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WOMENENTREPRENEURSHIP

AND ECONOMICEMPOWERMENT

Dr. Asha R. GuptaCounsellor

Lala Lajpatrai Educational Institutes,Mahalaxmi, Mumbai - 400 034.

ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED

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© AuthorNo part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of the author and the publisher.

First Edition : 2018

Published by : Mrs. Meena Pandey for Himalaya Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.,“Ramdoot”, Dr. Bhalerao Marg, Girgaon, Mumbai - 400 004.Phone: 022-23860170, 23863863; Fax: 022-23877178E-mail: himpub@vsnl.com; Website: www.himpub.com

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DTP by : Nilima Jadhav

Printed at : Geetanjali Press Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur. On behalf of HPH.

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DEDICATED TO

My Beloved Parents Ramprasad andBrijrani Gupta

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With Love,For My Dearest Grand Daughter

Trisha Gupta

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FOREWORD

It is with great pleasure that I write a forewordto this book on Women Entrepreneurship andEconomic Empowerment written by Asha Gupta.This is really a global subject and across the worldserious discussions, leading to policy changes havebeen done based on women-led businesses andenterprises.

Diversity at workplace and equal participationare all matters of great relevance and genderequality is a hot topic at most conferences in Indiaand worldwide. The World Bank also in its reportemphasizes the importance of increase in womenworkforce. A 6% increase in the women workforceparticipation can get our GDP up by 18-20%.

Asha, in her book, has aptly conveyed thejourney of Women Entrepreneurs who have brokenbarriers and made it on their own, in fields whichwere conventionally male-dominated.

The case studies will prove to be veryinformative and a source of inspiration to all areable to read it and take intense values andexperience from it.

Revathi RoyPioneer Asia’s 1st Women’s Cab Service

Serial Entrepreneurrevathi@heydeedee.com

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PREFACE

I studied at Bombay’s most elite school, The Cathedral &John Connon. It is here that I learnt to have dreams and worktowards fufilling them. I was always a good student. Afterschool, I went to Sydenham College of Commerce &Economics where I stood first in Commerce and was a topperat the Inter-Commerce University Exam. An early marriage puta stop to my dreams. My in-laws were traditional and did notallow me to study further. Home, husband and family took upmy time. Life went by, but my dream was still alive. I lovedreading, writing and continued hoping that someday my dreamof being a teacher will come true. By 2000, my children hadmarried and settled down. In 2003, my husband passed awayand I needed to do something.

I joined Lala Lajpatrai College as a Counselor and startedstudying simultaneously. B.Com. was followed by M.Com. andthen I registered for a Ph.D., my subject being WomenEntrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment, a topic I wasalways passionate about. I was multitasking the whole day;college, work, study, research, then home, children and financeseverything was to be managed. There were difficult times in mylife where I nearly gave up. Finally, in 2017, I got my Degree, itwas a dream come true and a milestone in my life.

So dear readers, there is a power within us. It is in ourhands to grab opportunities, work hard and be committed.

All the five Case Studies in this book are about womenwho have followed their dreams and created success stories forothers to emulate.

Author

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sinceregratitude to my guide and mentor, Dr. V.B. Angadi, Director,Lala Lajpatrai Institute of Management, for his help andpatience during the entire process of this research and writing.His timely feedback and encouragement made me carry out theresearch more precisely.

I dedicate this book to my late parents and to my latehusband Mr. Jialal Aggarwal who was my inspiration. I amthankful to my parents for instilling in me a perennial interestin higher academic pursuits and encouraging me to fulfill mydream. Thank you mom and dad for believing in me and givingme the values of hard work, truthfulness and sincerity. I thankmy entire family, my brothers, Late Ramesh Gupta, Dr. KamalGupta, Chairman of Lala Lajpatrai Institute of Management,Naresh Gupta and my sister Kiran Puri for their encouragementand support.

I would also like to thank the women entrepreneurs whonarrated their success stories to me and gave me their valuabletime.

I know for sure that this book would not have beenpossible without the love, patience and understanding shownby my children. I thank my son and daughter-in-law Sachinand Vandana, my daughters Namrita and Aarti Gupta and myson-in-law Yogesh Gupta for their care and support and mygrandchildren Trisha, Tanay and Aayush – thank you for yourlove and pride in my achievement.

I thank my dear student Rohan Dalmia and the RotaryClub of Mumbai Downtown Sealand for supportingWomen Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment.

Date: 08/03/2018Place: Mumbai Author

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BRIEF CONTENTS

Sr. No. Contents Pg. Nos.

1 Introduction 1 – 8

2 Literature Review 9 – 43

3 Critical Assessment of CaseStudies

44 – 66

4 Presentation of Data and Analysisof Findings

67 – 101

5 Main Findings/Conclusions/PolicyImplications

102 – 110

6 Bibliography 111 – 119

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DETAILED CONTENTS

Foreword (v)

Preface (vii)

Acknowledgements (viii)

Brief Contents (ix)

Detailed Contents (xi) - (xii)

List of Tables (xiii) – (xiv)

List of Graphs (xv)

1. INTRODUCTION 1 – 81.1 Women Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment1.2 Significance of the Study1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 9 – 432.1 Motivation2.2 Characteristics and Motivations of Women Entrepreneurs2.3 Women Entrepreneurship Development – Opportunities and

Challenges2.4 Constraints2.5 Concluding Observation on Literature Review

3. CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF 44 – 66CASE STUDIES

3.1 Case I: Revati Roy3.2 Case II: Hemanti Shah3.3 Case III: Sunita Ramnathkar3.4 Case IV: Kamal Messman3.5 Case V: Anju Venkat

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4. PRESENTATION OF DATA AND 67 – 101ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

4.1 Introduction4.2 Main Objectives4.3 Methodology4.4 Limitations4.5 Descriptive Analysis of Variables4.6 Challenges Faced4.7 Statistical Tools Used for Data Analysis

5. MAIN FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS/ 102 – 110POLICY IMPLICATIONS

5.1 Implications and Suggestions for Planning and PolicyFormation

5.2 Suggestions for Macro-Micro Management5.3 Limitations and Scope for Further ResearchBibliography 111 – 119

Appendix I 120 – 125

Appendix II 126 – 128

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LIST OF TABLES

Table. No. Contents Pg. Nos.1 Summarized Survey Results 69 – 702 Place 703 Age 724 Age in Individual Cities 735 Marital Status 736 Highest Level of Education 757 Level of Income 768 Category 779 Family Type 78

10 Reason to Start Business 7811 Descriptive Statistics 7912 Rotated Component Matrixa 80 – 8113 KMO and Bartlett’s Test 8114 Effects of Women Entrepreneurship 8215 Descriptive Statistics 8416 KMO and Bartlett’s Test 8517 Rotated Component Matrixa 8518 Macro-environmental Factors 8619 Following Micro-environmental

Factors Supported YourEntrepreneurship

87

20 KMO and Bartlett’s Test 87 – 8821 Rotated Component Matrixa 8822 Main Micro-environmental Factors

Supporting Women Entrepreneurship88

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23 Following Motivational Factors atPersonal Level Boosted YourEntrepreneurship

90 – 91

24 KMO and Bartlett’s Test 9125 Rotated Component Matrixa 9226 Main Motivational Factors 9327 Following Motivational Factors at

Society Level Boosted YourEntrepreneurship

95

28 KMO and Bartlett’s Test 9529 Rotated Component Matrix for

Motivational Factorsa96

30 Main Motivational Factors 96 – 9731 Challenges Faced by You for

Entrepreneurship97 – 98

32 KMO and Bartlett’s Test 9833 Rotated Component Matrix(a) for

Challenges Faced by WomenEntrepreneursa

99 – 100

34 Main Challenges Faced by WomenEntrepreneurs

100 – 101

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LIST OF GRAPHS

GraphNo.

Contents Page No.

1 Place 712 Age 723 Martial Status 744 Level of Education 755 Income 766 Category 777 Reason to Start Business 798 Effect of Entrepreneurship 809 Environmental Factors 84

10 Micro-environmental Factors 8711 Motivational Factors 9112 Challenges Faced by Women

Entrepreneurs98

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C H A P T E R

Introduction

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1.1 Women Entrepreneurship and EconomicEmpowerment

Women EntrepreneurshipWomen’s economic empowerment is seen today as the

single most important factor contributing to equality betweenwomen and men. Economic stability increases an individual’soptions and choices in life. Economic empowerment putswomen in a stronger position and gives them the power toparticipate, together with men, in the shaping of society, toinfluence development at all levels of society, and to makedecisions that promote their families and their own well-being.Economic empowerment of women is a matter of human rightsand social justice. The World Bank is one of the few actors tohave defined women’s economic empowerment. However, theWorld Bank definition focuses principally on markets, that is,“…making markets work for women and empowering womento compete in markets”.

In the 21st century, women enjoy more freedom and powerthan ever before. However, they are still disadvantaged whencompared to men in virtually all aspects of life. Women aredeprived of equal access to education, health care, capital, anddecision-making powers in the political, social, and businesssectors. Whereas men are credited with performing threequarters of all economic activities in developing countries,

2 Women Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment

women actually perform 53% of the work, according to theUnited Nations. The UN Human Development Report, statesthat “an estimated $16 trillion in global output is currently‘invisible,’ of which $11 trillion is estimated to be produced bywomen.”

Access to markets is important because inequality preventswomen from having equal access to productive resources andeconomic opportunities. Overall, women across the worldendure heavy workloads both outside and inside the home.Many studies show that women’s work day is longer thanmen’s and that the proportion of work receiving economicremuneration is smaller. A substantial part of productiveagricultural work today is unpaid and carried out by women. Inaddition to productive work, one of the major differences ineconomic empowerment of women compared to men is the factthat women shoulder the primary responsibility for unpaid carework within the home. Indeed, society depends heavily onwomen’s unpaid work to provide the necessary care of itscitizens today. This limits women’s free time to engageeffectively in income-generating work, and in many developingcountries, results in women’s acute ‘time poverty’. As a result,more women than men lack access to valued resources andopportunities and continue to have a subordinate status insociety. In addition, women still make up the majority of part-time and temporary workers in developed countries.Consequently, these women working in informal economies arelikely to have less access to basic health care services,education, financial capital, political appointments, employeerights, and land ownership.

Increased income controlled by women gives them self-confidence, which helps them obtain a voice and vote in:

Household decisions: Such as domestic well-beingdecisions. For instance, women tend to use income cloutfor more equitable decisions about sons’ and daughters’diet, education and health.

3Introduction

Economic decisions: Acquiring, allocating, and sellingassets.

Fertility decisions: Economically empowered womentend to have fewer children.

Land use and conservation decisions: Rural womentend to favor sustainable environmental practices sincethey are usually the ones that collect the families’natural resources such as water and firewood.

Economic empowerment is the capacity of women andmen to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growthprocesses in ways which recognize the value of theircontributions, respect their dignity and make it possible tonegotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth.Economic empowerment increases women’s access toeconomic resources and opportunities including jobs, financialservices, property and other productive assets, skillsdevelopment and market information.

Women’s economic participation and empowerment arefundamental to strengthening women’s rights and enablingwomen to have control over their lives and exert influence insociety. It is about creating just and equitable societies. Womenoften face discrimination and persistent gender inequalities,with some women experiencing multiple discrimination andexclusion because of factors such as ethnicity or caste.

Women’s empowerment in India is heavily dependent onmany different variables that include geographical location(urban/rural), educational status, social status (caste and class),and age.

Policies on women’s empowerment exist at the national,state, and local (Panchayat) levels in many sectors includinghealth, education, economic opportunities, gender-basedviolence, and political participation. However, there aresignificant gaps between policy advancements and actualpractice at the community level.

4 Women Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment

One key factor for the gap in implementation of laws andpolicies to address discrimination, economic disadvantages, andviolence against women at the community level is the largepatriarchal structure that governs the community andhouseholds in much of India. As such, women and girls haverestricted mobility, access to education, access to healthfacilities, and lower decision-making power, and experiencehigher rates of violence. Political participation is also hinderedat the Panchayat (local governing bodies) level and at the stateand national levels, despite existing reservations for women.

The impact of the patriarchal structure can be seen in ruraland urban India, although women’s empowerment in ruralIndia is much less visible than in urban areas. This is ofparticular concern, since much of India is rural despite the highrate of urbanization and expansion of cities.

Rural women, as opposed to women in urban settings, faceinequality at much higher rates, and in all spheres of life. Urbanwomen and, in particular, urban educated women enjoyrelatively higher access to economic opportunities, health andeducation, and experience less domestic violence. Women(both urban and rural) who have some level of education havehigher decision-making power in the household and thecommunity. Furthermore, the level of women’s education alsohas a direct implication on maternal mortality rates, andnutrition and health indicators among children.

Among rural women, there are further divisions that hinderwomen’s empowerment. The most notable ones are educationlevels and caste and class divisions. Women from lower castes(the scheduled castes, other backward castes, and tribalcommunities) are particularly vulnerable to maternal mortalityand infant mortality. They are often unable to access health andeducational services, lack decision-making power, and facehigher levels of violence. Among women of lower caste andclass, some level of education has shown to have a positiveimpact on women’s empowerment indicators.

5Introduction

Social divisions among urban women also have a similarimpact on empowerment indicators.

Upper class and educated women have better access tohealth, education, and economic opportunities, whereas lowerclass, less educated women in urban settings enjoy these rightssignificantly less. Due to rapid urbanization and lack ofeconomic opportunities in other parts of the country, cities alsohouse sprawling slum areas. Slums are informal sprawls, andmost times lack basic services such as clean water, sanitation,and health facilities. Additionally, slum dwellers mostly workin unorganized and informal sectors, making them vulnerableto raids by the state, abuse by employers, and other forms ofinsecurity. Women and children in slums are among the mostvulnerable to violence and abuse, and are deprived of theirbasic human rights diversity of social structures that governwomen’s lives. Identity politics in India is a very criticalpolitical instrument, which is both used and abused throughoutpolitical and social institutions.

There are numerous social movements fighting for therights of the marginalized, such as the Dalit rights movement,the tribal rights movement, etc. These movements haveachieved many gains in assuring representation of thetraditionally marginalized communities into mainstream society.Women’s rights within these movements are largelyunarticulated and thus reinforce inequalities within the verystructures from which they are demanding inclusion.Empowerment approaches for women, therefore, is not onlyabout providing services, but also about recognizing their livedrealities of multiple layers of discrimination that hinder theiraccess to services.

Similarly, access to education for girls in some of thenorthern states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab does not only relyon proximity of schools. Access to education is part of a largerstructural concern, including the practice of son preference,which creates inherent discriminatory practices. Education

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initiatives, therefore, cannot rely solely on building educationalinfrastructure, but also need to address some of the root causesof discrimination against women and girls which affect thedecisions made by parents.

Women’s security, decision-making power, and mobilityare three indicators for women’s empowerment. In India, andmore so for rural and less educated women, these threeindicators are significantly low. Data from the NFHS-3 surveyon women’s decision-making power shows that only about one-third of the women interviewed took decisions on their ownregarding household issues and their health. Decision-makingpower among employed urban women was higher than amongrural and less educated women. The survey also found thatolder married women had more decision-making power thanthe younger married women. Younger women and girlsexperience an additional layer of discrimination as a result oftheir age.

Data on women’s mobility in India indicates the lack ofchoices women have, and that urban and educated women havemore mobility choices than rural women. The data shows thatabout half the women interviewed had the freedom to go to themarket or a health facility alone. 79% of urban women from thehighest education brackets and only about 40% of rural womenwithout education were allowed to go to the market alone.

Mobility restrictions for women are dependent upon howthe family and community view women’s rights. They also,however, are intrinsically dependent on the prevailing levels ofviolence against women in the household and the community.Abuse and violence towards women is predominantlyperpetrated within the household, and marital violence isamong the most accepted by both men and women. Wifebeating, slapping, rape, dowry related deaths, feudal violencetowards tribal and lower caste women, trafficking, sexual abuse,and street violence permeates the Indian social fabric, and

7Introduction

create one of the most serious obstacles in achieving women’sempowerment.

1.2 Significance of the StudyThe study on women entrepreneurship and economic

empowerment assumes great practical significance in thepresent context. Growing claimer for gender equality, need foroptimal utilization of human resources, facing threats andchallenges of economic integration are the major issues to beaddressed for designing comprehensive plan and program forcreating culture of women entrepreneurship in India. This studyhas implications for planning and development of womenentrepreneurship as it attempts to undertake an in-depth studyof business enterprises in selected metropolitan cities, managedby women entrepreneurs. Based on secondary and primary data,the critical analysis of micro and macro forces affecting womenentrepreneurs is essential to gain thorough insight necessary forsuitable policy measures.

A study of women entrepreneurs in Mumbai, Pune andNashik is presumed to provide a substantial insight intoproblems and prospects. Against this backdrop, businessenterprises managed by women entrepreneurs in and aroundMumbai, Pune and Nashik will be selected for an in-depthstudy of interlay relationship between women entrepreneurshipand economic empowerment and also socio-economic factorsaffecting growth of women entrepreneurship. Against the abovebackground, this study has the following aims, objectives andhypothesis.

1.3 Aims and Objectives of the StudyThe aims and objective of the study are:1. One of the chief objectives of the study is to assess the

linkage between women entrepreneurship and their

8 Women Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment

economic empowerment with special reference tometropolitan cities like Mumbai.

2. To identify and analyze the constraints and problemsfaced by women entrepreneurs.

3. To examine the performance of women enterprises inselected locations and also forces influencing thesuccess or failure of the entrepreneurs.

4. The study aims at attaining insight into certain aspectsof women entrepreneurship in India.

5. To attempt to suggest a framework for the developmentand promotion of a culture of women entrepreneurshipin India.

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