Women Entrepreneur Journeys from Poverty to Emancipation

2021 ◽  
pp. 105649262110176
Author(s):  
Smita K. Trivedi ◽  
Antoaneta P. Petkova
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Cultural Empowerment ◽  
Specific Activities ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
Women Entrepreneur

This study examines the processes and mechanisms through which entrepreneurship leads to the empowerment and emancipation of women living in poverty. Drawing on the entrepreneuring as emancipation perspective, we identify specific activities through which emancipatory entrepreneuring manifests itself in the context of women’s entrepreneurship in India. We observe that the activities of a social entrepreneur—the SEWA trade union—complement the activities of individual entrepreneurs and lead to economic, personal, and cultural empowerment. Further, we find evidence of emancipation at the collective level, expressed in changes of sociocultural norms about women’s entrepreneurship. Our study extends the entrepreneuring as emancipation perspective and contributes to research on empowerment and emancipation, women’s entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship in developing countries.

Lifelong activism and women’s entrepreneurship: how a social movement organization improves conditions for self-employed women in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 937-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Colovic ◽  
Sonia Mehrotra
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Movement Organization ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a local trade union improves living conditions for women entrepreneurs in India and how its activities have evolved over time. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a longitudinal case study of the self-employed women’s association (SEWA) in India. Founded in 1972, this organization fosters and supports women’s entrepreneurship. The approach of this study combines qualitative face-to-face interviews and secondary data analysis. Findings The findings highlight the fact that SEWA, which combines the features of a trade union and a social movement, improves women’s conditions in several different ways. The study shows that the organization’s main role has evolved from creating a community to expanding it and finally to becoming an agent of societal change. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature by analyzing how locally grown organizations fight social exclusion and improve the conditions of deprived groups in emerging economies.

Entrepreneurship as a Career Choice for Women

2020 ◽  
pp. 89-108
Author(s):  
Meryem Aybas ◽  
Gaye Özçelik
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Pull Factors ◽  
Push And Pull Factors ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Family ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
Push And Pull ◽  
Additional Income

Entrepreneurship is seen as an important tool in the prevention of women's unemployment and in the fight against poverty in underdeveloped and developing countries. Entrepreneurship becomes particularly obligatory for many women to substitute a kind of employment to provide additional income to the family. Drawing on Bowen and Hisrich's a career perspective to women's entrepreneurship and the context of a successful entrepreneurial career of a woman in Turkey, this chapter aims to discuss women's entrepreneurship by focusing on the reasons as to why women might choose entrepreneurship as a career choice. Another contribution is to provide a platform aimed at encouraging the mindset for the development of women's employment and entrepreneurship. In this context, the chapter provides explanations for the reasons for women's entrepreneurship within the push and pull factors. Furthermore, the main demographics of women entrepreneurs, their general personality characteristics, the sectors they operate in, and the difficulties they face are discussed.

Policies for supporting women entrepreneurs in developing countries: the case of Tanzania

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Modestus Nziku ◽  
Colette Henry
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Women Entrepreneurs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Entrepreneurship Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Setting ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Unique Context

PurposeWhile the topic of women's entrepreneurship continues to grow in academic appeal, the policy aspect is one that has received limited scholarly attention, especially in the context of developing countries. To address this gap in scholarship, the purpose of this paper aims to critically explore women's entrepreneurship policy in Tanzania. The research question asks: How are policies designed to encourage and support entrepreneurship in Tanzania gendered, and how might such policies be (re)designed so that they are more relevant to women entrepreneurs in the Tanzanian context? The authors contribute to extant scholarship by: drawing attention to the particular context for women's entrepreneurship in Tanzania; identifying gender biases inherent in current entrepreneurship policies; offering some recommendations for policymakers and identifying areas worthy of future research attention in this area.Design/methodology/approachThe study builds on the Global Women's Enterprise Policy project. The authors apply an adapted reading guide technique to analyse and critique relevant entrepreneurship policy documents in Tanzania. The reading guide examines the category and type of document being analysed, key themes, content, language and imagery, as well as the key policy recommendations being offered and their relevance to women's entrepreneurship in Tanzania and the wider sub-Saharan African region. Completed reading guide templates are then coded and collated into an excel spreadsheet. Findings are discussed and critiqued within a regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive framework.FindingsThe study provides rich and valuable insights into the unique context for women's entrepreneurship in Tanzania, shedding new light on how women's entrepreneurship is supported in a particular region of sub-Saharan Africa. Findings reveal that while current policy acknowledges the important role women play in their communities, especially in terms of their contribution to labour, it is geared more towards small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development than entrepreneurship; this is despite the fact that entrepreneurship is identified as a means to address sustainable development challenges (notably unemployment and poverty) and expand opportunities for socially disadvantaged groups, especially women. Existing policy is essentially “context neutral” and hence relatively ineffective; the gender focus is lacking and there is a failure to take account of the specific context in which Tanzanian women entrepreneurs have to operate. The authors argue for policies designed to support women's entrepreneurship to be formalised and contextualised in their specific geographical and cultural setting. The “institutional pillars” framework allows us to identify areas where contextualisation of women's entrepreneurship policies could be enhanced.Practical implicationsThe study implies that, to be effective, policies designed to support women's entrepreneurship need to be formalised and contextualised to their specific geographical and cultural setting. Some areas where this might be achieved are identified. Avenues for future research in this area are also suggested.Originality/valueThe value of the paper lies in its focus on Tanzania, and its critique of existing policies from a gender and institutional perspective. It also enhances understanding of the unique context in Tanzania for entrepreneurship.

scholarly journals Strengthening access to finance for women-owned SMEs in developing countries

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 634-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad ◽  
Afida Mastura Muhammad Arif
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Access To Finance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight key trends, challenges, and opportunities for advancing women’s entrepreneurship and increasing their access to finance. Design/methodology/approach – Due to their high-growth potential, women-owned SMEs in developing countries are of particular interest. The International Financial Corporation and McKinsey built a detailed database for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises. The data derived from the readily available global data sets provide coverage of a large number of countries and national statistics. Findings – Since financing is an important means by which to pursue growth opportunities, addressing the specific needs of women entrepreneurs (WE) in accessing finance must be part of the development agenda. Practical implications – This paper offers valuable practical insights to policy makers to establish a supportive, enabling environment that will facilitate access to financial services for WE in their respective countries; lead efforts to identify, evaluate, and support the replication of successful models for expanding financial services to WE; and lead efforts to gather gender-disaggregated data on small-, and medium-sized enterprise finance in a coordinated fashion. Originality/value – The value of this paper is that it offers insightful information about key trends, challenges, and opportunities for advancing women’s entrepreneurship and increasing their access to finance.

scholarly journals Social C apital and Women’s Entrepreneurship

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Informal Social Networks ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

The study examines how self-created women's informal social networks serve as avenues to learn and participate in entrepreneurship activities in developing countries.

scholarly journals Social C apital and Women’s Entrepreneurship

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Informal Social Networks ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

The study examines how self-created women's informal social networks serve as avenues to learn and participate in entrepreneurship activities in developing countries.

Women and Entrepreneurship – Albanian Case

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Anna Xheka
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Difference

Women’s entrepreneurship is a powerful source, regarding to the women’s economic independence and empowerment, as well as regarding employment generation, economic growth and innovation, development and the reduction of poverty as well as one of the terms of gender equality. This poster presents the situation of women's entrepreneurship in Europe in comparative terms, with special focus in Albania. The paper has a descriptive nature. Describes three different plans in comparative terms; the representation of men and women in entrepreneurship, the representation of women in entrepreneurship in different countries of Europe and of Europe as a whole, as well as compare to gender quota. Through the processing of secondary data from various reports and studies, this poster concludes that although that the gender equality goal is the equal participation of men and women in all sectors, including the entrepreneurship, in this sector, gender gap it is still deep. Another significant comparative aspect, it is the difference between full and part –time women entrepreneurship. While in full time entrepreneurship in a convince way, men are those that dominate, in part time entrepreneurship clearly it’s evident the opposite trend, women's representation is much higher. It’s very interesting the fact, that the women’s entrepreneurship in Albania, presented in a significant optimistic situation, ranking in the second place, after Greece in the European level

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document