gender equality: an imperative for entrepreneurship development in india – strategy & policy

8/2/2019 Gender Equality: An Imperative for Entrepreneurship Development in India Strategy & Policy

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GENDER EQUALITY

an Imperative for

ENTREPRENEURSHIPDevelopment in INDIAStrategy & Policy.

Prof.M.M.P. Akhouri

Former Executive Director, National Institute

of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Development (NIESBUD) & Amway Chair

Professor, Delhi University, India.

Workshop on Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship (3Es) on India, Indonesia and Peoples Republic of

China. 27-28 Feb. 2012, Manila, Philippines.The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracyof the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in thispaper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB'sterminology.


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Indian Women have proven their great potential

as successful entrepreneurSome Indian women entrepreneurs today lead the biggest shipping companies, trading and

export houses, brewing plants, plastic factories and electronic establishments. Garment and

handicrafts export are primarily in the hands of women entrepreneurs.

About 2 million ( 1,919,974) women entrepreneurs represents lessthan 21 percent of the total entrepreneurs in India

Proportionately low percentage of women entrepreneurs is primarily due to existence of

GENDER INEQUALITY that refers to socially sanctioned roles that encompasses cultural,

economic, political and social aspects of life, resulting in separate roles for men and

women and unequal power distribution

These proves barriers to women to enter and succeed as entrepreneurs.


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Reduction of

Barriers to Gender Equality inEntrepreneurship -Indias Experience

This requires understanding at three Levels :

1. Process, Practices & Policies of Entrepreneurship

Development in India

2. Gender status in the contemporary scenario and

the way it hinders the entrepreneurship emergence,

functioning and its growth

3. Policy and public intervention for reduction of

barriers to equality in entrepreneurship


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1. Process, Practices & Policies of

Entrepreneurship Development in India

1.Entrepreneurship Development - a National Movement in India

2. In 1970s the Integrated Entrepreneurship Development approach evolved

comprising of three fold strategy -

Stimulatory,

Support and

Sustaining activities.

3. Through experimentation Entrepreneurship Development Training

Programme commonly known as EDP was evolved giving importance of Pre and Post

training work as integrals part.

4. Massive EDP trainings - about 1 million prospective entrepreneurs t

rained every year for about 30 years - both by government organizations, thousands of

NGOs and VOs for all categories- women, youth, educated unemployed,

rural poor, tribal , ex-service men, students and artisans.


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Process of EntrepreneurshipDevelopment

Arousal ofQuality & Motivation for

sensing , Seeking (excellence)

entrepreneurial opportunity.

Building Capacity

of planning, Resourcing &Launching venture

AcquiringAbilityto

Organize & Manageenterprise


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5. Being National Movementpeople from all walks of life join together

and the Governmental effort was

multiplied many folds.

6. Although the National level model syllabi was

developed for standardizing training for different ccategories, a lot of innovative interventions ,and

strategy were tried by numerous non-governmental

organizations (NGOs) to suit the specific groups.

7. Variety of Capacity Building activities for supportagencies & Training of trainers and promoters are

arranged throughout the country.


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8.Entrepreneurship Development attained

maturity in India. Entrepreneurship is viewed

as part of process that completes the

Education process resulting into human

resource development -Providing

(i) Ability to Adjustwith Nature,Culture and Situations , as well as

(ii) Ability to earnMeans of Living.

Therefore entrepreneurship development activitiesin India is spreading to school, college &university

System in one side and to illiterate BPL groups on the other.


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EDUCATION

[1] Development /Acquisition ofKnowledge, Skills& Competencies

( as Resource.)

[2] Building Capacity toGenerate/ Innovate Ideas, ProductsProcesses & Services based

on resources developed at 1(as Innovation).

[3] Acquiring Ability to organizeSocial application / use of IdeasProducts & services thusdeveloped at 2.

( as Venture/Enterprise)

EntrepreneurshipEducation

Fig 1. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS*(Formal Education +Entrepreneurship Education)

(Akhouri 1992)


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Gender Acted as Barriers to Womens Participation

in Entrepreneurship Development

Building Negative PUBLIC PERCETION Disfunctional

SELF PERCEPTION SOCIAL PRACTICES

Social Conditioning resulting

in Negative

SELF PERCEPTION

Low SELF-CONFIDENCE

Promote DEPENDENCYEnjoying COMPLIANCE

rather taking Initiative

Low RISK TAKING

Accepting separate

TRADITIONAL Role for

womenIntolerance to People

CRITICISM

Nurturing ,Caring and

Sacrificing nature.

Creating falls &

Negative

PUBLIC PERCEPTION

LOWTRUST in womens

capability.Not Meant for HARD

WORK

Need Male Protection

HEART DRIVEN

Not Able to TAKE

DECISIONRESTRICTED MOBILITY-

a limitation for business Work

Stereotype roles for

women

Institutionalizing

Disfunctional

SOCIAL PRACTICES

Household Womens Prime

responsibility and working womenhas duel responsibility.

ASSET NOT BELONGING to

Women

MIGRATION OF WOMEN after

marriage from parent to husbands

place.Inheritance of Property

unfavorable to women

Restricted Social Mobility


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Gender Inequality Preventing Women Performing

Entrepreneurial Functions

ENTREPRENEURIAL FUNCTIONS HINDERING GENDER ISSUES1. Taking up entrepreneurship as career

2. Sensing & Selecting Entrepreneurial

Opportunity

3. Enterprise Creation by planning,assessing and mobilizing Resources

including (finance)

4. Management FunctionsProduction

5. Management Functions - Marketing

1 Stereotyped womens Role household work

2. Number of gender generated selfperception

such as lack of selfconfidence, low Risk capacity,

lack of initiative, low literacy & education, restricted

exposure .

3 a) Low literacy & education, not attending training,not permitted to interact freely to outsiders, low

exposure .

b) Asset less, nothing to mortgage / collaterals

c) Support agencies do not easily trust, Even their

parent does not feel encouraged to invest particularly

on behalf of unmarried girl

4. Lack of technical / vocational education, worker not

easily accept women as master.

5 Comparatively low mobility. Not permitted to freely

interact with outsider for purchase and sale.

Networking with others particularly male prohibited

for women


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Indian Strategy & Policy Interventions to Reducebarriers to Gender equality In Entrepreneurship

Three prone Strategy and policy interventions to reduce barriers togender equality in entrepreneurship in India:

1. Entrepreneurial Quality & Motivation development

among women representing all sections of the society.

2. Empowering women to avail all supports needed to

setup and mange enterprise successfully. This mayinclude access and availability of non-financial as

well as financial resources

3. To enable women to sustain their enterprise by managing

Growth and Change.

Innumerous activities have been organized in each area. Some verysignificant from each areas have been illustrated in following slides.

(Akhouri 2012)


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Entrepreneurship Quality & Motivation

Development

The Cry of gender bias has gradually turned into a feeble one butcertainly not eliminated.

The unique feature of women entrepreneurship development in Indialies in a fact that number of non- government organizations and V Osare much more than government organizations and most of them areestablished and run by women.

The most effective strategy for motivating women has been training thein groups. As early as 1986, the National EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Board of India Launched the model syllabi for trainingentrepreneurs which has recommended a separate model for womenentrepreneurs. One third of this model deals with motivation and

quality development. This model is followed by all training institutionsand proved to be very effective

Besides this many incentives in terms of subsidy, awards, facilities areoffered for motivating women to take up entrepreneurship as career.


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Empowering Women to avail all supports needed

to setup and mange enterprise successfully

The support include access and availability of information,technology, skills including managerial skills, financial and

non-financial resources and building capacity of launching

enterprise by assessing, locating and mobilizing resources.

A lot of innovations have been made by about 5000 NGOs,

Vos and hundreds of government agencies engaged in

developing women entrepreneurs.

To illustrate broad efforts of financial inclusion of women

entrepreneurs are included in the next slides.

(Akhouri 2012)


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Financial Inclusion of Women

Entrepreneurs

Institutional Finance comes to women entrepreneurs fromvarious sources mostly in the following forms:

1. Instituting differential rate of Interest for specific group ofborrowers in which women entrepreneurs with certain economicconditions get the priority ( like belonging to BPL, tribal and

artisan groups) General loan by commercial banks out of the allocated specific %

of credit to be dispersed to women (as part of weaker anddisadvantaged group.

Loan fund under different government scheme. For example

under TRADE scheme the MSME ministry 30 % of total cost asapproved by the lending agencies given to NGO for promotingentrepreneurship among women and 70% financed by lendingagencies. (Akhouri 2012)


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Financial Inclusion of Women

Entrepreneurs (continued)

Under TRADE scheme Selected training institution and conducting training forwomen entrepreneurs can avail grant of Rupee one lakh per training.

Under this scheme grants up to Rs. 500000 is given to the National Level EDIsfor research, evaluation study, designing training module for special targetgroup of women.

For extremely poor women NABARD offer (through Refinancing) at

differential rate of interest (4%). Under priority sector lending norms bank hasto lend 1% of loans at DRI.

Another feature associated to financial inclusion is creating Credit guaranteescheme on loan up Rs. 2.5million

Credit Link Capital Subsidy Schemes are for technology upgrading.

These are just illustrative and not exhaustive list of financial inclusion of womenentrepreneurs,

(Akhouri 2012)


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BEST PRACTICES

India has a list of best practices in the area of womenentrepreneurship.

Self Employed Women Association SEWA started as organizingstreet venders forming union graduated having bank of its ownmanaged by members some of them are totally illiterate,

Similarly Association of Women Entrepreneurs of KarnatakaAWAKE started by women entrepreneurs and could successfullylaunched thousands of women by handholding and effective EDP.

A number of best practices can also be seen in the work done byICECD , Ahmedabad who did pioneering work organizing widowsas successful entrepreneurs.

(Akhouri 2012)


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Best Practices (Continued)

Massive Micro financing & MFI -collateral free funding to SHG groupsbenefitting 31 million members -80 to 90 % women a significant strategy &policy by MSME, SIDBI and NABARD enabling women participating ineconomic /entrepreneurship.

MSME & SIDBIs Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for micro and small

enterprises predominantly owned by women.w.e.i. 1st January 2000.

These are just illustrative not exhaustive proving :

Entrepreneurship the most effective way of engendering women

for mainstreaming and empowering women to regain theirstatus of equal partner in building peace, progress and

prosperity of the nation

gender equality: an imperative for entrepreneurship development in india – strategy & policy

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