Historical Perspectives on the Evolution of Gender Roles: Case Studies from Different Societies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66635/2eas6a10Keywords:
Gender Construction, Women Entrepreneurship, Gender Equality, Sustainable Development, Socio-cultural BarriersAbstract
In this paper, the way the gender role has changed and developed historically and how it has built and developed the nature of entrepreneurship and sustainable development, will be discussed in relation to India in particular. Gender is an outcome of a system of culture and institutionalization and a process of ongoing socialization, it is perceived as a social process and not a biological determinant. This paper explains the impact of these gendered expectations on access to resources, opportunities and economic activities. It underlines the structural constraints that women must grapple with in the long term like lack of access to finance, lack of mobility and demand on their part by society regarding their roles back home that limit their entrepreneurial abilities. The other key concepts that have been explored in the study are gender justice, masculinity, femininity and the dichotomous public-private and how these structures contribute or retard gender inequalities. The role of legal provisions and judicial interventions is discussed as a significant means of enhancing gender equality and inclusion to contribute to economies. Such issues as female foeticide, unequal distribution of the resources, symbolic manifestations of gender bias are also connected with in the paper, with the accent on their socio-economic implications on a larger scale. Integrating literature and up-to-date trends, such as online platforms and policy initiatives, the paper pinpoints the transformational aspect of inclusive entrepreneurship. It contends that gender inequalities need to be tackled to promote innovation, economic development and sustainability of developing economies.
References
1.Barrachina Fernández, M., García-Centeno, M. D. C., & Calderón Patier, C. (2021). Women sustainable entrepreneurship: Review and research agenda. Sustainability, 13(21), 12047.
2.Elam, A., Brush, C., Greene, P., Baumer, B., Dean, M., & Heavlow, R. (2022). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021/2022 Women's Entrepreneurship Report. Global Entrepreneurship Research Association.
3.Fernandez-Guadano, J., Ruiz-Jimenez, M. C., & Melia-Martí, E. (2025). Effects of Female Entrepreneurship on Sustainable Development Goals: The Moderating Role of Gender Gap. Engineering Economics, 36(5), 542-557.
4.Panda, S. (2018). Constraints faced by women entrepreneurs in developing countries: review and ranking. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 33(4), 315-331.
5.Olarewaju, T., & Fernando, J. (2020). Gender inequality and female entrepreneurship in developing countries. In Decent work and economic growth (pp. 473-481). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
6.Vuciterna, R., Ruggeri, G., Mazzocchi, C., Manzella, S., & Corsi, S. (2024). Women’s entrepreneurial journey in developed and developing countries: a bibliometric review. Agricultural and Food Economics, 12(1), 36.
7.Kamran, H., Alwie, A. B., & Yee, S. O. Y. (2025). A synthesis of systematic literature on women entrepreneurship in developing countries. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 15(1), 9.
8.Rashid, S., & Ratten, V. (2020). A systematic literature review on women entrepreneurship in emerging economies while reflecting specifically on SAARC countries. Entrepreneurship and organizational change: Managing innovation and creative capabilities, 37-88.
9.Sánchez-Limón, M., Severino-González, P., Rebolledo-Aburto, G., Dote-Pardo, J., & Scott-Kinney, I. (2025). Female entrepreneurship and sustainability: behavioral insights and sustainable development goals. Sustainable Futures, 9, 100695.
10.Islam, M. R., & Mehdi, A. A. (2024). Bridging climate awareness and sustainable entrepreneurship: A conceptual framework based on the theory of planned behavior. arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.16838.
11.Ahl, H., & Marlow, S. (2021). Exploring the false promise of entrepreneurship through a postfeminist critique of the enterprise policy discourse in Sweden and the UK. Human Relations, 74(1), 41-68.
12.Brush, C., Edelman, L. F., Manolova, T., & Welter, F. (2019). A gendered look at entrepreneurship ecosystems. Small business economics, 53(2), 393-408.
13.Eddleston, K. A., Ladge, J. J., Mitteness, C., & Balachandra, L. (2016). Do you see what I see? Signaling effects of gender and firm characteristics on financing entrepreneurial ventures. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(3), 489-514.
14.Henry, C., Foss, L., & Ahl, H. (2016). Gender and entrepreneurship research: A review of methodological approaches. International Small Business Journal, 34(3), 217-241.
15.Jennings, J. E., & Brush, C. G. (2013). Research on women entrepreneurs: challenges to (and from) the broader entrepreneurship literature?. Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 663-715.
16.Farhad, M., Noor, M., Yasin, M. Z., Nizamani, M. H., Turan, V., & Iqbal, M. (2024). Interactive suitability of rice stubble biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for improving wastewater-polluted soil health and reducing heavy metals in peas. Sustainability, 16(2), 634.
17.Agarwal, B. (2021). Livelihoods in COVID times: Gendered perils and new pathways in India. World Development, 139, 105312.
18.Brixiová, Z., Kangoye, T., & Tregenna, F. (2020). Enterprising women in Southern Africa: When does land ownership matter? Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 41(1), 37–51.
19.Jayachandran, S. (2020). Social norms as a barrier to women's employment in developing countries (No. w27449). National Bureau of Economic Research.
20.Hendriks, S. (2019). The role of financial inclusion in driving women’s economic empowerment. Development in Practice, 29(8), 1029–1038.
21.Davis, T. L. (2002). Voices of gender role conflict: The social construction of college men's identity. Journal of college student development, 43(4), 508-521.
22.Indian Penal Code, 1860, § 312 (India).
23.Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, No. 34, Acts of Parliament, 1971 (India).
24.Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan, (1997) 6 SCC 241 (India).
25.Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, No. 14, Acts of Parliament, 2013 (India).
26.Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, No. 43, Acts of Parliament, 2005 (India).
27.Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, No. 104, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India).
28.Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, No. 28, Acts of Parliament, 1961 (India).
29.Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, art. 2, 2012 O.J. (C 326) 391.
30.Sex Discrimination Act 1975, c. 65 (UK).
31.Equal Pay Act 1970, c. 41 (UK).
32.Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, c. 28 (UK).
33.Equality Act 2006, c. 3 (UK).
34.Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, c. 20 (UK).
35.Employment Protection Act 1975, c. 71 (UK).
36.Sexual Offences Act 2003, c. 42 (UK).
37.Policing and Crime Act 2009, c. 26 (UK).
38.Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, c. 31 (UK).
39.Gender Recognition Act 2004, c. 7 (UK).
40.De Vita, L., Mari, M., & Poggesi, S. (2014). Women entrepreneurs in and from developing countries: Evidences from the literature. European Management Journal, 32(3), 451-460.
41.Kabeer, N., & Natali, L. (2013). Gender equality and economic growth: Is there a win‐win?. IDS Working Papers, 2013(417), 1-58.
42.Hechavarria, D. M., & Ingram, A. E. (2016). The entrepreneurial gender divide: Hegemonic masculinity, emphasized femininity and organizational forms. International journal of gender and entrepreneurship, 8(3), 242-281.
43.Suri, T., & Jack, W. (2016). The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science, 354(6317), 1288-1292.
44.Times of India Blog. (2023, March 23). Evolution of gender: From origin to modern day. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/darktruths/evolution-of-gender-from-origin-to-modern-day-51813/
45.Tripp, A. M., Ferree, M. M., & Ewig, C. (Eds.). (2013). Gender, violence, and human security: Critical feminist perspectives. New York University Press.
46.Aragon, A. P. (2004). Femininity. In S. Loue & M. Sajatovic (Eds.), Encyclopedia of women’s health (pp. 484–486). Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
47.Berger, E. S., & Kuckertz, A. (2016). Female entrepreneurship in startup ecosystems worldwide. Journal of business research, 69(11), 5163-5168.
48.Kanze, D., Huang, L., Conley, M. A., & Higgins, E. T. (2017). Male and female entrepreneurs get asked different questions by VCs–and it affects how much funding they get. Harvard Business Review, 27(1).
49.Farhad, M., Noor, M., Yasin, M. Z., Nizamani, M. H., Turan, V., & Iqbal, M. (2024). Interactive suitability of rice stubble biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for improving wastewater-polluted soil health and reducing heavy metals in peas. Sustainability, 16(2), 634.
50.Thébaud, S. (2010). Gender and entrepreneurship as a career choice: do self-assessments of ability matter? Social psychology quarterly, 73(3), 288-304.
51.Deaux, K., & Major, B. (1987). Putting gender into context: An interactive model of gender-related behavior. Psychological Review, 94(3), 369–389.
52.The Metric. The evolutionary science behind gender. https://themetric.org/articles/the-evolutionary-science-behind-gender
53.Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), 829–859.
54.Constantinople, A. (1973). Masculinity–femininity: An exception to a famous dictum? Psychological Bulletin, 80(5), 389–407.
55.Tobin, D. D., Menon, M., Spatta, B. C., Hodges, E. E., & Perry, D. G. (2010). The intrapsychics of gender: A model of self-socialization. Psychological Review, 117(2), 601–622.
56.S. Sushma and Another v. Commissioner of Police and Others, W.P. No. 7284 of 2021 (Madras High Court, India).
57.Keshavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1406 (India).
58.Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan, (1997) 6 SCC 241 (India).
59.Air India v. Nargesh Mirza, AIR 1978 SC 12; (1977) 4 SCC 334 (India).
60.Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, (2020) 9 SCC 1 (Supreme Court of India).
61.Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya, (2020) 7 SCC 469 (Supreme Court of India).
62.State of Gujarat v. Rameshchandra Rambhai Panchal, R/Criminal Appeal No. 122 of 1996 and R/Criminal Appeal No. 25 of 1996 (Gujarat High Court, India).
63.Bhuvaneshwari v. Puranik, W.P. No. 17788 of 2018 (Karnataka High Court, India).
64.Asian Development Bank. (2023, October 18). Women’s economic empowerment as a pathway toward sustainable and inclusive development in India. https://www.adb.org/publications/women-s-economic-empowerment-as-a-pathway-toward-sustainable-and-inclusive-development-in-india
65.Welter, F., Smallbone, D., & Isakova, N. B. (Eds.). (2006). Enterprising women in transition economies. Ashgate Publishing.
66.National Portal of India. Census 2001 data online. https://www.india.gov.in/census-2001-data-online
67.Press Information Bureau. (n.d.). RGI releases Census 2011 data on population by religious communities. https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=126326
68.Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, No. 57, Acts of Parliament, 1994 (India).
69.Pennington, H. (2024, March 21). What the evolution of gender can teach us about equality. Ford Foundation. https://www.fordfoun dati on.org/news-and-stories/stories/what-the-evolution-of-gender-can-teach-us-about-equality/
70.O’Connor, C. (2019). The evolution of gender. In Oxford scholarship online. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198789970.003.0005
71.India Const. art. 14.
72.India Const. art. 15.
73.India Const. art. 21.
74.Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Dec. 18, 1979, 1249 U.N.T.S. 13.
75.International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Dec. 16, 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171.
76.International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Dec. 16, 1966, 993 U.N.T.S. 3.
77.Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Nov. 20, 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3.
