chapter five nature and growth of self-employment...

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CHAPTER FIVE

NATURE AND GROWTH OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT

AMONG WOMEN COMMUNITY

INTRODUCTION

The present world population is 7.1 billion, which is growing at the rate of

97 million people per year and is expected to touch 8.5 billion by the year 2025.

About 95 per cent of the population growth will be in the developing countries.

The Asian population is 3.55 billion, which may reach 4.54 billion by 2025 and

women constitute around half-of the total world population (Singh et al, 2007)1. As

shown by the world economic profile of women, women represent 50 per cent of

the world population, make up 30 per cent of the official labour force, perform 60

per cent of all working hours, receive 10 per cent of world income and own even

less than one per cent of the world's property ( Sudhir et. al, 2007)2.

Around 50 per cent of India's population is composed of women, yet

business spheres such as trade, commerce and industry are still considered a male

prerogative. Entrepreneurial work has also been predominantly a man's world in

India and women are expected to take up domestic roles or go for ‘secured’ wage-

employment. Among the states, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka have the

highest number of women entrepreneurs with self-employed ventures.

Indian women are in no way inferior to men in all walks of life and they

can be good entrepreneurs as men in the country. Therefore, it is essential to

exploit the potential of Indian women. Women's participation in trade, industry

and commerce, requiring entrepreneurship is still poor which is mainly because of

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the problems associated with their gender roles. Therefore, promotion of

entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women poses a challenge to the

government, funding agencies and non-government organizations. It is important

for these authorities to understand the limitations faced by the women in order to

plan supporting systems to enhance the development of women entrepreneurship in

India.

Srivastava (2008)3

stated that generally there are three sets of steps that the

women entrepreneurs in India have crossed through self-employment:

Earlier there were 3 Ks

1. Kitchen

2. Kids

3. Knitting

Then came 3 Ps

1. Powder

2. Pappad

3. Pickles

At present there are 4 Es

1. Electricity

2. Electronics

3. Energy

4. Engineering

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Exhibit 5.1: Steps in Emergence of Self-Employed Women in India

The composition of self-employed women in the entire state of Assam has

certain variations in rural and urban areas. Before proceeding to the nature of self-

employed women in Barpeta district, the composition of employment in Assam

needs an overview.

COMPOSITION OF EMPLOYMENT IN ASSAM

An assessment of the socio-economic scenario of the state of Assam and

employment situation in terms of time disposition is very useful to understand the

composition of the labour market. As per the results of the National Sample Survey

Organisation conducted in 2004 – 2005, in Assam the composition of household

types, classified according to their major economic activity, is as follows:

3Ks

Kitchen, Kids, Knitting

3Ps

Powder, Pappad, Pickles

4Es

Electricity, Electronics, Energy,

Engineering

Fig 5.1: Per Thousand Distribution of Employment Type in Rural Sector

Fig 5.2: Per Thousand Distribution of Employment Type in Urban Sector

Source: NSSO, 2004-05

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Source: NSSO, 2004-05




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From the above two figures, ie., Fig 5.1 and Fig 5.2, it can be observed that

in rural area of Assam, the per thousand self-employed population is quite higher

than that in India but in urban area of Assam the per thousand self-employed

persons is less than all that at all India level. In rural Assam, about 66% of

household are self employed, majority of the self employed are in agriculture

(48%). Whereas in urban sector about 44% are regular wage/salary earner and

about 36% are self employed. Casual labourers both in rural and urban sector are

comparatively less. Land holding structure indicates that 61% are having small and

marginal holdings and only about 6% are landless households.

It may be also be pointed out that the composition of employed person in

Assam is heavily tilted towards unorganised sector employment. Out of the total

employment of 10,493,692 about 89% of employment comes from the unorganised

sector. The share of organised sector is restricted to only 11%.

MARITAL STATUS OF SELF-EMPLOYED WOMEN IN BARPETA

DISTRICT

Marriage is one of the most important elements in a person’s life. Often it is

believed that marriage brings a slowdown and sometimes an end to the career of a

woman. In the current study, an attempt has been made to determine the marital

status of self-employed women. Also, the sample self-employed women have been

classified into four age groups in order to determine the productive age of such

women in the district. The following observations have been made in this regard.

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Table 5.1: Age and Marital Status of Self Employed Women (in percentage)

Age (Year) Marital Status Total

Married Unmarried

Less than 30

31 – 40

41 – 50

Above 50

9.5

20.0

20.0

9.0

19.0

13.5

7.5

1.5

28.5

33.5

27.5

10.5

Total 58.5 41.5 100.0

Source: Field Survey

During the research work, it was noticed that in the total self-employed

women population of Barpeta, 58.5% were married whereas 41.5% were

unmarried. 33.5% of such women were in the age group of 31-40. The observation

during the study shows that though majority of the self-employed women were

married, they did not consider marriage to be an impediment in their self-

employment voyage. Further, approximately one-third of the women (33.5%),

married and unmarried combined, is below forty years which means these are

young women who have the potential for high productivity if their efforts are

properly tapped.

EMPLOYMENT AMONG THE WOMEN COMMUNITY:

The liberalization process of the Indian economy has penetrated deep into

the lives of people including women. Women, who comprise one half of the total

population, were earlier confined to household chores and family affairs. All their

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potentialities, skills, abilities and aptitudes were confined to the four walls of the

house.

With the opening up of the Indian economy, the exposure to the culture and

practices of the modern world, influence of information explosion, increased

consumerism due to advanced techniques of salesmanship and state intervention in

the form of incentives for the promotion of individual owned ventures, and similar

other factors have had a profound influence on the Indian women particularly those

belonging to the middle-class and lower middle-class.

The effect of social and economic transition can be seen in the population

characteristics of Assam also. The women population of Assam has always been

progressive, dynamic and pragmatic in approach than many other states in India.

The following table will give us a comparative picture of male and female

workers and non-workers in Assam as well as in the district of Barpeta.

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Table 5.2 :Distribution of Population by Workers and Non-Workers

State/

District

Area Population Total Workers Non-workers

Persons Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Male Female

Assam

Barpeta

Total

Rural

Urban

Total

Rural

Urban

26,655,528

23,216,288

3,439,240

1,647,201

1,520,333

126,868

13,777,037

11,939,945

1,837,092

8,48,578

782,414

66,164

12,878,491

11,276,343

1,602,148

7,98,623

737,623

60,704

9,538,591

8,396,769

1,141,822

517,088

477,224

39,864

6,870,960

5,899,204

971,756

404,737

370,587

34,150

2,667,631

2,497,565

170,066

112,351

106,637

5,714

17,116,937

14,819,519

2,297,418

1,130,113

1,043,109

87,004

6,906,077

6,040,741

865,336

443,841

411,827

32,014

10,210,860

8,778,778

1,432,082

686,272

631,282

54,990

Source : Census of India, 2001.

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NATURE/FORMS OF ORGANISATION OF SELF-EMPLOYED WOMEN

The form of business organization should be so strong that it can continue for

a long time and small obstructions should not extinguish it. In the world of

business, the various forms of business organizations are sole proprietorship,

partnership, Joint Hindu Family business, cooperative society and Joint Stock

Company.

Exhibit 5.2: Different Formats of Business Organisation

A sole proprietorship organization is run by a single person. A partnership

organization is run by minimum two persons and maximum ten persons in case of

banking industry and twenty in case of any other business. A Joint Hindu Family

business is owned and carried on by the members of Hindu Undivided Family

(HUF). A cooperative society is formed with minimum ten persons to protect and

promote economic and social interests of the members. A joint stock company is

an association of persons formed for carrying out businesss activities suitable in a

large scale and has a separate legal identity independent of its members.

During the study, it has been observed that Joint Hindu Family business is

not a very popular phenomenon in the district of Barpeta. Moreover, it is basically

a male oriented concept. So, it has been attempted to determine which of the

FORMS OF BUSINESS ORGANISATION

Sole Proprietorship Partnership Joint Hindu

Family Business

Cooperative

Society

Joint Stock

Company

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remaining four forms of business organizations, along with SHGs, are adopted by

self-employed women for their entrepreneurial ventures in the district. The

information obtained is shown hereunder.

Table 5.3 : Form/Nature of Organisation of Self-Employed Women in Barpeta

District

Form Of Organisation Percentage of

Women (%)

Sole Proprietorship

Partnership :

With Family Members

Without Family Members

Self Help Groups

Co-operative Societies

Joint Stock Companies

13.5

16.0

14.5

37.0

19.0

Nil

Total 100.0%

Source : Field Survey

Out of the sample respondents interviewed during the field survey, 37%

comprised of women who had initiated their own works by formation of Self Help

Groups. 30.5% of women were in partnership business out of which 16% had

family members as partners whereas 14.5% had non-family members as partners.

19% of women were associated with co-operative societies. Only 13.5% women in

the district were associated with sole-proprietorship ventures.

During the period of field study, it has also been found that there were no

joint stock companies run by women in Barpeta District. All self-employed women

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under the above forms of organization were associated with micro, small and

medium enterprises. In the study, not even a single self-employed women was

found in the large scale sector.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT VENTURES

OF WOMEN

The nature of administration and management style of ventures run by self-

employed women vary with the type of organization and the area of activity. The

administrative structure of ventures run by self-employed women in Barpeta

district has been shown below:

Table 5.4: Administrative Structure of Self-Employed Ventures of Women

Administration of Ventures Percentage of

respondents (%)

Owner or owners only 11

Honorary services of family members 12

Paid services of family members 14

Honorary services of friends and neighbours 04

Paid services of friends and neighbours 12

Casual employees 22

Permanent employees 09

Both casual and permanent employees 16

TOTAL 100


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As it can be observed in the above table, 11% of the self-employed women

ran their ventures all by themselves without taking the paid or honorary services of

anybody. 26% women respondents revealed that they used the services of their

family members in different activities of which 12% used honorary services and

14% used paid services. Many self-employed women used the services of friends

and neighbours also in their economic pursuits. As noticed during the field survey,

12% women availed the paid services of friends and neighbours whereas only 4%

availed honorary services from friends and neighbours. Besides, women

entrepreneurs hired employees on casual or permanent basis depending on the

nature and volume of work. Only 9% women engaged permanent employees, 22%

women hired casual employees as and when required and 16% self-employed

women took the services of both permanent and casual employees. Thus, it can be

observed that entrepreneurship among women can be an important medium of

employment generation. In the district of Barpeta, it has been observed that though

both males and females got employment through self-employed ventures run by

women yet most of the women entrepreneurs were more tilted towards fellow

females while availing services from others for administration of their enterprises.

MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS FOR SELF-EMPLOYMENT

Many studies indicate that women start businesses for fundamentally

different reasons than their male counterparts. While men start businesses

primarily for growth opportunities and profit potential, women most often start

businesses in order to meet personal goals, such as gaining feelings of achievement

and accomplishment. In many instances, women consider financial success as an

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external confirmation of their ability rather than as a primary goal or motivation to

start a business, although millions of women entrepreneurs will agree that financial

profitability is important in its own right.

As stated by Jahanshahi, et al.(2010)4, women also tend to start businesses

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. In fact, over 30 percent of women entrepreneurs

reported that they started 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

sector jobs to chart their own destinies. Many of these women have developed

financial expertise and bring experience in manufacturing or non-traditional fields.

As a result, the concentration of women business owners in the retail and service

sectors—and in traditional industries such as cosmetics, food, fashion, and

personal care—is slowly changing.

Winn (1994)5 in a study on assessing the entrepreneurial environment conditions

for female entrepreneurship revealed that acceptance of women as entrepreneurs,

availability of education, training and economic climate were the three main

factors which contributed to the success of female entrepreneurs.

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Ovidiu (1994)6 conducted a study on major features of some successful

entrepreneurs and revealed that personal savings, family money and bank loan

were the main source of finance for the entrepreneurs to start their self-

employment ventures. And the study also revealed that entrepreneurial experience

and implementing new ideas were the main factors which contributed for the

success of an entrepreneur.

Nandagopal and Chinnaiyan (2004)7 conducted a study on entrepreneur’s

perception about success factors and reported that hard work was reflected as the

key factor for the success with mean score of 4.76 followed by support of family

members (4.58) and self confidence (4.54) and the study also revealed that

important facilitative factors for starting the enterprise as perceived by the

entrepreneurs were high demand for the product with the mean scores of 4.64,

followed by local advantage (4.14) and family source of finance (4.06).

The self-employed people of Barpeta District were asked to cite the major

motivational factors in order of their importance which encouraged them to

undertake the path of self-reliance through their own ventures instead of wage

employment or remaining absolutely dormant professionally. The following table

shows the important motivational factors leading to women self-employment in

Barpeta District.

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Table 5.5: Motivational Factors and Their Respective Ranks for Present

Trend of Self Employment in Barpeta

Motivating Factor

Percentage of women

who opted for first

preference

Rank

Desire to achieve something 10.0 IV

Need for independence 23.5 II

Desire to get gainfully occupied 31.0 I

To get social Prestige 02.5 VIII

To obtain decision-making power 05.5 VII

Success of others 07.5 VI

Finance Facility 08.0 V

EDP/EAC 01.0 IX

Desire for leadership 00.5 X

Any other 10.5 III

Source: Field Survey.

Note: Any other factor includes unemployment problem, experience in the same

line, interest in becoming self-employed, dissatisfaction with previous job,

providing employment to a few people, encouragement by family or friends, local

availability of raw materials etc.

The highest number of self-employed women (31%) in the district of

Barpeta were motivated by the factor to get gainfully occupied to enter into the

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area of self-employment. Gainful occupation means such engagement which has

the potential to give monetary benefits for the efforts put in. The second important

motivator was to obtain independence in their day to day activities and not being

subject to mere orders of others. Interestingly, though many self-employed women

felt that entrepreneurship had enhanced their status, reputation and goodwill in the

society, yet initially it was not a significant motivator to enter into self-

employment ventures.

CLASSIFICATION OF VARIOUS SECTORS OF SELF EMPLOYMENT

IN BARPETA DISTRICT

The four broad forms of organization of self-employed women in Barpeta

District viz. Sole proprietorship, Partnership, Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Co-

operative Societies have their respective entry into certain areas/sectors of self-

employment ventures. The major areas of self-employment, which have been

observed in Barpeta district among women, in each of these four forms of

organization have been presented by means of the following four pie-diagrams.

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Fig 5.3: Self-Employment Areas in Sole-Proprietorship


Note: Others include training institutes, sericulture, food processing, doll making,

tailoring etc.

In sole-proprietorship nature of business, 26% of women were found in

beauty care segment by opening parlours and saloons. The district is primarily an

agro-based district but agriculture occupied the second position (15%) in case of

women who run their self-employed ventures on their own. 13% self-employed

women were involved in trading of goods like clothes, food products, stationeries

etc.

13%

15%

21%

3%

9%4%

7%

26%

2%Trading

Agriculture

Weaving

Duckery/Poultry Farming

Handicraft

Goatery

Dairy Farming

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Fig 5.4: Self-Employment Areas in Partnership


Note : Others include beauty parlours, mat making, cane and bamboo products

manufacturing, animal husbandry, PCOs, Photostat business etc.

In case of partnership nature of self-employment, it was observed that 23%

of women were in trading followed by 21% in tailoring/cutting/embroidery. Only

7% women were in agriculture as partners. However, in trading, it had been

observed that women traded basically in agriculture, handloom and handicraft

products produced by others.

7%

11%

17%

18%

21%

23%

3% Agriculture

Food Processing

Poultry Farming

Weaving

Tailoring/Cutting/Embroidery

Trading

Others

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Fig 5.5: Self Employment Areas in SHGs


Note: Others include mushroom cultivation, incense sticks making, mat making,

brass metal item production, soap making, chira-muri making etc.

On the initiation of the Ministry of Rural Development under the Swarna

Jayanti Gram Swarojzar Yojana, the concept of Self Help Groups (SHGs) was

launched to provide self employment and economic empowerment to the rural

poor.

In the district of Barpeta, SHGs have mostly women members. In the study,

18% of the women involved in SHGs were found to be associated with weaving.

Assamese and Bodo community women formed the majority of women in weaving

2%3%

5%6%

7%

8%

9%

12%13%

16%

18%1%

Horticulture

Food Processing

Handicraft

Tailoring/Cutting/EmbroideryCane & Bamboo Industry

Fisheries

Poultry Farming/Duckery

Goatery/Piggery

Dairy Farming

Agriculture

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sector. 16% of women were in agriculture. In the Muslim dominated areas, women

were mainly engaged in animal husbandry, duckeries, poultry farms and fisheries.

Fig 5.6: Self Employment Areas in Co-operative Societies


The highest 29% of women are in agriculture in case of co-operative

societies run by self-employed women. It is worth mentioning that 11% of women

are engaged in pisciculture (fisheries) through co-operative societies. Weaving is a

prominent sector in the district and 18% of women self-employment is in this area.

PROBLEMS FACED BY WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Women entrepreneurs face a series of problems right from the beginning

till the enterprise continues to function. Being a woman itself poses various

problems to a woman entrepreneur. The problems of Indian women pertain to her

responsibility towards own family, society and in laws’ work.

5%6%

7%

8%

11%

13%18%

29%

3%

Cane & Bamboo Industry

Food Processing

Poultry Farming/Duckery

Cutting/Embroidery/TailoringFisheries

Animal Husbandry

Weaving

Agriculture

Others

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The traditions, customs, socio cultural values, ethics, motherhood,

subordination to husband and men, physical weakness, hard work areas, feeling of

insecurity, cannot be tough, etc. are some peculiar problems that the Indian women

often come across while they jump into entrepreneurship.

Women in rural areas have to suffer still further. They face tough resistance

from men. They are considered as helpers. The attitude of society towards her and

constraints in which she has to live and work are not very conducive.

Baruah (2010)8 discussed in his research work on tribal women in Udalguri

district of Assam that an overview of the constraints encountered by respondents

while initiating or running their enterprises highlighted that women experienced all

sorts of problems related to financial, technical, labour, marketing and of general

nature. However, limited working capital under financial problems, non-

availability of skilled and experienced personnel under labour problems, stiff

competition under marketing problems were found to be the most pressing ones

among others.

Different studies undertaken in India as well as in Assam indicate that there

are several problems peculiarly faced by self-employed women. The main

problems faced by the women and which affect the growth of self-employment

among women, as observed in other research works and also during the survey,

are as follows:

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1. Social attitudes:

One of the biggest problems faced by a women entrepreneur is the social

attitude in which she has to live and work. The traditions and customs prevailing in

Indian societies towards women sometimes stand as obstacles before them to grow

and prosper. Castes and religions dominate with one another and hinder women

entrepreneurs too. In rural areas, they face more social barriers. They are always

seen with suspicious eyes. Even though our Constitution speaks of equality

between sexes, male chauvinism is still the order of the day. Women are often not

treated equal to men in many societies. Their entry to business requires the

approval of the head of the family. Entrepreneurship has traditionally been seen as

a male domain. All these put a break in the growth of women self-employment.

2. Tough competition:

Usually self-employed women employ low technology in the process of

production. In a market where the competition is too high, they have to fight hard

to survive in the market against the organised sector and their male counterparts

who have vast experience and capacity to adopt advanced technology in managing

enterprises.

3. High cost of production:

The high cost of production is another problem which undermines the

efficiency and restricts development of women entrepreneurs. Several factors

including inefficient management contribute to the high cost of production which

stands as a stumbling block before women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs

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face technology obsolescence due to non-adoption or slow adoption to changing

technology which is a major factor of high cost of production. Although great

advances are being made in technology, many women's illiteracy, structural

difficulties, and lack of access to technical training prevent the technology from

being beneficial or even available to females (Women entrepreneurs, 2001)9.

High production cost of some business operations adversely affects the

development of women entrepreneurs. The installation of new machineries during

expansion of the productive capacity and like similar factors dissuades the women

entrepreneurs from venturing into new areas. (Vikas, 2007)10

.

4. Limited mobility:

Women mobility in India is highly limited and has become a problem due

to traditional values and also often due to the inability to drive vehicles. Moving

alone and asking for a room to stay out in the night for business purposes are still

looked upon with suspicious eyes. Sometimes, younger women feel uncomfortable

in dealing with men who show extra interest in them than work related aspects.

5. Exploitation by middle men:

Since women cannot run around for marketing, distribution and money

collection, they have to depend on middle men for these activities. Middle men

tend to exploit them in the guise of helping. They add their own profit margin

exorbitantly which results in less sales and lesser profit.

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6. Lack of self confidence:

Women entrepreneurs, because of their inherent nature, lack in self-

confidence which is essentially a motivating factor in running an enterprise

successfully. They have to strive hard to strike a balance between managing a

family and managing an enterprise. Sometimes she has to sacrifice her

entrepreneurial urge in order to strike a balance between the two. 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 Indian women folk to engage in business operations and running

a business concern.

7. Shortage of Finance:

Self-employed women generally suffer from inadequate financial recourses

and working capital. They are not able to afford external finance due to absence of

tangible security and credit in the market.

Women have a very less property and bank balance to their names. Male

members of the family do not want to invest their capital in the business run by

women as they lack confidence in the ability of women to run their ventures

successfully.

The complicated procedure of bank loans also creates lot of problems in

getting the required finance. Women entrepreneurs even face problems in getting

requisite working capital financing for day-to-day business activities. According to

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a report of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO),

“despite the evidence that women’s loan repayment rates are higher than men's,

women still face more difficulties in obtaining credit,” often due to discriminatory

attitudes of banks and informal lending groups. (United Nations, 2002)11

.

Women entrepreneurs have to depend upon their personal savings and

loans from family friends. Most of the women entrepreneurs fail due to lack of

proper financing facilities, because finance is life blood of every business

activities.

8. Marketing problems:

Women entrepreneurs often depend upon intermediaries for marketing their

products who pocket large chunk of profit. Such middlemen tend to exploit the

women entrepreneurs.

Women entrepreneurs also find it difficult to capture the market and make

their products popular. A lot of money is needed for advertisement in these days of

stiff competition from male entrepreneurs.

Women entrepreneurs also lack energy and extra efforts needed for

investing and to win the confidence of customers and popularize the products.

9. Shortage of raw materials:

The shortage of required raw materials is also one of the big problems

faced by women in self-employment. Women entrepreneurs find it difficult to

procure the required raw materials and other necessary inputs for production in

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sufficient quantity and quality. The prices of raw materials are quite high and

generally fluctuate.

The scarcity of raw materials and sometimes non- availability of proper and

adequate raw materials sounds the death-knell of the enterprises run by women

entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs really face a tough task in getting the

required raw material and other necessary inputs for the enterprises when the

prices are very high.

10. Limited managerial ability:

Management has become a specialised job which only efficient managers

perform. Women entrepreneurs are not efficient in managerial functions like

planning, organising, controlling, coordinating, staffing, directing, motivating, etc.

of an enterprise. Women entrepreneurs have to face severe competition from

organized industries and male entrepreneurs having vast experience.

Therefore, less and limited managerial ability of women has become a

problem for them to run the enterprise successfully. Self-employed women may

not be an expert in each and every function of the enterprise. She may not be able

to devote sufficient expertise for all types of activities. Basically women have

limited managerial ability and they often lack professionalism in management of

their enterprises. They are prone to be subjective and on many occasion their

business decisions are taken emotionally and not out of managerial

professionalism.

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11. Lack of entrepreneurial aptitude:

One of the biggest problems of women is the lack of entrepreneurial

aptitude. Lack of entrepreneurial aptitude is a matter of concern for women

entrepreneurs. They have no entrepreneurial bent of mind. Even after attending

various training programmes on entrepreneurship, self-employed women fail to

tide over the risks and troubles that may come up in an organisational working.

The basic characteristics of an entrepreneur such as innovation, risk bearing etc.

are absent in self-employed women.

12. Low risk taking ability:

Self-employed women suffer from the problem of low risk taking ability as

compared to their male counterparts, because they have usually led a protected life.

Women in India are by nature weak, shy and mild. They cannot bear the

amount risk which is essential for running an enterprise. They even face

discrimination in the selection for training and skill development in

entrepreneurship. Inferiority complex, unplanned growth, lack of infrastructure,

hesitation in taking quick decision and absence of financial support or surety also

increases the rate of risk and chances of loss.

13. Family responsibilities:

Having primary responsibility for children, home and older dependent

family members, few women can devote all their time and energies to their

business (Starcher,1996)12

.Women in India are emotionally attached to their

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families. They are supposed to attend to all the domestic work, to look after the

children and other members of the family. They are over burdened with family

responsibilities like extra attention to husband, children and in laws which take

away a lot of their time and energy. In such a situation, it becomes very difficult to

concentrate and run the enterprise successfully.

A married woman entrepreneur has to make a perfect balance between

domestic activities and business activities. The woman entrepreneur cannot

succeed without the support and approval of husband. Her success in this regard

also depends upon supporting husband and family. Thus, occupational back

grounds of families and education level of husbands have a great influence on the

growth of women entrepreneurship.

14. Lack of Education:

The education level among women in India is very low. Majority of women

are not aware about the technological developments, marketing knowledge, etc.

due to lack of proper education. Illiteracy further creates problems in setting up

and smooth running of enterprises. Women in India are lagging far behind in the

field of education. Most of the women (around sixty per cent of total women) are

illiterate. Those who are educated are provided either less or inadequate education

than their male counterparts partly due to early marriage, partly due to preference

of son's higher education and partly due to poverty. Due to lack of proper

education, women entrepreneurs remain in dark about the development of new

technology, new methods of production, marketing and other governmental

support which may encourage them to flourish.

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15. Legal Formalities:

Women entrepreneurs find it extremely difficult in complying with various

legal formalities in obtaining licenses, permissions, etc. Fulfilling the legal

formalities required for running an enterprise becomes an uphill task on the part of

a women entrepreneur because of the prevalence of corrupt practices in

government offices and procedural delays for various licenses, electricity, water

and shed allotments. In such situations, women entrepreneurs find it hard to

concentrate on the smooth working of the enterprise.

In the perspective of the above discussion, the observations made in the

district of Barpeta regarding the problems faced by self-employed women have

been shown in the following table.

Table 5.6: Problems Faced by Women in Self-Employment in Barpeta District

and their Respective Ranks

Nature of Problems

Percentage of Women

who Opted as the

Biggest Problem

Rank

Lack of self-confidence 2.0 IX

Lack of awareness of Govt. programmes 19.0 I

Lack of power 04.5 VIII

Scarcity/irregular supply of raw materials 01.5 X

Transportation problems 12.0 V

Marketing problems 16.5 II

Poor coordination with institutions and

departments

14.5 III

Lack of state of the art technology and skills 07.0 VII

Stiff competition in the market 10.0 VI

Limited mobility 13.0 IV


109

Rank correlation between motivational factors and problematic factors

concerning self employed women has been shown below:-

Motivational

factors

R1(in

terms of

Rank )

Problematic

factors

R2(in

terms of

Rank )

D

(R1-R2)

D2

Desire to achieve

something

4 Lack of self

confidence

9 -5 25

Need for

independence

2 Lack of awareness

of Govt.

programmes

1 1 1

Desire to get gain

fully occupied

1 Lack of power 8 -7 49

To get social

prestige

8 Scarcity /irregular

supply of raw

materials

10 -2 4

To obtain decision

making power

7 Transportation

problems

5 2 4

Success of others 6 Marketing problems 2 4 16

Finance facilities 5 Poor coordination

with institutions

and departments

3 2 4

EDP/EAC 9 Lack of state of the

art technology and

skill

7 2 4

Desire for

Leadership

10 Stiff competition in

the market

6 4 16

Any other 3 Limited mobility 4 -1 1

ΣD2=124

Rank Correlation(R) =1- =

6 ΣD

2

N3-N

0.248

110

During the course of the study, women had categorically admitted that they

faced several problems. The motivational factors are very little correlated with the

problematic factors. Although certain factors motivate women, at the same time

they are deterred by the problem factors. When the nature of problems are

analysed, it becomes clear that 19% of women thought ignorance or lack of

awareness about various schemes and policies of the central as well as State

Governments is the major problem. Due to this factor, they were often not aware of

the financial facilities and subsidies given by the Government through different

schemes. Only 1.5% women opined that scarcity/irregular supply of raw materials

was the major problem. This revealed that though the women had the required

self-confidence (2% rated lack of it as major problem) yet problems in movement,

technology, skills, transportation and competition posed as hindrances in their

efforts. If these problems can be removed, they could utilize the resources which

are available locally for their better economic well-being.

CONCLUSION

Women have a unique position in the society. Real development cannot

take place if it is bypasses women, who not only represent one half of the country's

population but also the kernels around which societal revolution take place.

Entrepreneurial work has been predominantly a man’s world in India. But this

attitude needs to change with more women in self-employed ventures. It is high

time that business spheres such as trade, commerce and industry open their doors

to women. During the present study, it has been observed that in the district of

Barpeta majority of the self-employed women are in agriculture through self help

111

groups. Gainful engagement is the primary motivator for the self-employed women

in the district but they face several problems too in their pursuits. Entrepreneurship

enhances financial independence and self-esteem of women. Indian women are in

no way inferior to men in all walks of life and they can be good entrepreneurs as

men in the country. Therefore, it is essential to exploit the potential of Indian

women. Women's participation in trade, industry and commerce, requiring

entrepreneurship is still poor, mainly because of the problems associated with their

gender roles. Therefore, promotion of self-employment and economic

empowerment of women poses a challenge to the government, funding agencies

and non-government organizations. It is important for these institutions,

authorities and agencies to understand the limitations faced by the women and to

plan supporting systems to motivate women and enhance women entrepreneurship

in India.

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