Entrepreneurship, particularly industrial entrepreneurship, is one of the business-activity domains least traversed by women. Despite laudable growth in women empowerment in recent decades, the state of growth in female entrepreneurship in the country is far below the level registered by its male counterpart. The legal and policy barriers constraining the growth have not changed much to trigger a steady growth of women entrepreneurs over the years.
Despite legal predicaments and policy limitations, women in business have prospered and some of them emerged as business leaders in an otherwise male-dominated environment. Female entrepreneurs today contribute notably to our economic growth, they are being dubbed trend setters in enhancing the diversity of entrepreneurship in our country. This does not tell the whole story as female entrepreneurship potentials are still largely unutilised and underutilised in many contexts. Though the rate at which women are forming businesses has increased, it is much below compared to that of males. With all the strides that women entrepreneurs have made in the last decade in generating more employment, increasing trade, contributing to local community development, and ultimately reducing poverty, it was indeed expected that more women would be found running their own businesses. It did not happen so, in view of the various factors constraining women's entrepreneurship.
Women face myriad legal and regulatory challenges from property rights to access to finance that prevent them from initiating and expanding their businesses. Compared to their male counterparts, they lack access to information including finance and technology. They are risk-adverse with their business decision-making.
Therefore not surprisingly women-owned businesses tend to be smaller, slower growing and less pro?table than those owned by men. As per widespread social perception, gender is important in pursuing a new venture performance, given that it in?uences the self-perception of women entrepreneurs and their abilities to realise business growth in a particular environment.
Differences in the social acceptability of female entrepreneurs in terms of credibility and legitimacy have also been a contributing factor.
Undertakings in finance by women remain as the main stumbling block. Women entrepreneurs are in a less favourable position compared to men in terms of accessing commercial credit from banks and financing institutions. Until such predicaments are removed, the expected growth of women entrepreneurship shall remain a far-fetched dream. A separate financial policy should be framed by the central bank to facilitate business undertakings by women entrepreneurs.
Technology and information are two other areas where greater attention is needed for women to establish and grow new businesses.
There are about 7.2 million SMEs in Bangladesh. They account for 90 per cent of all companies and employ 70-80 per cent of non-agricultural workforce. Women only represent about 38 per cent of all SMEs. However, SME growth is constrained by inadequate access to finance and electricity, poor transportation, increasing labour costs, and lack of skilled manufacturing labour - especially in rural areas.
Women empowerment is an inevitable part of economic development discourse and since women's empowerment is enriched by participation in various development activities, it is therefore observed that the involvement of women in various entrepreneurial activities has empowered them socially, economically and culturally. It happened so in Bangladesh as well as elsewhere in the world in varying degrees. In neighbouring India, there has been a paradigm shift of demographics in the corporate landscape. The country witnessed a titanic surge in the number of women entering the economic wave. With emphatic strides, the sheer confidence exuded by them brings about a fresh wind of change.
Women constitute above 10 per cent of the total number of entrepreneurs in the country. Many women have surpassed their male counterparts especially in the handicrafts sector, while some entrepreneurs excelled in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Women have ventured in RMG, light engineering and pharmaceuticals, guiding others to compete in a male-dominated world. Since women are harbingers of diversity in business, they should be encouraged by creating a supportive environment.
saleh.akram26@gmail.com