1. INTRODUCTION:

“The modern woman has realised her values”

– D. Pulla Rao.

48% of the country’s population comprises of women, and it is impossible to think about economic growth without women as a fundamental driver (Colaco& Hans, 2018). The importance of women in and for the economic development of India was first identified during the nation’s struggle for independence. Today the mantra is “Sab ka haath; Sab ka Vikas”. Inclusive Growth cannot be achieved by excluding women in development scenario. Exclusion or marginalisation of women, thus, is a socio-economic obstacle to India's growth.

This is a serious problem given the context of the 12^th Five Year Plan that projected inclusive growth as its strategic pillar. In the process of ensuring social justice through the reservation, women have started realising their real role in governance. From equity, this has further led to ‘striving for excellence'. Human resources of women in planning and decision-making are being utilised in a democratic- decentralised state, which was otherwise denied (Hegde and Hans, 2012). However, gender development and planning need a focussed change in countries like India where the majority of women are still in the periphery (Hans, 2012). An essential pre-requisite for women empowerment is their economic empowerment. Breaking tradition of centuries the Indian woman today has not only embraced life in the corporate world but has also begun to make her moves beyond a corporate career, into ‘entrepreneurship' and 'leadership'. The participation of women in economic activities is obligatory to raise the status of women, and utilise half of the human resource. The Indian constitution ensures equal status to both man and woman without gender discrimination enabling Women to join any profession/ start enterprise similar to male counterparts. Women have acknowledged their potential in various spheres and received appreciation be it politics, diplomacy, law, education, medicine, engineering, administration but their sustenance in the field of entrepreneurship has faced many hurdles and challenges till now. The economic status of the women is now accepted as an indicator for the development of society, so it becomes imperative to eliminate obstacles hindering women entrepreneurship, it necessitates the government, policy makers, financial institutions, society and the family to remove impediments in thriving of women's business acumen. Entrepreneurial activities by women will contribute massively towards economic empowerment. It is also a key to economic sustainability and growth of any nation.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:

Gender development has been the new growth philosophy since the 1990s. Besides being a component of the human development index, particular importance to the development of women led to formulating new indices of development such as Gender Empowerment Measure, Gender Inequality Index etc. As a new wave in social capital and entrepreneurship, the role of women was seen in increasing female education, employment, the creation of self-help groups and also in more jobs in the corporate world. However, even now in India, about 98% of women-owned enterprises are micro-enterprises. In India's tech capital, Bengaluru, only about 6% of start-ups are women-owned. Women are still found in the least paid jobs, long working hours, and bearing dual responsibility. She does lots of thankless jobs silently. The most appropriate way to solve the problems of women is to change the position of women in society and make her equally responsible for the well-being of the social order. This can be only achieved by empowering the women and through women entrepreneurship.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

· To examine the factors responsible for growing women entrepreneurs in India.

· To examine the challenges of women entrepreneurship in India.

1.3 METHODOLOGY:

The present study is based on the collection of data from secondary sources. Secondary data is obtained from various published and unpublished records, books, magazines and journals.

2. CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK:

Women entrepreneurship has been associated with concepts like women liberation and empowerment, which is a significant element for increasing the quality life of women in the developing world. The mounting number of female business owners is currently a global trend. In the advanced economies, women own more than 25 per cent of all business.

Women engage in business due to different push and pull factors, women are ‘pushed' rather than ‘pulled' into business ownership or the other way round, but in modern times it is observed that women actively choose self-employment, mainly the younger women. Women as entrepreneurs also contribute to poverty reduction, mobilisation of entrepreneurial initiatives and accelerating the phase of economic growth. 'Resurgence of entrepreneurship is the need of the hour accentuating on educating women strata of the population, spreading awareness and consciousness amongst women to outshine in the enterprise field, making them realise their strength, contribution that they can make for the entire industry and also for the entire economy' (Arunchellammal, 2014)

2.1 ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

Entrepreneurship is a vital variable, both industrial development and human development which are required for economic development. Entrepreneurship includes ideation, initiation/imitation, risk and uncertainty-bearing, and innovation. Modern production theory considers it a crucial factor. Entrepreneurship is globally accepted as an index of development. Recent studies are focussed towards women empowerment and women entrepreneurship. Globally, the majority of the entrepreneurship is done by the male (70 – 80 per cent). However, there is an increasing interest that more and more women are becoming interested in entrepreneurship. One indication is that the rate of self-employment among women is increasing in several developing countries (Kurunji and Magesh, 2016).

2.2 WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

Women Entrepreneurship is one of the emerging issues which are connected with the empowerment of women and the development of the nation. Women in recent years have been thriving in breaking their captivity within the limits of their houses by inflowing into varied kinds of profession. The concealed potentials of women as entrepreneurs are gradually changing with the changing role and status of women in society; they are emerging as a smart and dynamic entrepreneur. Women entrepreneurship is one of the emerging parts in the economic development of the country to promote socio-economic development.

Women entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who initiate, organise and operate a business enterprise (Goyal and Prakash, 2011). The Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs as an enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51 per cent of the capital and giving at least 51 per cent of the employment generated in the enterprise to women.

It is said that if a woman is educated a family is educated. Likewise, entrepreneurship is the key to the economic sustainability of the nation as it not only employs the entrepreneur but also to many others (Sowjanya, Hans, and Rao, 2015). Entrepreneurship enhances financial independence and self-esteem of women. India has excellent entrepreneurial potential. At the same time, women involvement in economic activities is marked by a low work participation rate, excessive concentration in the unorganised sector and employment in less skilled jobs (Deepika and Hans, 2011).

Women entrepreneurs have high self-motivation and self-direction; they also exhibit a high internal locus of control and achievement. Researchers contend that women business owners possess certain specific characteristics that promote their creativity and generate new ideas and ways of doing things (Ansari, 2016). Thus, women constitute a critical force – with possibilities and challenges – for entrepreneurial development.

3. DETERMINANTS AND DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

Post-Independence development issues and trends in India show that women entrepreneurship has been the harbinger of gender development and equality. If education could open access to ‘knowing', entrepreneurship could create/provide opportunities for doing things better.

3.1 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

Even as Women in India are facing a wide range of problems, they are still motivated to be active and entrepreneurial in their outlook and work. It would not be an exaggeration; therefore, to say that from self-actualisation to a desire for identity – both in learning and doing things – their motivational spirit is reinforcing (see Figure 1).

Women professionals have an all-embracing workload, women play a dual role with responsibility of profession and household, and they have to poise the demands of both the role. Women are engaged in economically productive work and earn incomes, but their earnings are generally low when compared to the male counterpart, which is due to persisting conceiting concept of women's work as auxiliary to that of men. A strong desire to do something positive is an inherent eminence of entrepreneurial women, who is proficient of contributing both in the family and social life. With the advent of globalisation, women are aware of their persona, privileges, rights and also the work situations.

The challenges and opportunities provided to the women in the modern era are mounting rapidly that women are turning from job seekers into job creators. The access of women into business in India is traced out as an expansion of their kitchen activities, generally, butter, pickle, papad, sweets, pottery, weaving, metal works, and steadily with the spread of education women entered other fields like teaching, healthcare, banking, IT etc.

Fig1: Motivating Factors for Women to Become Entrepreneurs

Note: Adapted from Goyal, M. and Jai P. (2011), p.1.

3.2 GROWTH OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

The incursion of women into the labour force accompanied significant gains in economic growth and productivity. Evidence reveals that upsurge in the women's share of the workforce since just the 1980s is responsible for the rise in the GDP of 2012. While more women sought and found employment in higher numbers, their participation as entrepreneurs was uneven. Fewer women became entrepreneurs, meaning their impending contributions to job creation, innovation, and economic growth was unrealised. Unleashing the power of female entrepreneurship tends to have a dramatic effect on a country's economy. Women as business leaders, team leaders, innovators etc. are having a multiplier effect on the process of women empowerment too (B. Kavitha & Hans, 2018).

In India, women entrepreneurship over the decades since Independence falls into different categories. In the 50s, the initial women entrepreneurs were those who took to creating and managing an entrepreneurial activity where there was no income-generating male.

The second set took enormous courage to break through the social maps and coding to take charge of the business the husband had left, or else her family would be the losers. In the 60s, women took small steps to start small one-woman enterprises at home and from home for self-occupation and engagement. The women in 70s opened up new frontiers and developed not only aspirations but ambitions for self-employment and employment generation. These women tried to balance home, marriage, and occupation. They accepted the share of the work and responsibilities for the success and growth of their enterprise. They aspired to be leaders by voice and choice. In the 80s, the number of women pursuing highly sophisticated technological and professional education increased. They entered into family business as equally contributing partners. The women of the 90s were capable, competent, confident, and fearless – clear of their goals, processes and the dynamics of goal accomplishment. In most of the cases, they have moved outof homes and outperformed their male counterparts.

The 21^st century is the century of telecom, IT and financial institutions. Women’s expertise in all these industries has made them emerge as a force to reckon with

In the last six years or so we have seen continuously a variety of business ideas that women are working on. It is not to say that women entrepreneurs in India are a myth, nor can we confidently state that they are commonplace. As part of one of the largest and oldest civilisations in the world, one can say that women entrepreneurs persist and progress in India and are doing some excellent work, though with a few ‘conditions applied'! Since late 2007 we have seen the number of women-led start-up ideas increase. Women-led, here means either the founding team is all-women, or one of the co-founders is a woman (Hirianniah, 2013).

3.2.1 INDIAN WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS:

A few names among women entrepreneurs are worth mentioning: Jyoti Nayak ( President, Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad); Indra Nooyi (Chairman and CFO, PepsiCo.); Naina Lal Kidwai (Group General Manager & Country Head – HSBC, India); Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Founder Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Limited); Chanda Kochar (MD & CEO – ICICI Bank); Vaidya Manohar Chhabria (Chairman, Jumbo Group); NeelamDhawan (Managing Director, Microsoft India); Indu Jain (Former Chairperson, Times Group); Simone Tata (Former Chairperson, Lakme& Current Chairperson, Trent Limited); NeelamDhawan (MD, HP-India); SulajjaFirodia Motwani (Joint Managing Director, Kinetic Motor); Priya Paul (Chairperson, Apeejay Park Hotels); Mallika Srinivasan (Director, Tractor and Farm Equipment); Ravina Raj Kohli (Founder & Executive Director, JobCorp); Ekta Kapoor, who is popularly known as the soap queen, Creative Director of Balaji Tele Films); Ritu Kumar (Fashion Designer); and Shahnaz Hussain, CEO, Shahnaz Herbals Inc.

Besides these, there are so many women – not necessarily always in the limelight but admirably ‘entrepreneurial' in diverse fields as sports, education, entertainment, publication, environmental protection, and so on. However, the proportion of women-managed enterprises is slightly higher in rural areas than in urban areas (see Table1).

Table 1: Percentage Distribution of Enterprises by Gender of Owner in Rural and Urban Areas

AREA	FEMALE	MALE
Rural	15.27	84.73
Urban	12.45	87.55
All	13.72	86.28

Source: MSME Annual Report 2011-12, Ministry of MSME, Government of India.

Table1 reveals gender-based entrepreneurial study; it is evident that the share of women entrepreneurs is comparatively low to the male counterpart. In terms of rural-urban classification, the share of rural women entrepreneurs is higher than urban.

4. CHALLENGES AND IMPEDIMENTS IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT:

Multitasking is considered as an essential element of modern-day management, comes inherent to women, but women often remain invisible and unrecognised as workers, both because they are women and their work in the informal economy is often hidden. The work and the contribution of women to the economy, community and the family are persistently undervalued, notably when women are contributing to the family business, home-based workers or paid domestic workers (Jain, 2016). Women have been so long used as a resource, cheaply available, always available. However, no, the world has to be made to realise that women are an asset to the world. Women are not permanent shock absorber in good times and in bad times. Women must feature not as an absorber, but as partners (Bhatt, 2016)

Economically women are not treated on par with men; this is also due to the patriarchal- male dominant structure of the family system existing in the country. There is an urgent call to improve women's economic status as they form fundamental to the process of economic development of the country. The challenge for creating suitable employment opportunities for the on-going youth bulge is likely to accumulate sharply in future and is much more daunting for females, who, unlike most of the males, are unable to migrate freely in search of jobs due to patriarchal nature of the society (Sharma, 2015).

Indian women face enormous obstacles in marching towards progress and equality in the social structure. In every sector woman are denied opportunities, be it health, education, employment, information& technology, access to productive assets, shelter and so on (Rao, 2015). A study on women empowerment through entrepreneurship conducted by Shobhamani and V. Basil Hans – with Syndicate Institute of Rural Entrepreneurship Development, Manipal as the focal point – found that even when women create wealth from their enterprise self-employed women are hardly recognised as ‘entrepreneurs' (Shobhamani, 2009).

Some of the impediments of women entrepreneurship include the following:

· Less access to education

· Family Ties

· Gender inequality-Male dominated society

· Financial constraints- lack of working capital

· Gendering of entrepreneurship

· Socio-cultural barriers

· Low mobility

· Strong competitions

· Low ability to bear the risk

· Family responsibilities& obligations

· Inaccessibility to information

· Lack of training

· Lack of awareness about opportunities

· Lack of role models

· Violence against women

5. POLICY INITIATIVES:

The Women's Entrepreneurship Development (ILO-WED) programme has been empowering women entrepreneurs in developing countries and supporting them in starting and developing their businesses since the mid-2000s. In India, the development of women has been a strategy intention of the Government ever since independence. Department of Science and Education's board called the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Board (NSTEDB) 1982, was a pioneering effort by the Government to build entrepreneurship through technology education (Desikan, 2016). This effort has been furthered strengthened by institutions for management education and entrepreneurial development and training.

The Government of India has several schemes for women operated by different departments and ministries. Some of these are -

· Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP)

· Management Development Programmes

· Women‘s Development Corporations (WDCs)

· Marketing of Non-Farm Products of Rural Women (MAHIMA)

· Assistance to Rural Women in Non-Farm Development (ARWIND) schemes

· Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD)

· Working Women's Forum

· Indira MahilaYojana

· Indira Mahila Kendra

· MahilaSamitiYojana

· Mahila Vikas Nidhi

· Micro Credit Scheme

· RashtriyaMahilaKosh

· SIDBI‘s MahilaUdyamNidhi]

· Mahila Vikas Nidhi

· SBI‘s Stree Shakti Scheme

· NGO’s Credit Schemes

· Micro & Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programmes (MSE-CDP), and so on.

· We have various governmental, private, national, state-level, and local initiatives for women entrepreneurship and empowerment-

· Stree Shakti Programme 2000-01 of Karnataka Government

· Priyadarshini Project – a programme for Rural Women Empowerment and Livelihood in Mid Gangetic Plains

· Start-up India; FIWE: The Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (1993)

· NWEA: The Noida Women's Entrepreneur Association Retail giant Walmart's collaboration with Bharti, in launching a forum in Chandigarh to help women in start-up issues

· Mahila Jnana Vikasa Training Institute (2009), Dharwad –run by Shree KshetraDharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKRDP) and so on.

6. STRATEGIES REQUIRED:

Investing in women's ‘capabilities' and empowering them to achieve their ‘choices' and ‘opportunities' is the surest way to contribute to economic growth and overall development Eradication of illiteracy is the first step towards empowerment women. The female literacy rate in India though it is gradually rising it is lower than the male. Consequences are that early marriage and childbirth are pronounced in families of lower socio-economic status. Universal education and the elimination of gender disparity in education is the starting point for promoting gender equality and empowering women.

It is education that kindles the urge for independence, hard work, achievement and self- actualisation (Rita and Rajasekar, 2012). Education makes women economically sound which is a source of other all types of women empowerment, i.e., social, psychological, technological, Political (Hans, and Sowjanya, 2015). The question of ‘Skilling India' is getting proper attention. However, dealing with the issue of skill development for women, it is necessary to pay attention to the factors that inhibit skill development of women or to put it another way around, to promote enabling factors for the skill development of women (Nathan, 2015).

Some of the standard measures essential to promote women entrepreneurs areas follows:

· Promoting women from homemakers to business managers by inculcating the spirit of entrepreneurship through ‘learning by doing' experiences

· Awareness programme should be conducted on a throng range with the intention of creating awareness among women about the various areas and opportunity to conduct business.

· Attempts should be made to enhance the standards of education of women, systematise vocational training programmes to develop professional competencies in managerial skills so that they should be geared up to upgrade themselves to the changing times by adopting the latest technology benefits which facilitate women to excel in the decision-making process.

· Organise International, National, Local trade fairs, Industrial exhibitions to help women to facilitate interaction with other women entrepreneurs.

· Financial institutions should provide more working capital assistance both for small scale venture and large-scale ventures. Businesswomen should be offered soft loans and subsidies for cheering them into industrial activities.

· Provision of microcredit to the women entrepreneurs at the local level through SHGsshould be prioritised.

Thus, entrepreneurship is an economic activity and can influence the economic scenario in a substantial measure. India is endowed with abundant natural and human resources, and hence there is sufficient scope for development of entrepreneurship, particularly women entrepreneurs.

7. CONCLUSION:

There is much scope for overcoming the shortcomings for women, and various opportunities are available to become a successful investor and achiever in entrepreneurship. Women have an enormous amount of creativity, entrepreneurial ability and have the power to be whomever they choose to be for which they have to adopt new approaches, policies and procedures to face the challenges squarely. Education is the most critical driver of any countries social and economic development. Higher levels of literacy lead to greater economic output, higher employment levels and better social structure. Access to information and knowledge to women will determine their progress and performance in social participation and entrepreneurship. Even as the country is making progress in bridging the digital divide through rapid and extensive use of ICT and social networking, we need to be wary of artificial barriers to women entrepreneurship (e.g. cultural, class/caste, regional, questions of autonomy, mobility etc.) Even when the economy is becoming too open than the past can the society at large linger behind? This is a crucial issue to be addressed in this time of demographic change.

Women entrepreneurship must be moulded suitably with entrepreneurial traits and skills to meet the changes in trends, challenges global markets and also be proficient enough to protract and strive for excellence in the entrepreneurial dome. A significant outcome will then be a situation of ‘women in development’ and not simply ‘development of women’ or ‘development for women’.

8. REFERENCES:

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Received on 01.04.2019 Modified on 18.06.2019

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2019; 10(4): 987-992.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2019.00162.1