Navigating Entrepreneurship for Breaking Barriers and Financially Empowering Women (Case of National Capital of India)
摘要
Women empowerment through entrepreneurship is imperative in today’s modern society. In a country like India where majority of women are confined to the walls of their homes, pushing women to become job creators rather than job seekers can tremendously boost the growth of the nation as well as levels of women empowerment. Keeping in mind this spectacular role played by women entrepreneurs in economic development of a country, this study tries to access if entrepreneurship among urban women in Delhi, national capital of India, can contribute towards their empowerment—which in turn would have spin offs for economic growth of Indian economy. The study dwells deeper into the occupational structure of women entrepreneurs in India and finds that majority of women entrepreneurs accrue to unorganized sector (NSS 62nd round (July 2005–June 2006), report no. 525(62/2.2/2), National Sample Survey Organisation, Govt. of India, New Delhi). Through primary survey of 363 women entrepreneurs from the capital region, the study firstly establishes that women entrepreneurship results in women empowerment around three key indicators—economic advancement, power and agency and reach and process (Golla, A. M., Malhotra, A., Nanda, P., Mehra, R. (2011). Understanding and measuring women’s economic empowerment: Definition, framework and indicators. International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)). Furthermore, the inter-sectoral analysis for women entrepreneurs from trading, services and manufacturing sectors, establish key economic and socio-cultural differences that curtail the level of empowerment among women. Finally, the study concludes by outlining key policy recommendations that can enhance the level of empowerment and there by overall sustainable economic growth for the Indian Economy.