SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Transcription

1 SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS INTRODUCTION: Entrepreneurial activity is a key instrument of innovation, employment and economic growth (Birch, 1979; Carree and Thurik, 2003; Parker, 2004; Storey, 1994; van Stel et al., 2005; Wennekers and Thurik, 1999, among others). Few studies have explored the characteristics possessed by entrepreneurs to create & develop new business and thereafter how societies and economies grow and prosper. The firm s superior performance is the main goal of every business. Therefore, it is very important to identify the factors that lead towards the success of the business. Many studies have demonstrated the impact of several factors on the firm s performance. However, it s important to investigate the influence of demographic characteristics and personal characteristics of the entrepreneurs on their enterprise s performance and to suggest a new theoretical framework in this regard. In order to understand various dynamics of entrepreneurial activities among women, it is important to identify the factors that lead towards the success of the business. Socio-economic status of any society has a direct reference with the progress and development of each member of that community. The community of women entrepreneurs is no exception to this convention. In this context, it is of key importance to throw light on their socio-economic characteristics in the region. The development and growth of entrepreneurial activities among women to a great extent depends upon their socio-economic status. The demographic characteristics and personal characteristics determines how various entrepreneurial activities among women lead to their entrepreneurial development in the region. These characteristics are a composition of variables like age, caste, occupation, family size & structure, marital status, educational standards, Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 104

2 involvement and work experience, and their family income from entrepreneurial and allied activities. There are many studies which pointed out the importance of socio-cultural factors in creating new businesses (Aldrich and Zimmer, 1986).Personal and economic factors also contribute immensely in shaping of entrepreneurial behaviour of new entrepreneurial firms ranging from self-employment to building enterprises (Carsrud and Johnson, 1989; Collins et al., 1964; McClelland, 1961, Audretsch and Keilbach, 2004; Audretsch and Thurik, 2001; Parker, 2004; Wennekers et al., 2005). However, besides economic traits, few studies establish the fact that entrepreneurial variations are better understood by considering the social environment in which the firm is created, because they also consider entrepreneurship as a social phenomenon (Berger, 1991; Shapero and Sokol, 1982; Steyaert, 2007).The demographic characteristics of women also build their behaviours towards entrepreneurship. Numerous studies have emphasized the role of demographic characteristics such as age, religion, gender, experience, background and education of entrepreneurs towards their entrepreneurial behaviors and firm s performance (Welmilla et al., 2011; Ahmad, 2007; Davidsson, 1995). It is important to understand how entrepreneurs create new businesses and thus, how societies and economies grow and prosper. Although there has considerable research based on psychological and cultural approaches to entrepreneurship, the influence of socio-economic factors on enterprise development remains under studied. Therefore, the focus here is to integrate, from a theoretical as well as practical perspective, the socio-economic factors and entrepreneurial activities among womenfolk. In the same context, the present study analyses the socio-cultural characteristics among women entrepreneurs that influence their decisions to create new enterprises. The primary focus in this chapter is to explore socio-economic traits among women entrepreneurs which are very crucial for the growth of enterprises run by them. The study of socio-economic status of women entrepreneurs will thus enable us to understand various aspects of entrepreneurial Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 105

3 development in the region and further help us in formulating right kind of policies for their progressive growth. AGE OF THE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: The competencies of a person to cater various responsibilities exhibit variation with respect to their age. Age works as an important deciding factor in performing various entrepreneurial activities. The literature available on the issue illustrate that executing managerial and administrative responsibilities, risk bearing and various decision making abilities, performing financial, marketing and operational functions get influenced with the age of women entrepreneurs. Age thus is one of the important variables in contemporary social science research (Aapola, 2002). Some studies argue that skills of people improve with the age (Welmilla et al., 2011), because they learn to manage time effectively. Also, the person s age is considered as a significant demographic characteristic in understanding his or her entrepreneurial behaviours and intentions (Reynolds, 1997).Another study states that most active entrepreneurship are over the age of twenty five years. (Lévesque & Minniti, 2006; Reynolds, 1997).Various studies have presented different views regarding age and its impact on business success and entrepreneurship. For instance, Rose et al. (2006) integrates age of individuals with the success of business while Bosma et al. (2000) has related age with knowledge. On the other hand, Antoncic (2009) presents a totally opposite view while stating thatit is the age of a firm rather than the age of a person which relates to the success of the business. According to Tanveer et al. (2013), there is less chance to become an entrepreneur as the age increases, whereas, Raposo et al. (2008) stated that entrepreneurs get more opportunities with increasing their ages, but their inclination to become an entrepreneur decline as they become old. Similarly, some of the studies (Bosma et al., 2007; Karadeniz & Özçam, 2009)have identified that mostly the entrepreneurs are in age groups in developing countries at an early stage, while they are in age groups in the developed countries. Similarly, another study Sinha (1996) Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 106

4 also discovered that the entrepreneurs are more successful in younger age than their older age. Thus, there are different opinions on the effect of age on individual choice of self-employment. Few studies find that the probability of self-employment increases with age (Carr, 1996; Blanchflower, 2000; Blanchflower, 2004).According to some section of researchers, the quantity of the financial and human capital possessed for starting and conducting the business increases with age (Johansson, 2000; Arum and Müller, 2004; Parker, 2009).These studies also assumed that the possibility to become an entrepreneur will increase with age (Praag and Ophem, 1995).Furthermore, greater ability to control the work enhances for older people (Parker, 2009). According to Lévesque and Minniti (2006) the future prospects of earning incomes decreases as individuals become older. Although there are different views of researchers regarding impact of age of individuals on their entrepreneurial behaviour and intentions, but most of the researchers had established a strong linkages between age and entrepreneurial behaviour. An attempt has been made below (Table: 4.1 and 4.2) to explore the relationship between age and entrepreneurial behaviour of women entrepreneurs in the study region. This will help us in understanding the behavioural aspects of development of women enterprises in the study region. THE PRESENT AGE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: In the following pages, an attempt has been made to throw light on the current as well as the age of initiating the enterprise in the district by women entrepreneurs. The Table: 4.1 revealed that the maximum number of women entrepreneurs belonged to the age group of years in the district. More than 36% of females in both the areas, urban and rural were mature enough and ready to take the responsibility of carrying an entrepreneurial venture. This may be interpreted as, since the women start a family by this age, after marriage, their financial responsibility increases, they are required or forced to become the second bread earner of the family. The age bracket of 30-40yrs witnessed the maximum number of Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 107

5 Percentage Chapter IV: Socio-Economic Characteristics of Women Entrepreneurs female entrepreneurs in both the urban and rural background. This is due to the reason that in the rural females in the region were now free from the duty of child bearing and rearing. Whereas the urban females were found mature enough to take the responsibility of a business and the household. It was followed by 28.63% of women entrepreneurs belonging to the age group of years. Age of Women Entrepreneurs Table 4.1 The Current Age of the Women Entrepreneurs URBAN RURAL TOTAL No. % No. % No. % AND ABOVE TOTAL The study witnessed a larger proportion of around 32% women entrepreneurs in age group of years from the rural areas. The reasons for the rural women working at a younger age as entrepreneurs were to support the family in monetary terms. They were forced to work for earning and supporting the family at a younger age due to the rising expenses and limited financial resources of their spouse and family. The study thus clearly establishes an argument that the women entrepreneurs in this region are aimed at helping their spouse to bear the rising family expenses Graph 4.1: Current Age of Entrepreneurs & Above Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 108 Current Age (in Years) Urban Rural

6 AGE OF STARTING THE VENTURE: In the following pages, an attempt has also been made to analyse the age at which the entrepreneurial venture were initiated by women respondents in the district. This holds a key importance for our study. The study (Table: 4.2) witnessed that around 66% of females entered into the entrepreneurial activities in the age group of years. The study also reveals that the proportion (44.12%) of urban females in the age group of years is almost double as compared to their rural counterpart (22.35%), whereas the rural females dominate the entrepreneurial activities in the age group below 20 years. Table 4.2 Age of Starting the Venture Age of URBAN RURAL TOTAL Women Entrepreneurs No. % No. % No. % Below and above TOTAL test of independent = df = 04 P value =0.05 H0 is Rejected Significant at α=5% In order to find out whether the entrepreneurial attitude among women entrepreneurs in the district is independent of their age of staring enterprises, Chi- Square Test of Independence has been applied. The Null Hypothesis framed is as follows: H04.1: The age of starting the enterprises among women entrepreneurs does not differ significantly across urban and rural areas in the district. The above Hypothesis was tested by applying Chi- Square test and the results are as shown in Table: 4.2. The result shows the Pearson Chi-Square value of (df=4, N=255). With p value=0.05, it is significant at 5% level of Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 109

7 Chapter IV: Socio-Economic Characteristics of Women Entrepreneurs significance. It means that the Null Hypothesis is rejected. In other words, the age of starting an enterprise is an influencing factor for women to enter into entrepreneurs in Urban and Semi urban/rural regions of the district. This is also evident from Table: 4.2 that the urban females initiated their entrepreneurial ventures at a more mature age in comparison to the rural females. On the other hand, the reason for the rural females to initiate the venture at an early age was to support their families whether it was their parents or spouse due to early marriage. The poor economic conditions also ushered the young rural ladies to take up the entrepreneurial activities. Graph 4.2: The Age of Starting Venture 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% B elow a nd above Age (In Years) Urban Rural Total Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 110

8 EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: Education is rightly considered as one of the most effective tools to bring about socio-economic change in any society. The importance of education is more significant in case of highly backward society like that of rural/tribal communities of MHOW region. As we discuss the socio-economic background of the women entrepreneurs in the rural and urban areas of our study, education is one of the important points to be analysed. Education helps to understand the latest technological development and the latest market trends available. Unawareness of the recent developments creates problems in setting up and running of business enterprise. Studies have revealed that many business women do not even have the knowledge of basic accounting. They have their own system of maintaining records which may be sufficient to run a petty business but certainly not a business enterprise. Many studies have highlighted the role of education in entrepreneurial development. Education has been argued to indicate an individual s knowledge and skills (Hambrick and Mason, 1984). The education level of entrepreneurs is a vital influence in forecasting the financial success of a new business (Hisrich and Brush, 1984). Educational level reflects an individual s cognitive ability and skills (Wiersema and Bantel, 1992). Further, a higher level of education of entrepreneurs may surge stakeholders confidence in their ability (Carter, et al., 2003) and reflect positive signal about the future productivity of the business (Backes-Gellner and Werner, 2007). However, various studies illustrate different opinions and thoughts regarding the impact of education on the entrepreneurship. Hagen E. E. (1962) said that education plays a subsidiary role in promoting entrepreneurship, because entrepreneurs are born. But some researchers (W.P.Gamini de Alwis, R Senathiraja 2003) emphasized that The concept of the mind which stresses that, education is important in terms of results and behaviour of enterprise business. Many studies (Evans and Leighton, 1989; Carr, 1996; Robson, 1998; Blanchflower, 2000; Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 111

9 Moore and Mueller, 2002; Ritsilä and Tervo, 2002; Blanchflower, 2004) propose a positive impact of education on probability of the opting for self-employed, whereas studies done byjohansson, 2000; Blanchflower, 2004, more in Parker, 2009 and Le, 1999 state that the choice of entrepreneurship as an employment option, decreases with increasing levels of education. There are also studies that establish a neutral impact of education on options of becoming self-employment (Praag and Ophem, 1995).Sudatta Ranasinghe (1996) also noted that, most of the successful entrepreneurs have not gone through higher education or formal courses in entrepreneurship. There are some studies which present a contradicting outcome that a higher level of education might increase the chances for employment in the sector of paid employment, thus reducing the likelihood of self-employment (Johansson, 2000).A higher level of education upturns the person's management skills, and thus influences the choice of entrepreneurship options (Le, 1999).Therefore, it is less likely that the more educated individual will become self-employed. Also the results are not unique in developed and developing countries. According to Sluis, Praag and Vijverberg (2005), the first choice in the developing countries is paid employment followed by selfemployment. In above context, it is interesting to examine the level of education of the women entrepreneurs in the rural and urban areas of our study. This will help us in understanding the influence of level of education on development of women entrepreneurship in the region. Table: 4.3 illustrates the level of educational attainment of women entrepreneurs in the study region. Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 112

10 Table 4.3 Educational Qualification of Women Entrepreneurs Educational Qualification URBAN RURAL TOTAL No. % No. % No. % χ 2 test of independent Illiterate Literate without educational Standard Primary High School Graduate χ 2 = df = 05 P value =1.425E-20 H0 is Rejected Post Graduate/ Professional Significant at α=5% TOTAL Lack of education is often quoted as a limiting factor for the development of women as entrepreneurs and contributing to their lack of access to resources. The study elicited that almost 44% of the rural women were found to be illiterate. The situation becomes grim as we proceed to high school education or above. Only 12% of the rural females entrepreneurs have had their education above primary level. The majority of about 33% of rural respondents could not continue their studies. The reason behind this was that they were forced to work in order to support the household expenses and leave the education behind. This is due to ignorance and poverty which stopped them from going to school and continuing their studies. A large percentage of these ladies were helping in the agricultural activities on the farms or working on daily wages at various places. Few of them were also helping their cattle to graze. Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 113

11 Graph 4.3: Educational Qualification of Women Entrepreneurs Urban Illiterate Literate without educational Standard Primary High School Graduate Post Graduate/ Professional 5 % 0% Rural Illiterate Literate without educational Standard Primary High School Graduate Post Graduate/ Professional 5 % 0% 20 % 17 % 7 % 43 % 19 % 33 % 39 % 12 % To our surprise there were females who were literate but did not receive any formal education by going to school. They were one amongst the literate crowd but without any specific education standards. Such females were observed in the semiurban/ rural region of the study but none could be found in the city area. However, women entrepreneurs possessing High school education were found to be few in number in both urban and rural area due to their family support. This number was a little higher in the urban belt (18.82%) as compared to the semi-urban/ rural area (7.06%). We expected to find at least a few of graduate ladies as entrepreneurs in the semi-urban/rural areas but to our surprise there were none who were graduates or post graduates in Mhow area and the reason which was found during the study that they were forced to work in order to support the household expenses and leave the education behind. Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 114

12 The scenario in Indore city was found slightly different as the educated masses encouraged the girls and ladies to study further before venturing into any business. Around 60% of the female entrepreneurs were graduates and post- graduates or holding professional qualification. Education opened many venues for such females to step into various fields and exploit their talent and education. Further, the Chi-Square Test of Independence has been applied to test the hypothesis whether Entrepreneurial attitude among women entrepreneurs in the district is independent of their educational qualification. H04.2: The Educational Qualification of women entrepreneurs does not differ significantly across urban and rural areas in the district. The result shows the Pearson Chi-Square value of (df=5, N=255). With p value= 1.425E, it is significant at 5% level of significance. It means that the Null Hypothesis is rejected. In other words, the educational background is an influencing factor for women to enter into entrepreneurs in the district. The study has further focused on the status of involvement of women (Table: 4.4) respondents in various economic activities at their school going age. Table 4.4 Involvement of Rural Entrepreneurs in work at School Going Age Status Number of Rural Percentage Entrepreneurs Yes No Total The results revealed the bitter side of the rural/ semi urban society. More than 80% of our women respondents belonged to the category who were working at the school going age. It is surprising to observe that majority of women entrepreneurs had engaged themselves in various economic activities and had helped their parents in earning the livelihood. On being asked Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 115

13 as to why they never went to school or left school incomplete, most of these women respondents answered (Table : 4.5) that ; 1. They were not sent to the school by their parents, 2. At the school going age, they had helped their parents in various Type of work economic activities, namely agricultural work, to give secondary support to their family income or some kind of labour work. Table 4.5 Rural Women Entrepreneurs at School Going Age Frequency Percent Care taker for animals Daily Wages Help in agriculture/involvement in trade or other bread earning activities of the family Total The reasons given by them all converged at the same point and i.e. generation of funds. In order to meet their financial requirements several odd jobs were done by these females. A large percentage of these ladies were helping in the agricultural activities on the farms which were owned by their families or by somebody else. These activities literally prevented such females for not studying in their school going age. MARITAL STATUS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: As illustrated in Table: 4.6, it was interesting to note that majority of the entrepreneurial activities in the study region were handled by married ladies who were able to balance between the work and their family life. Their rising family expenditure and insufficient income of the spouse drove them to start a business of their own and contribute to the household expenditure. At the same time widows and separated were into business activities just to support themselves and their dependents, may be their children or elders. Factors like family support, the time Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 116

14 spent on enterprise, role conflict; type of enterprise taken up by women to a large extend also depended on the marital status of women. Table 4.6 Marital Status of Women Entrepreneurs Marital Status of URBAN RURAL TOTAL Women Entrepreneurs No. % No. % No. % Unmarried Married Widow/Separated Others TOTAL test of independent = df = 03 P value= H 0 is accepted (insignificant) The study revealed that around 60% of the women entrepreneurs were married. Analysis further shows that the proportion of married entrepreneurs was the highest (69.41%) among rural females. On the other hand, the unmarried females who were in the venture were more in the city area 24.12% whereas their ratio in semi urban/ rural unmarried accounted to only 9.41%.The reason for more number of unmarried female entrepreneurs in the urban area was due to the spread of literacy and availability of opportunities. The rural unmarried females were forced to work due to poor economic condition of their families. Further, the Chi-Square Test of Independence has been applied to test the hypothesis whether there exists any association between the Entrepreneurial attitude among women entrepreneurs in the district and their marital status. H04.3: The Marital Status of women entrepreneurs does not differ significantly across urban and rural areas in the district. The above Hypothesis was tested by applying Chi- Square test and the results are as shown in Table: 4.6. The result shows the Pearson Chi-Square value of (df= 3, N=255). With p value=0.1796, it is insignificant, which means that the Null Hypothesis is accepted. In other words, the women entrepreneurship is independent of marital status of women entrepreneurs in the district. The study Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 117

15 depicts that the entrepreneurial activities in the district, both in urban as well as rural/semi-urban regions, were handled majorly by married ladies. Graph 4.4: Marital Status of Women Entrepreneurs Urban Rural 13 % 7 % 24 % 18 % 4 % 9 % 56 % 69 % Unmarried Married Widow/Separated Others Unmarried Married Widow/Separated Others FAMILY STRUCTURE: The structure of the family plays an important role in deciding upon the entrepreneurial venture of the females. There are studies that establish the fact that family composition of to a large extent influences the working life of women. Entrepreneurial behaviour is influenced by many social factors like family type; family size, number of children in the family and number of dependent members. Women s entrepreneurial status is closely associated with their home and the family, as they have to cater multiple roles as a sister, wife, mother or entrepreneur on the other hand. Therefore, the family structure a key factor to be analysed for the growth of entrepreneurial activities among women in the study region. Table: 4.7 presents the family structure of women entrepreneurs in Indore district. Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 118

16 Table 4.7 Family Structure of Women Entrepreneurs in the District Family Structure URBAN RURAL TOTAL No. % No. % No. % Nuclear Joint Single TOTAL test of independent = df = 02 P value = H0 is Rejected Significant at α=5% As far as family structure of the women entrepreneurs was concerned, majority of women entrepreneurs (67.06%) belonged to the nuclear type of families. The reason for this was the changing life style and rising individual challenges which forced the people to stay in smaller families and also explore opportunities to exploit their skill and talent. Relatively higher number of joint families of women entrepreneurs was witnessed in the rural areas where people still believed in the economies of staying together. A joint family is always a support for the ladies who move out to prove themselves in the business world. This was a view which came from many of our respondents. But, to our surprise a large number of entrepreneur ladies in the urban sector hailed from the nuclear families. Many of such families have migrated to Indore in search of a better job/occupational opportunities and their parents have been leaving in small towns or villages. On the other side, women entrepreneurs in MHOW region were more in proportion from joint families, as the culture there still believed in staying together in a joint family which is more economical in maintaining the household expenses. Females who were single and handling businesses were few in number and were found more in the urban areas as compared to the rural as they were found to be strong enough to lead life alone on their own. Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 119

17 Graph 4.5 Family Structure of Women Entrepreneurs in the District Urban Rural 8 % 6% 22 % 33% 61% 70 % Nuclear Joint Single Nuclear Joint Single This is also been justified by the result of testing of hypothesis of Chi-Square Test of Independence applied to test whether there exists any association between the Entrepreneurial attitude among women entrepreneurs in the district and their family structure. H04.4: The Family Structure of women entrepreneurs does not differ significantly across urban and rural areas in the district. The results revealed in Table: 4.7 clearly evaluate Pearson Chi-Square value equal to (df=2, N=255). With p value= , it is significant, which means that the women entrepreneurship in the region is influenced by their family structure that is the type of family they belonged to. As stated above, larger proportion of women entrepreneurs in the urban areas belonged to nuclear families, whereas proportionately more women entrepreneurs in rural/semi-urban regions were from joint families. Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 120

18 FAMILY SIZE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: The size of the family is one of the important reasons for the women folk to enter into the entrepreneurial venture. Size of the family and the number of dependents become an important basis for the females to move out and support the finances of the household. The women entrepreneurs in the district have been classified in Table: 4.8 to determine size of their families. Table 4.8 Size of the Family of Women Entrepreneurs Size of the family URBAN RURAL TOTAL No. % No. % No. % test of independent Up to &Above TOTAL = df = 03 P value = H0 is Rejected Significant at α=5% It was interesting to know from the Table that majority of around 68 per cent of females in the urban areas were having up to 4 members in their household, which is much higher than their counterpart in rural areas (about 38%). On the other hand, the major chunk of women entrepreneurs were seen in the rural rural/semi-urban areas with a family size of over 4 members. Their proportion accounts to around 61 % which is approximately the double of their counterpart in urban areas. Families having a much larger size of more than 6 persons were in a higher percentage in the rural areas where they still believed in staying in joint families unlike the urban people. This data shows that the women entrepreneurs in the rural areas had a larger family to support whereas the urban women entrepreneurs hailed from relatively small sized families. This difference was due to the reason that the large chunk of urban women belonged to nuclear families and secondly their cost of living are Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 121

19 higher, which compelled urban females to a larger extent to move out for entrepreneurial ventures to meet their needs. On the other hand, the same scenario is observed among rural/semi-urban women entrepreneurs with a family size of over 6 persons. As these rural women have to support relatively large household, their rising household expenditure primarily pushed them into entrepreneurial profession. Graph 4.6 Size of the Family of Women Entrepreneurs Urban Rural Up to to to and Above Up to to to and Above This is also been justified by the result of testing of hypothesis of Chi-Square Test of Independence applied to test whether there exists any association between the Entrepreneurial attitude among women entrepreneurs in the district and their family size. H04.5: The Family Size of women entrepreneurs does not differ significantly across urban and rural areas in the district. The results revealed in Table: 4.8 clearly weigh Pearson Chi-Square value equal to (df= 3, N=255). With p value= , it is significant, which Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 122

20 means that the women entrepreneurship in the district is influenced by their size of household. As stated earlier, women entrepreneurs in the rural areas are supporting large families, whereas the urban women entrepreneurs are taking care of relatively small sized families. WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS WITH CHILDREN: The entrepreneurial women who have stepped out to prove their worth and support their families financially also need to take care of their children. The Table: 4.9depicts the information about women entrepreneurs in the study region with children to take care of. Women Entrepreneurs Table 4.9 Women Entrepreneurs with Children URBAN RURAL TOTAL No. % No. % No. % Having Children Not having Children TOTAL It was elicited from the study that more than 70% of the women entrepreneurs in the district had children to take care of. These women in the study area had to carry out their entrepreneurial activities along with their household work and childcare. This was a much more challenging and full time work which not only demanded their contribution in the household expenses but also expected these ladies to take care of the family and children. Here, the female entrepreneurs needed to be stronger than their male counterpart not physically but mentally. This is one of the reasons that made the women to start operating their entrepreneurial activities from their homes in order to balance between work, family and children. A large number of around 84% of women entrepreneurs in rural/semi-urban region of MHOW had children to take care of. This proportion is much higher as compared to around 67% of women entrepreneurs having children in urban areas. This clearly shows that engagement in entrepreneurial activities seems to be a difficult proposition for women folk as they have to balance such activities along Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 123

21 with their day to day household doings simultaneously. The reason for more instances of women entrepreneurs having children in semi urban/rural areas, could be due to weak implementation of family planning programs as compared to urban counterpart, which consequently give rise to the tally of children in such areas. Illiteracy is also another reason which could contribute substantially. On the other hand, the proportion of women entrepreneurs having no children accounted to 32.94% in Indore city which is almost double as witnessed in the semi urban/ rural areas (16.47%).The awareness about family planning programmes and higher level of educational standards among urban women entrepreneurs seems to be the most contributory factors. Also it is important to observe that more number of widows, spinsters and unmarried women entrepreneurs are engaged in entrepreneurial activities in urban areas. DEPENDENTS IN THE FAMILY: As the number of dependents in the family increase, the family needs also rise, which forces the females to take a step towards the entrepreneurial ventures. It was observed during the study that women entrepreneurs chose to work due to the rise of the dependents in the family. Table: 4.10 depicts the number of dependents in rural as well as urban household of women entrepreneurs in the Indore district. The female entrepreneurs having no dependents at all were more than double in the urban belt (19.41%) as compared to the rural counterpart of 8.24%. The majority of 46.67% of women entrepreneurs in the district had only two dependents in their family. Talking about the number of dependents in the urban region, the families were found to be smaller in comparison to the rural/semi-urban belt. Around 50% of the urban families were seen to manage two dependents at the most. On the other hand, the rural areas were dominated by large joint families where the dependency was more which pressurized the females to move out and work. Staying in large joint families resulted in the rise of the dependents in rural areas. The household having more than four dependents more than 4 persons were around 6 times larger in rural (10.59%) region as compared to urban background of just (01.77%).The cost of Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 124

22 living was also higher which made it important for them to earn. The rural/ semiurban women also ventured for the same reason but here as the cost of living was comparatively less, they could still manage a larger family. Dependents in the Family Table 4.10 Dependents in the Family URBAN RURAL TOTAL No. % No. % No. % None One Two Three Four& Above TOTAL df = 04 test of independent = P value = H0 is Rejected Significant at α=5% This is also been justified by the result of testing of hypothesis of Chi-Square Test of Independence applied to test whether there exists association between number of dependents in the family and entrepreneurial attitude among women entrepreneurs in the district. H04.6: The Number of Dependents among families of women entrepreneurs does not differ significantly across urban and rural areas in the district. The results revealed in Table: 4.10 clearly evaluate Pearson Chi-Square value equal to (df=4, N=255). With p value= , it is significant, which means that the women entrepreneurship in the district is influenced by their size of household. As detailed earlier, women entrepreneurs in the rural areas are supporting more dependents in their families, whereas the number of dependents are relatively lesser in the urban households to be taken care of. FAMILY OCCUPATION: The growth of women entrepreneurial activities in the region strongly depend on the occupational pattern practiced in the family. The family to which the women belonged had an influence on the type of work they did. The occupational structure Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 125

23 is broadly classified into three different categories, namely Service, agriculture and Business (Table: 4.11). Main family Occupation Business or Industry Table 4.11 Primary Family Occupation of Women Entrepreneurs URBAN RURAL TOTAL No. % No. % No. % Agriculture Service TOTAL test of independent = df = 02 P value = E-15 H0 is Rejected Significant at α=5% The highest proportion of women entrepreneurs (43.92%) belonged to families of service class in the district. This ratio was much higher among urban women (52.35%) as compared to Rural/semi-urban women (27.06%). The reason being that urban dwellers had many other options open in the service category. On the other hand, females coming from agricultural families were more to be seen in the rural belt. (62.35%). This is due to the fact that agriculture is the prime occupation of the rural people. At the same time the women entrepreneurs coming from business or industrial families were more in number in Indore region (37.06%) as compared to the rural counterpart (10.59%). Further, the Chi-Square Test of Independence has been applied to exam the hypothesis whether there exists any association between the Entrepreneurial attitude among women entrepreneurs in the district and their family occupation. H04.7: The Family Occupation of women entrepreneurs does not differ significantly across urban and rural areas in the district. The results revealed in Table: 4.11 clearly evaluate Pearson Chi-Square value equal to (df=2, N=255). With p value= E-15, it is significant, which means that the family occupation is an influencing factor for women to enter into entrepreneurship in the district. As stated earlier, the rural/ semi-urban belt was Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 126

24 dominated by those women entrepreneurs who hailed from the families which had agricultural as a profession. On the contrary, the urban women belonged to the families who either had their own industrial venture or were serving in some other organizations. Such ladies opted to join the service industry utilizing their skill and talent or joined their family business in some or the other way. The same trend could be seen in rural/ semi urban regions of MHOW also where the women entrepreneurs coming from the agricultural families wanted to work in farming and allied activities. Here, they were able to excel their performance due to the experience gained at home and from the family members. Graph 4.7 Primary Family Occupation of Women Entrepreneurs Urban Rural Business or Industry Agriculture Service Business or Industry Agriculture Service FAMILY INCOME OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: As illustrated in Table: 4.12, the family income of women entrepreneurs in Indore district has varied from a minimum of 5000/- to 50,000/- per month. This amount was taken into account after considering the total income of the family from all the sources. It was surprising to notice that none of the women entrepreneurs from Indore city belonged to a family whose family income was less than 5000/- pm., whereas, around 8% of women respondents in rural/semi-urban region of Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 127

25 MHOW had their family income below Rs It was relatively easier for some of the women entrepreneurs of the rural areas to manage their household expenses with a meagre income of even less than Rs The slab of 15,000 20,000 was the only one where we could identify almost the same number (Approximately 18%) of both rural and urban female entrepreneurs. Table 4.12 Monthly Family Income of Women Entrepreneurs Monthly Income URBAN RURAL TOTAL No. % No. % No. % Below Above TOTAL test of independent = df = 04 P value = E-09 H0 is Rejected Significant at α=5% The highest percentage (23.92%) of women entrepreneurs were having a family income between Rs.20, ,000, wherein a large portion (28.23%) of such women was from the urban belt. It was followed with around 20% of women entrepreneurs having their family income between Rs.10, ,000, wherein a large portion (38.82%) of such women was from the rural/semi-urban region. It is very interesting to observe that higher income slabs of Rs. 30,000-50,000 and over Rs. 50,000, mostly belonged to urban women entrepreneurs in the district. About 93% of women entrepreneurs in Income slab of Rs. 30,000-50,000 were from urban areas, where as we could not find even a single women entrepreneur from rural/semiurban region of the district whose family monthly income would exceed an amount of 50,000/. Well, this was not the case in Indore city where more than 10% of our respondents fell in this category. Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 128

26 Graph 4.8 Family income of Women Entrepreneurs Urban 7.65 Rural Below Above Below Above Further, the Chi-Square Test of Independence has been applied to exam the hypothesis whether there exists any association between the Entrepreneurial attitude among women entrepreneurs in the district and their family income. H04.8: The Monthly Family Income of women entrepreneurs does not differ significantly across urban and rural areas in the district. The results revealed in Table: 4.12 clearly evaluate Pearson Chi-Square value equal to (df=4, N=255). With p value= E-09, it is significant, which means that the family monthly income is an influencing factor for women to enter into entrepreneurship in the district. As stated earlier, the higher income slabs in the district have the dominance of urban women entrepreneurs whereas, women entrepreneurs in rural/ semi-urban belt mainly belonged to low income slabs. The reason for this parity was the availability of opportunities and funds which was Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 129

27 easier in the urban belt clubbed with education. All these factors combined together resulted in higher revenue generation. CONCLUSION: As we explore the socio-economic status of the women entrepreneurs in our study area, we come across certain facts which are specifically mentioned here. The study area stretches from the developing city of Indore to the semi-urban region of MHOW which includes small regions of tribal population as well. The percentage of the present age of the women entrepreneurs in both the areas were found to be similar in the age group of yrs. This made it clear to us that our respondents were mature enough to run their enterprises and had sufficient experience in the business world. Illiteracy, a significant factor, was an important drawback which dominated the rural belt. The family structure and the size of the family have significantly influenced women entrepreneurs in the district. The smaller size of families were a boon to the urban women entrepreneurs at times and on the other hand the rural women enjoyed the benefits of large, joint families. This also increased the number of dependents in the rural households. Occupational structure as well as the family income of women entrepreneurs significantly influenced women entrepreneurs in urban and rural areas to enter into entrepreneurship. Women Entrepreneurship in Tertiary Sector in Indore District 130

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