mouth communications,
celebrity endorsements: using artists, celebrities and political figures to spread the message.
What these instruments have in common is that most of them are targeted at collective audiences
instead of individuals, with high levels of reach and repetition, set out to change and challenge
normative systems.

REFERENCE
Ahl, H. (2004). "The Scientific Reproduction of Gender Inequality: A discourse analysis of
research texts on womens entrepreneurship". Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.
AWID (2004) Intersectionality: "A Tool for Gender and Economic Justice. In: Womens Rights
and Economic Change". Facts Issues, No. 9, August 2004. Published online, http://.awid.org.

34

Brush, C. (1997): "Entrepreneurship in the Decentralized Sector Women-Owned Businesses:

Obstacles and Opportunities", Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship.
Dhameja, S. K. (2002), Women Entrepreneurs: Opportunities, Performance and Problems, Deep
Publisher (P) Ltd., New Delhi.
Fernando J. Fuentes (2010),"Gender differences in entrepreneurial attitudes", Equality, Diversity
and Inclusion: An International Journal,Vol.29 No.8, pp 766-786.
Goyal,M., & Parkash, J. (2011). "Women Entrepreneurship in India-Problems and Prospects".
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research , Vol.1 Issue 5, September 2011, ISSN 2231
5780.
Gordon E. & Natarajan K.: (2007) "Entrepreneurship Development" Himalaya Publication
House, Second Revised edition.
Jennifer E.Jennings (2013), "Research on women entrepreneurs" The academy of management
annals 2013, Vol. 7, No.1, pp 661-713, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2013.782190
Ooi Yeng Keat, C. S. (2011). "Inclination towards entrepreneurship among university students":
An empirical study. International Journal of Business and Social Science , Vol. 2 No. 4; March
2011.
Orhan M. & Scott D. (2001), "Why Women Enter into Entrepreneurship: An Explanatory
Model". Women in Management Review, 16(5): 232-243.

35

CHAPTER-2
REVIEW
OF
LITERATURE

Chapter-2: Review of Literature

Surti and Sarupriya (1983) investigated 40 women entrepreneurs with minimum two years
experience. They examined the role of stress, the effect of demographic variables such as marital
status, type of family on stress and how women entrepreneurs cope with stress. Results indicated
that unmarried women entrepreneurs experienced less stress and self-role distance than married
women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs from joint families experienced less stress, probably
because they share their problems with other family members. External focus of control was
significantly related to the stress role and fear of success was related to result- inadequacy and
role-inadequacy dimensions of stress. While many entrepreneurs used intrapersistent coping
36

styles, such as taking action to solve problems, avoidance was more common than approach
oriented styles of coping.
Singh and Sengupta (1985) conducted a study on 45 women trainees who were attending the
entrepreneurial development programme to determine the characteristics of women who were on
the threshold of starting their enterprise, to study the reasons for starting their own business, to
identify the motivational factors that lead women to become entrepreneurs, and to establish
relationship between their entrepreneurial vision, potentials and policy implication for
developing entrepreneurship among women. The study revealed that educationally more
qualified women perceived entrepreneurship as a challenge, ambition, and for doing something
fruitful, whereas those educationally less qualified entrepreneurs perceived the EDP training as
only a tool for earning quick money. The majority of the potential entrepreneurs had clarity about
their projects but needed moral support from males and other family members for setting up their
enterprise. Women entrepreneurs preferred to combine their need for excellence with emotional
dependency. They had an inner uncertainty of their own capabilities and needed a male support
to pave their way rather with money, business know how or moral support.
Singh, Sehgal, Tinani and Sengupta(1986)conducted a study on 60 successful women
entrepreneurs from in around Delhi revealed that, majority of the women entrepreneurs were
married, and in the age group of 26 to 35 years. The reasons for the choice of business are in the
order of high demand for product, processing skills, ready market, future prospects and
creativity. The reasons for women to become entrepreneurs were to keep busy, to earn money on
their own, to pursue hobby as an earning activity, by accident and circumstances beyond control.
Medha Dubashi and Winze (1987) studying the women entrepreneurs of India has reported that
women lacked confidence to study their own ventures: social pressure restricting freedom of
movement and financial organizations not encouraging the women entrepreneurs have the
reasons for womens unwillingness to come forward to take up entrepreneurship. There were
three research studies on a comparatively large sample, whose main emphasis was with some
aspects of women entrepreneurship. Winze study related to the impact of womens international
decade on development of women entrepreneurship in Delhi. Nadkarni25in her socio- economic
37

study made a modest attempt to understand in perspective how the new opportunities and the
traditional disabilities in the case of women could be understood. Natarajan26 tried to develop an
index to measure performance over a period of time and also to identify the factors which
contribute to the success or otherwise of the women entrepreneurs.
Manorama (1991) expresses that the women entrepreneurs in India represent a group of women
who have broken away from the beaten track and are exploring new vistas of economic
participation. Their task has been full of challenges and yet they have steered clear of prejudice,
oppositions and constraints and have established themselves as successful entrepreneurs. A great
many of these entrepreneurs have chosen the commercial world because of a compelling urge of
wanting to do something positive in their lives. But most have been pushed into it by sheer
force of situation and circumstances. These pace and trend setters for womens economic
emancipation have shown courage, tenacity, will-power, farsightedness and vision in handling
business ventures independently. By enabling women to become entrepreneurs and participate
fully and more effectively in a wider range of economic and especially industrial activities, it is
possible not only to improve their position in society but also to make greater progress towards
overall economic and social development objectives, such as increased economic growth,
improved productivity, improved distribution of income, reduction in poverty and above all in
reduction of unemployment.
Jumani (1991) has discussed the common economic issues like low income, little scope of
getting work opportunities, un skilled, tiring labour work further aggravates on account of non
availabilities of land or any other fixed assets. She has provided an original conceptual
framework to explain the social and economic dynamics of self- employment specifically in
relation to poor rural women. The author highlights the interaction between the working and
social roles of these women, the availability of their access to natural resources, infrastructural
facilities and its impact upon their perception of themselves and their life situations and was
salient on interventions to tackle the problems of poverty through self employment.
Kanitkar (1994) has studied entrepreneurs and micro enterprises in rural areas by selecting 86
entrepreneurs who belonged to 22 villages of Bihar in northern India, West Bengal in East India
38

and, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh from central India and found that 88 per cent of the business
entrepreneurs were not from families with business background and 48 percent had parents who
belonged to the farming group.
Viswanathan (1997) traces the history of gender planning in India, which started with welfare
approach and culminated in empowerment approach which, along with practical gender and
strategic gender, needs give women a voice in decision- making. The strategy of self- help
groups was used to empower the vulnerable and powerless poor women through DWCRA.
Awareness programmes and group activities were provided and emphasis was made on setting up
of local skill exchanges that helped women to improve their economic status. The author cited
Indira Mahila Yozna which had the basic principle in its scheme that would lead to economic
empowerment which would improve the family relationship and domestic work culture leading
to social empowerment, more equitable participation of women in family decision making
helping them acquire leadership qualities and political empowerment. But the author has failed to
focus on the lack of training component in the above schemes with respect to development of
entrepreneurial skills, leadership qualities and risk taking and decision making abilities. The
existing programmes need introspection in terms of its content which has not been stressed by
her.
Heggade (1998) has discussed the development of rural women entrepreneurship, trends, and
patterns of growth by various types of economic activities and the problems faced by them. The
government schemes such as DWCRA/ TRYSEM and other income generating activities in the
group and by individual entrepreneurs have enlightened the process involved in the promotion of
self- help groups, networking of the bankers / NGOs / village panchayats/ departments/ societies
in organizing and promoting self employment ventures by these women. The study has revealed
that the marginalized groups like SC/STs, religious minorities like Muslims/ Christians are very
negligible whereas the rural women belonging to Hindu forward groups are substantial.
Activities selected by these women were purely village based, lacked tapping the avenues of
wider markets due to gender bias of the promoters, their restrictions in mobility, constraints of
market expansion ideas by taking additional working capital. The author has failed to comment

39

on the personality growth of these women, and mode of inculcating risk taking, decision making,
and capacity building aspects.
Rajeshwari (1999) state that the quest for economic independence and better social status and
sometimes sheer need for the familys survival, force women into self- employment and
entrepreneurship In India, economic development has brought about changes in womens lives
in many ways, because of advancement in medicine, availability and access to birth control
devices, modern household appliances reducing the time and drudgery of house-hold work But
with the rising cost of living, the middle class family finds it very difficult today to manage with
the husbands income alone . At this critical position, self-employment is the safer way to
generate income. In addition, self- employment also changes the position of women from being
job-seekers to job givers.
Shyamala (1999) entrepreneurial development is a complex phenomenon. Entrepreneurs play a
key role in the economic development of a country. Entrepreneurship may be regarded as a
powerful tool for economic development of a predominantly agricultural country like India.
Since independence, small scale entrepreneurship programmes have contributed significantly to
the economic growth. To create entrepreneurship among the students, younger generation, the
small scale sector has to be made a vital part of our economy next only to agriculture. The human
resource 42 in Small Scale industries are found to be more helpful in maintaining them on
profitable employment opportunities. It may be pointed out that the ideal Golden Age of Mrs.
Robinson has come only through entrepreneurship development.
Vishwanathan (2001) in her article on opportunities and challenges for women in business
elaborately has discussed various support services and societal changes that were needed in
promoting women entrepreneurship. She has given emphasis on bringing about a curriculum
change by incorporating EDP (Entrepreneurship development programmes) from high school
level onwards. She has also talked about the constant review of EDPs to make it more relevant
and market -oriented. She has gone into the aspect of providing funds, appropriate training,
collaborating with NGOs and changing the attitude of society towards womens occupations and

40

finally, has mentioned the catalytic role played by the women development corporation for
developing entrepreneurship among women.
Narayan (2005) has given different meanings in different socio- cultural and political contexts
on the terms such as self strength , control, self- power, self- reliance, own choice, life of
dignity in accordance with ones values, capacity to fight for ones rights, independence, own
decision - making , being free, awakening and capability. The empowerment having intrinsic and
instrumental value was relevant at the individual and collective levels, which could be economic,
social or political, expansion of assets, capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate
with, influence, control and hold accountable to institutions that affect their lives.
The framework of empowerment had four elements/ principles such as:
a) Access to information,
b) Inclusion and participation
c) Accountability, and
d) Local organizational capacity.
Shubha, Bhargava and Mangala Nayak (2006) while referring to the participation of women
in the Panchayat Raj Institution, at the grass root level have discussed that despite advocacy on
greater participation of women who were excluded from the benefits of development, they still
remained the largest excluded group. An expansion in human capabilities was considered as the
end of all development efforts, which included promotion of equality and empowerment,
ensuring sustainability, improving work productivity, maximizing efficiency and encouraging
effective participation. Increased participation in rural governments could never be achieved
without capacity building. Successful local leadership involving political and managerial skills
depends on the building of local leadership capacity. Necessary training and orientation is
necessary to empower the women members to exercise their authority. Empowerment gives
women the capacity to influence decision- making process, planning, implementation and
evaluation by integrating them into the political system. Exchange programme of Kerala and
Karnataka helped elected and potential women share, learn, and understand the process of
empowerment. In Karnataka the Self Help Group concept helped for mobilizing women as a
support base at villages. Exposure visits made women to understand as learning by seeing is
41

more authentic. A strong information system is essential for participatory democracy and
planning the process of empowerment.
Jakinow (2007) stated that Self-help has often perceived as a valuable, if not essential element to
the development programmes. At the same time, as a concept it has generally escaped scrutiny.
Two types of claims were made about the benefits of self-help programmes. First, it was
suggested that self-help empowered its participants more so than other externally directed or
implemented programmes. The second less local claim has the compatibility of self-help with
cost-reduction strategies: both in terms of material costs and costs to the prevailing social and
economic structure. This article has explored these two claims through a case study of a self-help
group (SHG) programme in Tamil Nadu, India. It has argued that although empowering
outcomes were stated as the rationale for self-help, these were often neglected in favor of
achieving cost-reduction ones. This has an outcome of the concept of self-help being absorbed
into the practices and discourses of the dominant development paradigm. Self-help had thus been
divorced from its role in enabling self-direction, and had become the rationale for pressurizing
the marginalized to take responsibility for improving their own condition within a non-negotiable
economic and social structure.
Ghose and Nirantar (2007) have discussed the link between literacy and womens
empowerment programmes by quoting the findings like 61 per cent of the SHG members
surveyed were non-literate; this included those 28 per cent who could only sign. 69 per cent of
the women who were in leadership roles were literate. Not having regular access to reading
material had serious consequences. Neo literate populations quickly relapsed into illiteracy. It
means no access to information, inability to participate in public debates and lack of awareness
of ones rights. In the absence of a literate environment the investments made in making people
literate was as good as providing water in leaking glasses.
Shinnar Toney & Llopis (2009) surveyed over 1000 students at universities in the USA, Spain,
and China & compared them on the basis of hosted dimensions of individualism/collectivism,
Power Distance, Avoidance, Masculinity/Femininity. It was concluded from findings that
individualism, Low Power Distance, Low Uncertainty Avoidance, High Masculinity Index has
42

been directly linked to entrepreneurial activity which suggests that Americans are likely to have
high levels of entrepreneurial interest and activity relative to natives of the other countries.
Further the study concluded that students with entrepreneurial family background are more likely
to intend to start their own business.
Franco, Hawse, & Lautenschlager (2010) explored the entrepreneurial intentions of university
students and the factors that most contribute to entrepreneurial intentions in different European
regions from November 2008 to February 2009, students were directly approached by the
interviewers in a selected range of lectures and courses throughout the university locations, in
order to ensure a weighted inclusions of students from all courses and years of study. The overall
sample composed of 988 students from eastern and western Germany as well as from central
Portugal. Besides business administration and economics, the participants field of study was
other social sciences, arts, and humanities, design, engineering and mathematics. The findings
indicated that the share of students willing to be self employed is lowest in the eastern German
university, followed by the western Germany institution, whereas in Portugal the respective share
is considered higher. Moreover, Business Administration students prefer significantly more to be
self employed than their counterparts in other disciplines.
Mermom shabana A(2011) aimed at finding out the various motivating factor which make the
woman students select entrepreneurship as a career option as well as the various perceived
difficulties which hinder the choice of the students in selecting entrepreneurship after their post
graduates course .A questionnaire was administered to the woman students wherein the various
motivational factors as regards to their choice for entrepreneurship along with the perceived
barriers for entrepreneurship were elicited .THE study concluded tag academic merit

choice of

entrepreneurship among girls students is dependent . Lower merit student preferred jobs than
opting for the entrepreneurship .Further qualification of parents is independent in choice of the
career of their daughters.
Adoram (2011) has focused upon the reason for gender gaps in entrepreneurship and suggested
remedies for these discrepancies as reflected in the literature. The author discussed various
gender related variables affecting women entrepreneurial activities and elaborates about potential
43

policy implications with regard to these proposals; First dominant factor was education. It was
found that regardless of women womens original decision to be self employed, female
entrepreneurship is probably expedited by actual participation in the labor force. Findings also
implied that higher the salary differential, hence gaps in labor market, the higher the level of
entrepreneurship. Consequently, it was asserted that if the earning gap is a major reason behind
female self employment, it can be rationalized that a larger wage gap leads to necessity driven
entrepreneurship.

REFERENCE
Byes Abdul and Amin Rahul, Beeker Stan (1998) NGO Promoted Micro Credit programs and
Women Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh, quantitative and qualitative evidence, THE
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPING AREAS, (Winter 1998; 221-236)
Dubashi Vinzye Medha (1987) "Women Entrepreneurs in India" A Socio Economic study of
Delhi, (New Delhi: Mittal) 75-85
Heggade O D (1998) Developing Rural Women Entrepreneur Ship, (New Delhi: Mohit)
Jakinow (2007) The Rationale of Self help in Development Intervention A case study of a Self
Help Group Programme in Tamil Nadu JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN DEVELOPMENT, (Vol.
2(1) January 1, 2007) PP 107 204)
44

K Subha, B S Bhargava and Mangala A Nayak(2006) Womens Empowerment - Women in

Panchayat Raj Institutions Political Empowerment through capacity building Biju M.R(Ed)
(New Delhi : Mittal) page 75 to 90
Meenaz Kassam and Femida Handy (2004) "Womens Empowerment in Rural India" Paper
presented at the ISTR Conference, Toronto Canada, and July, 2004
Narayan Deepa (2005) "Empowerment and Poverty Reduction"- A Source Book, (New Delhi:
Rawat)
Nirantar & Malini Ghose (2007) Examining Gender, Literacy and Womens Empowerment in
INDIA: Some Issues within Self Help Groups : A quantitative study and Examining
Empowerment, Poverty Alleviation and Education within Self Help Groups ; A qualitative Study,
(New Delhi: A resource Center for Gender and Education)
Natarajan R (1991) Women Entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu, (A Study, thesis , NITIE, Bombay)
P. Sumangala, M. Rajeswari (1999) "Women Entrepreneurs- A Scan on their Problems and
Prospects" (New Delhi: Kanishka )
Surti, K. And Sarupriya, D. (1983) Psychological Factors Affecting Women Entrepreneurs:
Some Findings, INDIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK,(44 (3), 1983, 287-295).
Singh, N.P., and Sengupta, R. (1985) "Potential Women Entrepreneurs: Theory Profile, Vision
and Motivation" : An Exploratory Study, (Research Report Serial One, NIESBUD, New Delhi)
Shyamala (1999) Entrepreneurship Development for Women (New Delhi: Kanishka )

45

CHAPTER-3
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

46

Chapter-3: Research Methodology

Research methodology is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a
manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure.
Research methodology is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted. It
constitutes the blueprint for the collection measurement and analysis of the data.
Research methodology is a framework for the study and is used as a guide in collecting and
analyzing the data. It is a strategy specifying which approach will be used for gathering and
analyzing the data. It also includes the time and cost budget since most studies are done under
these two constraints.
Research methodology is a way to systematically study and solve the research problem. if a
researcher want to claim his study as a good study he must clearly state the methodology adopted
in conducting the research so that it may be judge by the reader whether the methodology
adopted in conducting the research so that it may be judge by the reader whether the
methodology of work done is sound or not.
This study comprised defining and redefining problems, suggesting solutions, collecting,
organizing, editing and evaluating data, making deductions and reaching conclusions and at last
carefully testing the conclusion

Objective of the study

1. To find out the various motivating factors which motivate the female student select
Entrepreneurship as a Career Option.
2. To find out the various hindering factors acting as obstacles for female students in the
selection of Entrepreneurship.
3. To analyze the impact of age, category institute (Government/Private) on attitude of female
management students towards entrepreneurship.

47

Scope of the Study

The study has been carried out to find out the attitude of management female students towards
Entrepreneurial Careers. The study deals with only female MBA students undergoing their
studies in different Management Institutes in Sirsa city. The study is restricted to only Female
MBA students currently pursuing their degree & doesnt include the students who have passed
out.

Data Collection Method

The present research study is based on both primary and secondary data collected from various
sources. Primary Data is collected through survey method using questionnaires designed on the
basis of Likert Scale (Strongly Agree=1, Agree=2, Uncertain=3, Disagree=4, Strongly
Disagree=5). Hence lower the mean score of a statement, higher is the agreement of respondents
with the statement under study. The secondary data was obtained through published books,
magazines, national & international journals, statistical reports, text books and internet.

Sampling Technique
Judgment sampling method has been adopted for this study. A sample size of 150 BBA or MBA
students (girls) was selected from different Management institutes situated in SIRSA .
Sample Size: 150
Sample Profile: Female respondents of BBA or MBA course from different Management
institutes situated in SIRSA

Type of Research Design:

Our research Exploratory cum Descriptive in nature.

Hypothesis Formulation
H01: There is no significant impact of the age on Attitude of female management students
towards entrepreneurship.

48

H02: There is no significant impact of the category of the institute (Government/Private) on

Attitude of female management students towards entrepreneurship.
H03: There is no significant impact of the family income on Attitude of female management
students towards entrepreneurship.

Statistical Tools used for Data Analysis

The data processing in this research study has been done through SPSS package (16.0) using the
following statistical tools i. Descriptive statistics
ii. ANOVA

Organization of the study

Chapter1 includes the introduction of women entrepreneurship.
Chapter2 comprises the review of literature.
Chapter3 includes objective of the study, data collection, scope of the study, research
hypothesis, & limitation of study.
Chapter4 analyze the impact of age, category of institution and family income on attitude of
female management students towards entrepreneurship.
Chapter5 includes various conclusions and suggestions.

Limitation of the study

This study is focusing only on female, male respondents are not included.

Due to lack of time, the sample size is sufficient.

Responses are not upto the mark or appropriate.

49

CHAPTER-4
DATA ANALYIS &
INTERPRETATION

50

Chapter-4: Data Analysis and Interpretation

Impact of Demographic variables on Attitude of Female Management Students towards
Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study
The objective were to identify the impact of various demographic factors like age, category of
institute (government/private), family income on attitude of female management students
towards entrepreneurship. The observations of the questionnaire were studied on the basis of
Likert scale form as Strongly Disagree-1, Disagree-2, Neutral-3, Agree-4, and Strongly Agree-5;
hence higher the mean score, higher was the agreement towards that statement.
Table 1(a): Impact of age on attitude of female management students towards
entrepreneurship.

51

ANOVA
STATEMENTS

Sig.

Category (Private College)

Category (Government College)
Career choice (Service Whole Life)
Career choice (New Business Just After Education)
Career choice (Family Business Just After Education)
Career choice (New Business After 3-5 year of Service)
Career choice (Family Business Just After 3-5 year of Service)
Motivation factor (Money)
Motivation factor (Self Respect)
Motivation factor (Respect in Society)
Motivation factor (Freedom)
Motivation factor (Up Gradation of your Family)
Motivation factor (Skill Improvement)
Motivation factor (Family Status)
Barriers (Lack of Fund)
Barriers (Risk)
Barriers (Lack of Family Support)
Barriers (Marriage)
Barriers (Lack of Opportunities)
Barriers (Health Problem)
Barriers (Orthodox View Point)

1.734
2.675
1.855
.366
1.206
3.631
1.849
3.909
1.645
2.715
.960
1.962
1.437
.292
.351
1.009
1.292
1.395
5.723
5.810
6.695

.180
.072***
.160
.694
.302
.029**
.161
.022**
.197
.070***
.385
.144
.241
.747
.704
.367
.278
.251
.004*
.004*
.002*

Source: Data processing and analysis done through SPSS package (16.0)

*Significant at 1% level.
**Significant at 5% level.
***Significant at 10% level.
For analyzing the impact of age on attitude of female management students towards
entrepreneurship; twenty one statements were being studied and out of these statements, seven
statements (3 statements at 1% level of significance and 2 statements at 5% level of significance
and 2 statements at 10% level of significance) were found to be significantly affected by the
students age as shown in Table 1(a). Therefore, the null hypothesis H01 is rejected.

52

Table 1(b): Descriptive table showing the impact of age on attitude of female management
students towards entrepreneurship.

Statements

Less

than

20

20-25

above 25

Category(Government College)
Career Choice(Service Whole Life)
Career Choice(New busi.after 3-5 year of service)
Motivation Factor (Money)
Motivation Factor (Respect in Society)

3.4651
3.6744
3.4419
4.2013

3.9074
3.5556
2.8704
3.8704

3.6604
3.2075
3.3396
4.3953

4.1628

4.2037

3.8679

Barriers (Lack of Opportunities)

2.7907

3.3148

2.7925

Barriers (Health Problem)

2.4186

2.8889

2.2642

Barriers (Orthodox View Point)

1.9302

2.5926

2.0189

Table 1(b) illustrates that 20-25 age students preferred government institute as compared to less
than 20 age student; so the score of 20-25 age students are higher than other aged group students.
And also we find that the age group of less than 20 preferred job in comparison to other aged
group, but we also found that they will opt business after 3-5 year of service because they are
more aggressive about their career and they want to get in business after getting the experience
of managerial level.
From this study it was also found that the students aged above 25 said that Money is the
motivation factor that affect them for the selection of Entrepreneurship and according to aged
less than 20 students view point Respect in Society factor motivate them for the selection of
Entrepreneurship.
It was also found that 20-25 age group students said that lack of opportunities is the only
barrier factor for the selection of Entrepreneurship as a career because of competition

53

Table 2(a): Impact of category of institute (Government/Private) on attitude of female

management students towards entrepreneurship.
Statements
Category (Private College)
Category (Government College)
Career choice (Service Whole Life)
Career choice (New Business Just After Education)
Career choice (Family Business Just After Education)
Career choice (New Business After 3-5 year Of Service)
Career choice(Family Business Just After 3-5 year Of Service)
Motivation factor (Money)
Motivation factor (Self Respect)
Motivation factor (Respect In Society)
Motivation factor (Freedom)
Motivation factor (Up Gradation of Your Family)
Motivation factor (Skill Improvement)
Motivation factor (Family Status)
Barriers (Lack of fund)
Barriers (Risk)
Barriers (lack of family support)
Barriers (Marriage)
Barriers (lack of opportunities)
Barriers (Health problem)
Barriers (Orthodox view point)

F
.574
.627
.179
3.365
.070
5.337
1.307
.000
.079
5.303
1.152
.010
.673
1.742
.075
.076
3.728
2.616
2.888
.625
7.241

Sig.
.450
.430
.673
.069***
.792
.022**
.255
.994
.779
.023**
.285
.919
.413
.189
.785
.783
.055**
.108
.091***
.430
.008*

Source: Data processing and analysis done through SPSS package (16.0)
*Significant at 1% level.
**Significant at 5% level.
***Significant at 10% level.
For analyzing the impact of category of institute on attitude of female management students
towards entrepreneurship; twenty one statements were being studied and out of these statements,
six statements (1 statements at 1% level of significance and 3 statements at 5% level of
significance and 2 statements at 10% level of significance) were found to be significantly
affected by the students category institute as shown in Table 3(a). Therefore, the null hypothesis
H03 is rejected.
54

Table 2(b): Descriptive table showing the impact of category institute on attitude of female
management students towards entrepreneurship.
Statements

Government college Private college

Career Choice (New busi.just after education)

Career Choice (New busi.after 3-5 year of service)
Motivation Factor (Respect in society)
Barriers (Lack of family support)

2.8421
3.0789
4.1579

3.2778
3.5833
3.8056

3.1140

2.7222

Barriers (Lack of opportunities)

Barriers (Orthodox view point)

3.0526
2.3246

2.7500
1.8056

Table 2(b) illustrated that private colleges student wanted to start new business after education or
3-5 year of service because of financial capability and government college students are not
preferred to start new business because they are looking for government/reputed institution job
and they have lack of opportunities and lack of family support. As far as studied it was found that
mostly students select the private institute for study because of better infrastructure and
placement facility is also available as comparison to government institute.

Table 3(a): Impact of Family Income on attitude of female management students towards
entrepreneurship.

55

ANOVA
STATEMENTS

Sig.

Category (Private college)

.236

.790

Category(Government college)

1.369

.257

Career choice (Service whole life)

.869

.421

Career choice (New busi.just after education)

.664

.516

Career choice (Family busi.just after education)

1.106

.334

Career choice (New busi.after 3-5 year of service)

1.843

.162

Career choice (Family busi.just after 3-5 year of service)

.135

.874

Motivation factor (Money)

1.581

.209

Motivation factor (Self respect)

.248

.781

Motivation factor (Respect in society)

.172

.842

Motivation factor (Freedom)

.261

.771

Motivation factor (Up gradation of your family)

1.396

.251

Motivation factor (Skill improvement)

.641

.528

Motivation factor (Family status)

.058

.943

Barriers (Lack of fund)

.028

.972

Barriers (Risk)

.109

.897

Barriers (Lack of family support)

2.128

.123

Barriers (Marriage)

1.680

.190

Barriers (Lack of opportunities)

.697

.500

Barriers (Health problem)

1.332

.267

Barriers (Orthodox view point)

.025

.975

Source: Data processing and analysis done through SPSS package (16.0)

For assessing the effect of the family income on attitude of female management students towards
entrepreneurship; Twenty one statements related to attitude of female management students
towards entrepreneurship were being studied and out of these statements, none of the statements
was found to be significantly affected by the family income as shown in table. Therefore the null
hypothesis H03 is accepted which shows that the family income has no impact on attitude of
female management students towards entrepreneurship. It means whether the student belong to
56

middle class family or upper class family it will not have any significant impact on women
entrepreneurship.

CHAPTER-5
CONCLUSION &
FINDINGS

57

Chapter-5: Conclusion and Findings

The Analysis of the data revealed favorable trend towards Entrepreneurship, more or less
competing with job trend. The various factors like Job Insecurity, Work Pressure, and Lack of
Freedom in job could be the reason of inclination towards Entrepreneurship.
The findings are in contrast to similar studies where the attitude of management students was not
so favorable towards Entrepreneurship.
It can be said that today we are in a better position wherein women participation in the field of
entrepreneurship is increasing at a considerable rate. Efforts are being taken at the economy as
brought promise of equality of opportunity in all spheres to the Indian women and laws
guaranteed equal rights of participation in political process and equal opportunities and rights in
education and employment were enacted. But unfortunately, the government sponsored
development activities have benefited only a small section of women i.e. the urban middle class
58

women. Women sector occupies nearly 45% of the Indian population. At this juncture, effective
steps are needed to provide entrepreneurial awareness, orientation and skill development
programs to women. The role of Women entrepreneur in economic development is also being
recognized and steps are being taken to promote women entrepreneurship. Resurgence of
entrepreneurship is the need of the hour emphasizing on educating women strata of population,
spreading awareness and consciousness amongst women to outshine in the enterprise field,
making them realize their strengths, and important position in the society and the great
contribution they can make for their industry as well as the entire economy. Women
entrepreneurship must be molded properly with entrepreneurial traits and skills to meet the
changes in trends, challenges global markets and also be competent enough to sustain and strive
for excellence in the entrepreneurial arena. If every citizen works with such an attitude towards
respecting the important position occupied by women in society and understanding their vital
role in the modern business field too, then very soon we can pre-estimate our chances of out
beating our own conservative and rigid thought process which is the biggest barrier in our
countrys development process.
We always viewed that a smart woman can pick up a job any day, but if she becomes an
entrepreneur she can provide a livelihood to 10 more women at least..!! Highly educated,
technically sound and professionally qualified women should be encouraged for managing their
own business, rather than dependent on wage employment outlets. The unexplored talents of
young women can be identified, trained and used for various types of industries to increase the
productivity in the industrial sector.
The prime motivational factor to opt for Entrepreneurship revealed according to the study is SelfRespect followed up by desire for freedom, not for monetary factor whereas the main perceived
barriers were risk & lack of funds. The findings further revealed that Role of Management
Education plays an important role in Developing of Entrepreneurial Skills. And that can be
further improved by offering specialization in Entrepreneurship. More exposure to industrial
training & by organizing more Conferences & seminars related to Entrepreneurship. The various
agencies working in the field of Entrepreneurship can consider these suggestions& important
factors in various Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives.

59

In this research, it was also studied that category of institution (government/private) also affect
the career of students. Students studied in private institute select entrepreneurship as their career
option while students studied in government institute select job as their career option.
Most studies of women entrepreneurs in India have studied women entrepreneurs their nonentrepreneur peers. Many programmes have been implemented by the central / state governments
to motivate people to take up self- employment. This researcher work aims to evaluate the
government programmes for womens development especially on the disadvantaged women.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

60

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Empowerment, Poverty Alleviation and Education within Self Help Groups ; A qualitative Study,
(New Delhi: A resource Center for Gender and Education)
Natarajan R (1991) Women Entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu, (A Study, thesis , NITIE, Bombay)
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Students": An Empirical Study. International Journal of Business and Social Science , Vol. 2 No.
4; March 2011.
Orhan M. & Scott D. (2001), "Why Women Enter Into Entrepreneurship: an explanatory model".
Women in Management Review, 16(5): 232-243.
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P. Sumangala, M. Rajeswari (1999) "Women Entrepreneurs- A Scan on their Problems and

Prospects" (New Delhi: Kanishka )
Surti, K. And Sarupriya, D. (1983) Psychological Factors Affecting Women Entrepreneurs:
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and Motivation" : An Exploratory Study, (Research Report Serial One, NIESBUD, New Delhi)
Shyamala (1999) Entrepreneurship Development for Women (New Delhi: Kanishka )

Questionnaire
Dear Respondent,

I am taking this opportunity to introduce myself as a student of M.B.A final year working on the
research

project titled

as

Attitude

of

Female

Management Students Towards

Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study in Department of Business Administration, CDLU,

Sirsa. The results of this survey will be used for academic purposes only. The survey is
anonymous and the information provided will be kept completely confidential. You are requested
to fill up this questionnaire giving as accurate information as possible.
SHEENU GAGNEJA
SECTION: A
Name:..
63

Age:

a) less than 20

c) above 25

b) 20-25

City:
Pursuing M.B.A. From: a) Government institute [

b) Private Institute

Area of Interest:

b) Entrepreneurship [

b) Graduate

c) Post Graduate

d) Uneducated

a) Self Service

b) Employee

b) Graduate

d) Uneducated

Mothers Occupation: a) House Wife

b) Service

Family Income:

a) Upto 2 lakhs

b) 2-5 lakhs

c) Above 5 lakhs

a) Job

Fathers name (optional)..

Fathers Qualification: a) Under Graduate

Fathers occupation:

Mothers name (optional)..

Mothers Qualification: a) Under Graduate
c) Post Graduate

SECTION: B

(Attitude towards the factors affecting women entrepreneurship)

Q.1) Up to what extent the category of educational institution affect the choice of career
option?
Category

Very Low

Low

Neutral

High

Very High

Private College
Government College

Q.2) How would you rate your career choice after completion of management degree?
64

Career choice

Very low

Low

neutral

High

Very high

Service whole life

New business just after education
Family business Just after education
New business after 3-5 year of service
Family business after 3-5 year of service

Q.3) Up to what extent motivation factors affects you for the selection of your
entrepreneurship?
Motivation factors

Very low

Low

Neutral

High

Very high

Money
Self Respect
Respect in society
Freedom
Up gradation of your family
Skill improvement
Family status

Q.4) What are the barriers towards selection of entrepreneurship as a career?

Perceived Barriers

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Uncertain

Agree

Strongly
Agree

Lack of fund
Risk
Lack of family support
Marriage
Lack of opportunities
Health problem
Orthodox view point

65