Women form an important segment of the work force . No country can flourish by ignoring the worth of its women workforce . The contribution of women in economic growth can also not be separated from the framework of overall economic development. The role of women as entrepreneurs is moderately increasing all over the world. The primary tool for women empowerment is Women Entrepreneurship. Empowerment leads to self-reliance and women become aware of about their position in the society , their status , existence , rights and where they are going ? Women entrepreneurs are rising globally especially after the economic liberalisation and globalisation . The entrepreneurial capabilities of women which were hidden till now have been coming to the fore for the last few years. This is a result of the developments in social political environment in the world today. There exist a number of successful women entrepreneurs in a variety of sectors in India whose outstanding performance in their respective areas has set an example for emerging women entrepreneurs .There are many negative and positive forces which have promoted entrepreneurship amongst women. The desire to start one’s own business, self actualisation , desire to explore abilities are some of the positive forces . At the same time some negative forces such as lack of job opportunities in the organised sector, pressure of handling responsibility of domestic work and career etc. are responsible for encouraging entrepreneurship amongst women. Major constraints which restrict women entrepreneurship in India are limited time due to domestic responsibilities , male domination and financial problem, stiff competition, lack of managerial skills , low risk-bearing ability, absence of proper support, cooperation and back-up for women from their own family members, Fear of expansion and lack of access to technology , lack of will power, and pessimistic attitude amongst women. All these negative forces create fear of committing mistakes while doing their piece of work. Credit discrimination and non cooperative officials, uncomfortable in dealing with male labor also acts as one of the major negative force . Women entrepreneurs can overcome these challenges by systematic time management , fixing priorities between profession and domestic work and a great support system at home, work and beyond,
In order to get the best out of potential of women entrepreneurs- myth of a “glass ceiling for a woman” must be ruptured . Women personally need to reaffirm to themselves that times have changed and today they even have the same opportunities as men and can utilise the same facilities to enlarge their businesses. Also the role of women in decision-making should be encouraged, training should be given to enhance their professional competence and if possible women Entrepreneur’s coaching units should be set up .
Since the 21st century, the role of Indian women has been changing because of growing industrialisation and urbanisation, programmes for encouraging entrepreneurship among women need to be expanded at the local level. The Government is also required to take active measures by launching more programmes and strategies which can motivate women entrepreneurs to set up small scale and large-scale business ventures.
Ms.Meenakshi Chopra
Assistant Professor –JIMS-VK-2
