“Entrepreneurship as a Catalyst for Women’s Economic Mobility: A Data-Driven Study of Women Entrepreneurs in Bilaspur District”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53555/jaes.v22i2.182Keywords:
Women entrepreneurship; Income change; Educational attainment; Economic empowerment; Household decision-making; Microenterprise developmentAbstract
Entrepreneurship is becoming more widely understood as a channel to increase the economic mobility of women in developing economies. This research study aims to explore the effects of entrepreneurial involvement on the level of income and socio-economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs in the Bilaspur district. It used purposive sampling and a structured questionnaire to collect primary data from 200 respondents. To measure income trends and indicators of empowerment, descriptive statistics were used. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied to compare the changes in income before and after becoming an entrepreneur, and the Chi-square test was applied to determine the relationship between educational attainment and the post-entrepreneurial level of income. The outcomes reveal that the increase in income after engaging in entrepreneurship activity is statistically significant. Education has a positive relationship with outcome on higher income, which makes it critical to the success of entrepreneurs. In addition to the benefits in income, entrepreneurship has empowered women in the aspect of household decision-making, especially on expenditure, education, and health. Nevertheless, we still have the financial, social, and operational limitations. The paper brings out the need to offer policy-specific support, expanded access to education, and institutional support to continue women-led businesses. By providing district-level empirical evidence from a developing region, this study contributes to the literature on women’s economic empowerment through microenterprise development.
References
1. Brush, C. G. (1992). Research on women business owners: Past trends, a new perspective, and future directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 16(4), 5–30.
2. Deshpande, A. (2015). The grammar of caste: Economic discrimination in contemporary India. Oxford University Press.
3. Goyal, M., & Parkash, J. (2011). Women entrepreneurship in India: Problems and prospects. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 1(5), 195–207.
4. GSMA. (2023). The mobile gender gap report 2023. GSMA.
5. IFMR LEAD. (2021). Women and access to finance in India: Evidence and policy insights. IFMR LEAD, Krea University.
6. Joshi, S. (2018). Market access constraints of women entrepreneurs in India. Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 61(3), 445–460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-018-0121-9
7. Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00125
8. Minniti, M., & Naudé, W. (2010). What do we know about the patterns and determinants of female entrepreneurship across countries? European Journal of Development Research, 22(3), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2010.17
9. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. (2022). Annual report 2021–22. Government of India.
10. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. (2024). Annual report 2023–24. Government of India.
11. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. (2016). Sixth economic census. Government of India.
12. Roomi, M. A., & Parrott, G. (2008). Barriers to development and progression of women entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Journal of Entrepreneurship, 17(1), 59–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/097135570701700105
13. Sapovadia, V. (2014). Financial inclusion, credit access and women entrepreneurship in India.International Journal of Business and Economics Research, 3(4), 147–154. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20140304.14
14. Sharma, S., & Varma, S. (2008). Women entrepreneurship in India: Issues and challenges. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 43(3), 458–471.
15. Sharma, Y. (2017). Impact of women entrepreneurship on household income and empowerment. International Journal of Applied Research, 3(6), 245–250.
16. Tambunan, T. (2009). Women entrepreneurship in Asian developing countries: Their development and main constraints. Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics, 1(2), 27–40.
17. UN Women. (2020). Progress of the world’s women 2020–2021: Families in a changing world. United Nations.
18. World Bank. (2019). Profiting from parity: Unlocking the potential of women’s businesses in Africa. World Bank Group.
19. World Bank. (2022). Enhancing women’s economic participation in South Asia. World Bank Group.
