International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Research (IJECR) ISSN 2250-0006 Vol.

3, Issue 3, Aug 2013, 61-68 TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: A SURGE TO BREAK THE IMAGE OF HOUSEWIVES

ANEESYA SHARMA & AVNISH SHARMA Assistant Professor, IBM, GLA University, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT
It has been observed that Women entrepreneurs deliberately, tend to grow less than their male counterparts. There are many factors that lead them to do so. Although women are opting for entrepreneurship as a career but still there are many factors that impede their progress, ranging from their own aspiration and trust in their own capabilities to access to human , financial and social support. Gone are the days when women were only confined to homes but now the women of this 21st century is trying hard to break their image of just house wives rather an educated, knowledgeable and innovative part of the overall population possessing the capacity to transform economies into thriving enterprises. Purpose of the study was to find out various motivating and de-motivating factor of women entrepreneurship in Indian context. It unearth that higher education, family and social support networks play a vital role in raising the desire and ability of women entrepreneurs to lead the high growth businesses. Therefore, fostering a culture of entrepreneurship is quit-essential to build a platform for further development.

KEYWORDS: Women Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship Development, Challenges, Entrepreneurial Culture, Problem,

Prospects

INTRODUCTION
In India most of the homemakers want to start their own business but there is so many problems faced by them. They feel frustrated in dual role. Government had started several programs for the development of women entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship refers to setting a new business to take advantages from new opportunities. Entrepreneur is the key factor of entrepreneurship and now women are successful in this as they have qualities desirable for entrepreneurship development. Gone are the days when women were considered no match for all powerful men in this world. The male dominated world was always reluctant to even acknowledge the fact that women were as good as men on parameters of hard work, intelligence quotient (IQ) and leadership traits. Traditionally, Women in society act as housewife or home maker and they were not having their much involvement & connectivity with external affairs of society. Nowadays women are standing equally with men in all the social fields and they are ready to move ahead with equal competitive esprit & are ready to face the challenges of this dynamic world. Even in Indian context, society is changing a lot in terms of acceptance of women as professionals, as breadearners in families and as independent thinking individuals. Today, Women have proved themselves as equals in many professions as well as proved themselves even better suited than men in others. The social situations for working women is improving very fast and today women are also having their own choice of doing a job or either starting a business by becoming an entrepreneur.( Karnagar, C.2013) According to the UN report women receive 25 per cent less wages than men in-spite of the law of equal wages for equal work. Time has come for women to come out of the drudgery of housework and give vent to their creativity and

62

Aneesya Sharma & Avnish Sharma

entrepreneurship. Women development is an important part of human resource development index of any nation. So without developing women completely, a nation cannot imagine its healthy social and economic progress. According to various research findings, there may be various supporting factors leading women empowerment in society including education, self awareness, changing people mindset & social perception as well as political environment. In developing country like India, Political, social, cultural and technological developments become important reasons for determining the role of women in a changing society.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Various research studies in the area of women entrepreneurship reveals that women are seeking career in entrepreneurship and this rise is world over and India is ranked 16th on indicators for good institutional foundations and a strong entrepreneurial environment for women by World's First Gender-GEDI Female Entrepreneurship Index commissioned by Dell (2012). For decades, women entrepreneurship is one of the vital sources of our economic development still they face great challenges to register their participation in economic progress. According to a survey conducted by Womens Web (2012) on 100 Indian women entrepreneurs, it was revealed that majority of them were small & medium business owners and at very young age they are pursuing their dreams with confidence and vigor. In the same line the study conducted by the Dell Womens Global Entrepreneurship (2012), women entrepreneurs in India confident and optimistic because are able to meet their business expectations. All these are the signs of boldness and risk taking abilities of women who are confidently taking the initiative to realize a creative proposal. Women entrepreneurship is definitely an emerging trend and the day is not far when workplace gender disparity will disappear and there will be the swift rise of the woman entrepreneurs. P. Babu (1978) through his study made an attempt to discover the sociological factors behind the development of small entrepreneurs. The result revealed that society and family background contribute a lot towards the success of prospective entrepreneurs, neither formal education nor just providing infrastructure facilities alone will promote entrepreneurship development, in-fact Association of Small Scale Industries has to play an important role in identification and development of entrepreneurs as well as a strong policy to support the entrepreneurs is called upon. Nafziger (1988) in his study investigated the motivating factors behind entrepreneurship development and the impact of education on entrepreneurship development in a society. The study reveals that for younger individuals formal education and working experience are vital to acquire entrepreneurial skills. The most significant barrier to small enterprise development is insufficient capital to start up a business. Usha Jumani (1991) carried out a study to analyze the status of rural selfemployed women. It was found that sources of income for women should be identified with due care, they have to be in consonance with striking a balance between family and work. To enhance the economic activities in the rural area, information technology and scientific processes can be used. The women need to be trained by the government for the same. Porus P Munshi (1999) women in organizations face Glass ceilings and maternal walls that block their progress. They dont have any mentor to guide them and shape them for senior management level. The glass ceiling is the progeny of the attitude of society that think women as a burden not as a helping hand. Counseling for the women as well as their counterpart will help to change this attitude. Economic independence can bring about development in thought as well as actions. Dr. L K Tripaty (2004) discussed the significance of encouraging academic entrepreneurship in India as a powerful engine, for the improvement of countries economy. Creating opportunities for the young and educated within the country will boost the employment for others as well. They also found out some interesting trends regarding entrepreneurship in India. Thus, we can say that a broad insight into the literature review suggests that, today the Indian women entrepreneurs are increasingly making a significant mark in the field of entrepreneurship. So it becomes crucial for the researcher to

Women Entrepreneurs: A Surge to Break the Image of Housewives

63

examine the rise of Women Entrepreneurs in India over the years. Therefore, the primary objective of the research is to study the significant rise of Women Entrepreneurs in India.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND OBJECTIVES

Present study is a secondary data based research work which was collected from the published reports of Government of India, census surveys, journals, websites, newspapers, magazines, text books, etc. Objectives of the study are as follows: To synthesis the potentials of women as entrepreneur. To find out factors responsible for womens enthusiasm for entrepreneurship . To suggest ways for fostering a culture of entrepreneurship so as to build a platform for further development.

UNDERSTANDING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

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 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 stand on their own feet. A sense towards independent decisionmaking about their life and career is the motivational factor behind this urge. Women Entrepreneur: Basic Characteristics According to various research studies done in the same area, successful women start their own businesses as a second or third profession. They start their new business after taking a good experience of their personal and professional life and choose the career of being entrepreneur in age of 4060 years old. There are number of factors which motivate the women entrepreneurs to choose this career option, but among all higher education, income and family support may play an important role. Multidimensional Role Played by Women Entrepreneur A woman in society plays variety of important role to discharge her duties and responsibilities properly. Research shows that the most important role played by the women in society may include mother, sister, daughter, care taker of dependents, housekeeping, friend, creative employer and of an entrepreneur. Women Entrepreneurship Model

Figure 1: Women Entrepreneurship Model

64

Aneesya Sharma & Avnish Sharma

According to this model, women want to establish their own business depending on the amalgamation of skills abilities competencies and their personal and career goals they decided for their life. Many a times the support from the family and society also act as one of the leading factor for boosting the confidence of women towards their art of entrepreneurship. These all responsible factors lead the women towards development of their own innovative business idea. As per various researches done in the area of entrepreneurship ,a women choose the career of being entrepreneur with the objective of earning income, prestige, reputation and for fulfilling their life dreams with the feel of self motivation, achievement and self independence.

FACTORS ACCOUNTABLE FOR WOMENS ENTHUSIASM FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Various researches are being done in the area of womens entrepreneurship. Different researc hers sited different drives and factors responsible for women motivation in relation to entrepreneurship.

Figure 2: Motivators & Potential Barriers for Women Entrepreneurship On the basis of the research literature one can categorize these motivational factors into two categories: Push Factors which compel the women to start their own business on the basis of their skill, talent, capability and resources available. This may include factors like womens frustration from their married life in terms of conflicts and tensions, their dissatisfaction with existing job, boredom in previous jobs, and various personal and family life responsibilities etc. Pull Factors on the other hand represents those important reasons which attract & motivate the women to establish their own image and reputation in society including feel of independence, autonomy, competence and ability to start their own and because of earning of incomes to secure the family & to live the healthy & happy life. Merton, 1938 highlighted the important variable i.e. Social exclusion responsible for motivating women for becoming a successful entrepreneur and for starting their own business. Whenever women feel exclusion from the society, it pressurizes them to innovate & practice something new in order to gain maximum acceptance in mainstream society.Research facts shows that many women become ready to start their business in order to break the traditional image & role of home maker and to prove their worthful identity in society (Granger et al 1995). In many cases the business family background also induces the women to join the same family business or to start a new business for developing a unique social identity and image. In this case childhood experiences with business practices, parents business attitudes and learning taken from family atmosphere also act as important variable and motivating factor for developing the feel of entrepreneurship. Bruh et al 2002 highlighted the importance of social networking, norms and social relationships as motivating factor which provide the support for exchange of information and access to important financial and non financial resources

Women Entrepreneurs: A Surge to Break the Image of Housewives

65

to start a new business. In reality women may have less social contacts in comparison of men, but they are skilled enough in using these contacts while practicing their art of entrepreneurship. There are other important factors causing womens motivation for being a successful entrepreneur .these may be classified as personal and contextual factors. Personal factors include the emergence of nuclear family system in soc iety, increasing womens education, awareness and competence, womens leadership skills in taking rational decisions and making the sound strategies. On the other hand, contextual factors include their career building urge and art of independent decision making.

EMPOWERING THE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS TO COME OUT OF THEIR PARADOXES

From the traditional times, it is realized that things become tough and challenging when it comes to women. Even in this growing and developing world, still it is a challenge for a woman to establish something their own and to develop their own identity & image in present society. Here one can follow the given suggestions to improve the existing status of working/business women. There should be a continuous attempt to inspire, encourage, motivate and cooperate women entrepreneurs. Attempts should be there to enhance the standards of awareness & education of women in general as well as making effective provisions for their training, practical experience and personality development programs. Attempts should be made to establish proper training institutes for enhancing their level of work-knowledge, skills, risk-taking abilities and enhancing their overall capabilities. There is a need to change the family and social attitude towards the image of women, generation of awareness and consciousness on the policy of self-development of women entrepreneurs. There should be certain enthusiastic Attempts made by various NGOs and government organizations to spread information about policies, plans and strategies related to the development of women in the field of industry, trade and commerce. Establishing various policies to offer easy finance schemes, seed capital and up-liftment schemes for economically strengthening the position of women in society. Forming a cooperative association of women entrepreneurs to mobilize resources and pooling capital funds in order to help the women in the field of industry, trade and commerce. To establish all India forums to discuss the problems, grievances, issues, and filing complaints against constraints or shortcomings towards the economic progress 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.

AGENCIES AND ASSOCIATIONS HAVING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION

There are number of organizations working for providing the adequate support and training to the women entrepreneurs including Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE), Womens India Trust (WIT), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO),

66

Aneesya Sharma & Avnish Sharma

Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs in India (CWEI), National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Self-employed Womens Association (SEWA). Some more schemes initiated by Indian Government include Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP), 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), Indira Mahila Yojana, Mahila Samiti Yojana , Micro Credit Scheme, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, SBIs Stree Shakti Scheme , Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) etc 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.

INDIAN SCENE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

A survey by Womens Web Women & Entrepreneurship in India 2012 shows a significant rise in female entrepreneurship in the country, there are a still few challenges that they face to achieve success. Women in India have done very well for themselves and the country. Indra Nooyi Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, is the most well-known face amongst Indian businesswomen, HP Managing Director Neelam Dhawan, ICICI Bank Limited Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar and IBM India CMO Virginia Sharma are just a few examples that exemplify the strength of Indian women. While there are women who have become successful businesswomen and role models for the Indian Industry, there are others including Ekta Kapoor who changed the face of Indian television, Neeta Lulla who is an Indian fashion stylist and made a mark for herself in the fashion industry and Shahnaz Husain, one of the most prominent Indian female entrepreneurs known for her herbal cosmetics and beauty products.

DISCUSSIONS
It can be stated that women are marching ahead in the field of entrepreneurship with considerable pace. Government is taking various steps at all spheres for the upliftment of Indian women in all spheres whether it is education or employment. Womens contribution in the economic development of our nation is recognized and steps have been taken to foster and promote women entrepreneurship because women occupy approximately 45% of the Indian population. Everyone one of us will agree to the point that a smart and confident women can grab a job anytime, but if she venture into the field of entrepreneurship then she can give livelihood to minimum 15 more women. Thus, proper molding of entrepreneurial skills, abilities & traits of women is required to manage the changes in trends and global market challenges; this can be done by spreading awareness & consciousness among women as well as changing the attitude of every citizen towards womens position in the society and respecting their valuable contribution in the modern business scenario. . One needs to remember always that a woman is a better house wife but at the same time she is a successful entrepreneur also. She proved herself in every sphere of life and now she got the wings to fly to catch her life dreams and to empower and grow the family & the society. Every woman should obviously remember We are stronger than we think we are. We have courage that we do not recognize until we need it. We are equal to challenges that we havent even imagined yet. Peter Buffett

Women Entrepreneurs: A Surge to Break the Image of Housewives

67

REFERENCES
1. 2. Arora, R.and Sood, S.K.(2005), Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Brush, C. (1997). Entrepreneurship in the Decentralized Sector Women-Owned Businesses: Obstacles and Opportunities, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship. 3. Hattangadi Dr. Vidya: (2007) Entrepreneurship Need of the hour, Himalaya Publication House, First edition. Schemes and Programs of Ministry of Small Scale Industries and Ministry of Agro & Rural Industries, Govt. of India Kalyani Publishers. 4. Kumar, A. (2004), "Financing Pattern of Enterprises Owned by Women Entrepreneurs", The Indian Journal of Commerce, Vol. 57, No. 2. Mahanty Sangram Keshari Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship Prentice Hall of India 5. Renuka V. (2001) Opportunities and challenges for women in business, India Together, Online Report, Civil Society Information Exchange Pvt. Ltd. 6. Jyoti, J., Sharma, J. & Kumari, A. (2011) Factors affecting orientation and satisfaction of women entrepreneurs in rural India, Annals of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, 2(1) 7. Kuratko, D. F., & Hodgetts , R.M. (1995). Entrepreneurship: A Contemporary Approach, Dryden Press Publication. 8. Kutanis, R.O., & Bayraktaroglu, S. (2003). Female Entrepreneurs: Social Feminist Insights for Overcoming The Barriers. Stream 19: Gender Perspectives and Management. Turkey. Sakarya University. 9. Shapero, A., & Sokol, L., (1982). The Social Dimensions of Entrepreneurship. In C. A. Kent, D. L.Sexton, & K. H. Vesper (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship (pp. 72- 88). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 10. Stoner, C. R., Hartman, R. I., & Arora, R. (1990). Work-home role conflict in female owners of small business: An exploratory study. Journal of Small Business Management, 28(1), 30-38. 11. Bhargava, S. (2007). 'Towards Entrepreneurship Development in the 21st Century,' in S.Bhargava (ed.), Developmental Aspects of Entrepreneurship, Response Books, Business Books from Sage, New Delhi. 12. Hisrich, R. D., & Brush, C. G. (1985). Women and minority entrepreneurs: A comparative analysis. In J. A. Hornaday, E. B. Shils, J. A. Timmons & K. H. Vesper (Eds.), Frontiers of Entrepreneurial Research, (pp. 56687). Boston, MA: Babson College. 13. Business Today, The 25 most powerful women in Indian Business September 26, 2004. 14. Dr S G Bhanu Shali (1987) Entreprenership development Himalaya Publishers New Delhi. 15. Mishra, Sanjukta. (2011) Reasons for Slow Progress of Women Entrepreneurs in India, ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Vol.1 Issue 5, ISSN 2231 5780.25-40 16. Meenu, Goyal & Prakash. Jai. (2012) Women Entrepreneurship in India Problems and Prospects, ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research Vol.2 Issue 5, ISSN 2249 8826. 56-65 17. Times of India- March 8, 2012 18. DELL Report 2012 GEM Report 2010

68

Aneesya Sharma & Avnish Sharma

19. Nafziger E W (1988) Society and the Entrepreneur Journal of Develoment Planning Vol 18 Special Issue on Entrepreneurship and economic development Pp 127-152 10. 20. Porus P Munshi (1999) Beyond the wall, Praxis, Business line Quarterly Journal on Management Vol. 2 issue 4 Nov 99 pp 14-15 21. Tripathy L K (2004) Academic entrepreneurship A powerful engine for economic growth in India. A case study of SMEs in Pune region, SIOM journal, Vol II no I page 50 22. Raheem, A. Abdul and C. Prabhu Women entrepreneurs: Problems and Prospects. India: Economic empowerment of Women. New Century Publications, Vol. I, Issue: I, April 2011 to Sept. 2011Global Economic Research Journal RNI. MAHMUL 02935/2011 ISSN 2249- 4081 New Delhi, India-2007. 23. Siva Loganafhan, K, Women Entrepreneurs: Problem and Prospects Indian Economic Panorma. 12(2), July 2002. 24. Sugura, B., Planning for Economic Empowerment of Women Social Welfare, 2001. 25. Usha Jumani (1991) Self employment for Poor Rural Women Sage Publication New Delhi. 26. www.economist.com/node/21526872. http://i.dell.com/sites/content/business/smb/merchandizing/en/Documents/India 27. www.economist.com/node/21526872. http://i.dell.com/sites/content/business/smb/merchandizing/en/Documents/India 28. www.itpeopleindia.com/20040920/careers1.shtml 29. www.womensweb.in/articles/women-entrepreneurship-in-india 30. www.delhi.startupweekend.org/2012/09/01/women-and-entrepreneurship-in-india/ 31. www.Smallindustryindia.com 32. www.dcmsme.gov.in/schemes 33. www.ghallabhansali.com 34. www.icfaijournals.com 35. www.imer.com 36. www.newsweek.com/2010/07/06/women-will-rule-the-world. 37. www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Sm-Z/Women-Entrepreneurs.html 38. www.udyogini.org 39. www.ssijmar.in