“Entrepreneurship” by definition is an attitude to create something new, through an activity which creates value in the socio-economic system. This attitude primarily stems from a state of mind which develops naturally as a product of one’s surroundings and experiences. It all comes down to looking at life and career a certain way.

Women in India and their attitude towards life and their careers(if any) have to be understood against the backdrop of a social set up which has evolved over a period of no less than a few thousand years, carrying traces of older customs while adapting as per the political and economic demands of the time.

Through this historical time, the status of women has seen phases of acute decline with alternating phases of limited empowerment. The prevalence or not, of a possible environment which could provide a scope for creating value even during those few phases of limited empowerment is where the discussion ought to start from.

So, did Indian women have the surroundings and experiences which are essential to nurture the psyche of an entrepreneur? Did they get the support required from their families and the State? How has their journey towards an entrepreneurial role been? These are a few of the questions we will be mulling over while attempting to understand “women entrepreneurship” in India.

Taking a look back at History

Historically speaking, it would be wrong to say that women were “always” denied education or scope for learning value creating skills in India. Since the ancient times, women scholars and their wisdom have been recorded in texts and they were known to participate in the labour force as agricultural labourer, artisans, etc.

They did add value to production, whether measured or not .The point that needs to be taken up in this context is the novelty with which they used their skills for value creation.

‍Could they independently organize and set up their own enterprise?

Or was their participation limited to working with their family members, or working for the male members in the family in whichever capacity?

How has social perspective of women’s role shaped the way women see themselves in society?

Does this self image aspect have a bearing on women’s choice of a career as an entrepreneur?

In India, it has been widely noted that women have been “socially” regarded as beings with “inferior intellect “, the ones who are more “emotional” and hence suited mostly for care giving roles either at home or outside. Besides this debilitating stereotype, women are also brought up within the confines of gender roles with lack of adequate exposure to develop an aptitude for entrepreneurial ventures.

The social setup, to add to this, tends to discourage the attempt by women to work on their ideas independently by often engineering multiple constraints( legal, financial and familial). After all, if you do not trust a woman’s intellect in the first place, how much capital would you possibly invest while betting on her idea?

Fast-forward to the modern nation-state

Dr. B. R Ambedhkar, the father of the Indian Constitution was all for “equality of status and opportunity”. Legally thus, at this point there is a definite twist in the story. So, did the society go hand in hand with the new age legal provisions? In the 70 years since independence, how far have women been able to grab opportunities to create wealth and value as entrepreneurs? Let us take a look.

India has been ranked amongst the worst performing countries in the area of women entrepreneurship in gender-focused global entrepreneurship survey which was released by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute in July 2013.Out of the 17 countries, India ranks 16th where countries like Turkey, Morocco and Egypt have outperformed India.

Three categories of women entrepreneurs in India

Indian women entrepreneur weaving, photo courtesy of Global Landscapes Forum

At present, most of the entrepreneurial roles of women have been observed to be concentrated in the large scale industries and technology based businesses. This sector with women entrepreneurs form a mere fraction in terms of the potential women workforce that can be tapped as a whole.

Women participation in small scale industries has been woefully low. The policy makers have realized this inequality in distribution of women entrepreneurs and are thus working on promoting women entrepreneurship in small scale industries at present. Much work has to be done to make the small scale industries conducive to the needs of these entrepreneurs. As per the third all- India Census of Small Scale Industries, only 10.11% of micro and small enterprises are owned by women while only 9.46% of them are managed by women.

In order to better understand the different areas where women entrepreneurs feature in the socio-economic dynamics of the country, the next step in the study will be to categorize them under four broad pillars to begin with.

Women in organized and unorganized sectors Women in traditional and modern industries Women in urban and rural areas Women in large scale and small scale industries

Under these pillars we could further categorize women in three basic categories. This division can be based on the following parameters:

Category I

‍Those who are established in big cities

Those who have sound technical qualifications

Those who have sound financial positions

Category II

‍Those who are established in cities and towns

Those who have sufficient education

Those who are undertaking women’s services

Category III

‍Illiterate Women

Those who are financially weak

Those who are involved in family businesses like agriculture, dairy, handlooms, power looms, horticulture, etc

Some of the basic challenges faced by women entrepreneurs across the spectrum

Challenges facing women entrepreneurs in India, photo by Jaume Escofet

Despite differences in geographical locations, education, financial positions and sectors of the economy where women play the role of entrepreneurs, there are a few common challenges that women face that have been noted as per research over time . These are as follows :