Why do we have lesser % of women in entrepreneurship?

Replies

• 

  Dancer_Engineer

  I always wanted someone to answer this question for me.
  Thanks Biggie for starting the thread.
  
  This morning while I was watching TV, I came across #-Link-Snipped-#. DesiCrew is a Rural BPO founded by Saloni Malhotra. I liked the idea of generating professional job opportunities in rural areas.
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  There are several startups started and being successfully run by women. The point of this discussion is what's causing the percentage of women taking up entrepreneurship go down.
  
  ...and in the modern era, starting up your own venture is a lot easier. There is a husband-wife team in Bangalore that started designing greeting cards and now it's a multi-crore business.
• 

  cooltwins

  I saw this video sometime back.. It deals with a similar problem: Not may women at the top of the corporate ladder. I felt the problem we are discussing here is similar too.
  #-Link-Snipped-#
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  I feel that state governments can have a role. I had mentioned in another post how my name led to my being a chief guest at a women entrepreneur meet organised by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation under the impression that I was a woman.
  
  The meeting at the town hall was full with very vocal (naturally) participants.
  
  This used to be an annual activity. Hope it is continuing.
  
  An item that may be relevant:
  #-Link-Snipped-#
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  I've been expecting lot of responses. I'm quite sure people will have their own views.
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  Received in the Mail from a World Bank contact:
  WB Rur: Victoria’s Secret: perfect fit for poor Tamil women (Financial Chronicle (India)
  By C Shivkumar May 10 2012 , Gudavancheri, Tamil Nadu
  
  Victoria’s Secret is changing the lives of women other than those who wear the world’s most famous lingerie brand.
  
  In a more definitive way, it is changing the quality of life of some 2,000 women in Tamil Nadu. None of them wears the brand but many have returned from the brink of destitution to relative comfort, thanks entirely to Victoria’s Secret.
  More than anything else, it has given them self-respect and economic independence in a completely male-dominated corner of Tamil Nadu.
  They mostly come from segments that are among the most impoverished, debt ridden and illiterate in the country. They make lines of the famous innerwear at a $12 million factory, 70 km from Chennai, holding life-changing jobs.
  Gomathi, 32, a section supervisor, earns Rs 16,500 a month — “enough to be able to give a good education to my two children” — at Intimate Fashions, a three-way joint venture of Mast of the US which owns Victoria’s Secret, German innerwear maker Triumph and Sri Lanka’s textile company MAS Holdings.
  Another employee ,Revathi, 18, who has just finished her secondary education, has got her elder sister married and sends her young brother to school.
  She comes to the factory everyday from 65 km away. A long commute, but she does not mind. “We all have something to look forward to. No one of my family goes hungry.” The lifeline to these women does not come from charity. Intimate Fashions general manager, Prasad Narayan Rege, emphasises that theirs is a ‘for- profit company that would remain that way.”
  Lingerie making is labour-intensive and requires a skill that only women have. “Only women know the curves and angles for the stitches and seams.”
  Even with their innate knowledge of the woman’s body, they have to be trained. Each seamstress gets intense in-house training for 28 days. “We look for fresh talent not just experienced hands. That is our stakeholders’ philosophy,” says Rege. There are reasons for hiring fresh talent. In stitching seams, the stitches must be accurate to ensure low rejection rates. Only young and nimble hands are capable of such accuracy, he explains. With such fussiness in manufacturing, prices are high. The starting price of Victoria’s Secret innerwear is $30 a piece (Rs 1,620) and goes all the way up to $70. In hiring young talent, wages are not beaten down. Entry-level employees earn Rs 8,000 a month, including a daily incentive of Rs 150. Besides, there is a 20 per cent annual bonus.
  Farm wages for women in the area is barely Rs 75 a day. Those women who choose to work as domestic help in cities earn about Rs 2,000 a month.
  In such a low-wage area Intimate Fashions shines like high-wage beacon and helps raise the career aspirations of its employees. Tulsi, 27, who has repaid all the debt that her father had taken, aspires to become a manager after completing her education. Along with her job, she is doing a programme in management studies. Production has been going up steadily. This year’s turnover is expected to rise to $45 million from $40 million last year. Orders are pouring in, says Rege. MAS is building another brand called Amante for markets in South Asia and Africa. Triumph that makes Nike and Bodyline innerwear/sportswear is also expected to place orders. “If demand goes up, we will need more hands,” says Rege. The company has 2,500 staff and operates two shifts. They do not plan to add another shift.
  Instead, it has opened dormitories to cut attrition, for there is always a danger of others poaching skilled human resources.
  The Tamil Nadu government is doing its bit to help women, having started Poodhu Vazhu (new life), a gender empowerment programme. It is supported by the World Bank which has lent it $274 million. The programme builds skill among the rural poor.
  The architect of the programme who has helped companies looking at India for setting up production bases is P Amudha, director of the state’s empowerment and poverty reduction project. “Our objectives are very clear. We need to skilled people for meeting the demand for human resources and at the same time provide a livelihood for the rural poor. Skilling women is a natural extension since it helps wipe out poverty, destitution and completely eradicate illiteracy,” Amudha says.
  (The reporter’s visit to Chennai was hosted by World Bank)
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  --Details:
  Document Title: Victoria’s Secret: perfect fit for poor Tamil women
  Document Source: Financial Chronicle (India)
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Well, I know quite a number of female friends back in uni who started side businesses like baking delicious cakes/cookies/cupcakes, offering freelance work like photography & selling handmade crafts. Most promote via blogs and social networks. Still considered entrepreneurship even if they dont attend startup events or the sort 😀
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  Just wondering whether the assumption that the percentage of women entrepreneurs being less is correct or not.
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  The_Big_K

  Just wondering whether the assumption that the percentage of women entrepreneurs being less is correct or not.

  Apparently it is correct at least in the UK. With the kind of resistance our politicians of all colours are putting up even for women's representation in the Lok Sabha, it is all the more possible in India.
  However, there seems to be hope. Tiny sector and small sector is seeing a rise in women entrepreneurial ventures. Percentile gender difference data seems scarce.
  Women entrepreneurship in India: On the rise and how – Trak.in – Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  #-Link-Snipped-#
• 

  nibhani

  sir i think the answer of ur question can be given only in one sentence which is "thinking of people in india" ...because sir in india there are alot of families that don't proceed a girl towards education...and if they let her go towards education then they don't let her proceed towards higher education and if they let her go towards higher education then they don't want to let her go towards any job or self dependency...all the problem is in the thinking of people of india ...if they will understand that a boy and a girl both have desires and dreams then there will not be any lack of women in any organisation...only the reason is "the thinking of this society in india..due to which there are not greater quantity of women in any organisation...
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  #-Link-Snipped-# : Education and entrepreneurship aren't directly related. There are several uneducated entrepreneurs who've built large businesses.
  
  The 'thinking of people in India' does not even favor entrepreneurship taken up by men. In fact, entrepreneurs will always face several problems.
  
  We aren't talking about 'number of women in any organization' but we're talking about % of women taking up entrepreneurship.
• 

  nibhani

  The_Big_K

  There are several startups started and being successfully run by women. The point of this discussion is what's causing the percentage of women taking up entrepreneurship go down.
  
  ...and in the modern era, starting up your own venture is a lot easier. There is a husband-wife team in Bangalore that started designing greeting cards and now it's a multi-crore business.

  sir genrally u can see in india that % of women are decreasing in the field of entrepreneurship because this situation is in india only because india is a male dominant country and only not in the field of entrepreneurship but in all field there are lack of women...because here for any work in any family people prefer a man...and women can do best in this field also....but lack in % of women is genrally due to priority which is genrally given to a man first....
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  nibhani

  sir genrally u can see in india that % of women are decreasing in the field of entrepreneurship because this situation is in india only because india is a male dominant country and only not in the field of entrepreneurship but in all field there are lack of women...because here for any work in any family people prefer a man...and women can do best in this field also....but lack in % of women is genrally due to priority which is genrally given to a man first....

  So what's stopping women from overcoming these issues and take up entrepreneurship? What about those from well to do families, who can pay enough to take their daughters through engineering education? Why aren't women who're engineering graduates turning to entrepreneurship?
• 

  nibhani

  as

  The_Big_K

  So what's stopping women from overcoming these issues and take up entrepreneurship? What about those from well to do families, who can pay enough to take their daughters through engineering education? Why aren't women who're engineering graduates turning to entrepreneurship?

  as u also know sir that every girl has a family and is a daughter of someone...if the family in which that girl is living don't permit her to proceed towards entrepreneurship then how can she proceed...if the maintaility of the family member of that girl is of such type that a girl should not go towards this field then obviously they will not permit her..and same thing occurs in most of the family in india because it is a country of mail dominant so people genrally don't prefer girl for such type of work...and this is the thing which is stopping a women to go towards entrepreneurship...and u are asking about the women who are engineering graduate..ok then sir i want to tell u that the maintal attitude of a lot of person of india have been changed and they are proceeding their girl towards higher education and it depends on intrest of that women if she is not intrested then she will not go towards entrepreneurship and if she is intrested then she will go....sir,i know that this country is changing now but there are many places inthis country where the situation has not changed that is the reason that there is less % of women not only in entrepreneurship but in any job...and the most important example of such situation can be seen in 'satymev jayate".......
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  Most of the parents won't support their sons taking up entrepreneurship right after graduation. I don't know whether waiting until the 'attitude of people towards women' changes is a right thing. Entrepreneurs reject all the nay-sayers and surge ahead.
  
  What I've noticed is the unwillingness among women in taking up entrepreneurship. Is it that women are lesser risk takers than men? ( Heavy debate, welcome ☕ )
• 

  nibhani

  The_Big_K

  Most of the parents won't support their sons taking up entrepreneurship right after graduation. I don't know whether waiting until the 'attitude of people towards women' changes is a right thing. Entrepreneurs reject all the nay-sayers and surge ahead.
  
  What I've noticed is the unwillingness among women in taking up entrepreneurship. Is it that women are lesser risk takers than men? ( Heavy debate, welcome ☕ )

  sir,most of the parents wouldn't support their son for this ....the reason that they want stability because entrepreneurship is the thing in which a person can progress a lot and disprogerss situation can be made...they think if their son should go towards such type of job after graduation like goverment job then he will be stable in that job...that is the reson they don't allow for entreprenurship...
  and now u are asking about women willingness...then they are not lesser risk taker than man...i have told u before that its a matter of thinking of their parents genrally many parents don't want to permit them for entrepreneurship...but a/c to my thinking that a man and a women both can do best in this field...but it depends of their intrest and many person who are graduate don't take interst in this field because they want to do the job according to their qualification and genrally they prefer such type of job in which they live stable life time...
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  Looking forward to views of other CEans 😀
• 

  aarthivg

  I hope, Family is the only reason for lesser percentage of women entrepreneurship. But now, day's are changing. Soon the percentage is going to hike.
  Personnel Experience:
  I always use to say to my family member's, Within next 5 year's I will be an entrepreneur. But they don't want me to be in that field. Reason: risk factor, mental pressure, can't spend time with family.( But I wont give up)
  
  
• 

  yorha 2b

  I agree Society is the issue but time's changing so does mentality of people .... You are living in urban, arent you ?
  This "family dont permit girl for entrepreneurship" thing still prevails in rural but not anymore in urban.
  I agree that there's always been that male dominance .. but its not only India where male dominance prevails, its around the globe .... so why does only Indian female lags behind ?
  & yeah, Ekta kapoor herself is an entrepreneur, Neelam Dhawan MD of MS-India, Simone Tata- Lakme .... so i dont think indian ladies are behind !! Ironically 😛
  Well, I will tell you something which will enlighten mindset of girls here..... They want stability ! They wanna settle it down ... In entrepreneurship, the words "Stability" & "settle down" don't exist .
  Entrepreneurship is not just about risk taking ... its about wise thinking & risk taking .... most entrepreneur failed because of foolish risks.
  And, In india, after being graduated around at age 23-25 girls are forced to marry, being married there is responsibility of family care then kids nurturing ..... but again, If any woman with determination to jump in entrepreneurship, she gonna do it anyhow no matter what ..... so this "Family not allowing" ..... "male dominance" is just plain excuse.
  
  Well, no grudge towards female sex ... i truly respect 'em more than any living-thing in world.
  The only thing pissed me here was "India is male dominant country". I heard it like 5 times in last 5 posts & I was like "Damn! should i shoot myself ??".... Just think outta box, if India was male dominant country Indira gandhi would never be elected for PM, Shanno devi wont be selected as speaker of Lok-sabha, Pratibha patil wont be first female president. I am going bit off-topic .. sorry for that.
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  'India is a male dominated country, I have Sonia Gandhi's permission to say this', said you know who.
• 

  yorha 2b

  bioramani

  'India is a male dominated country, I have Sonia Gandhi's permission to say this', said you know who.

  "Whole world is male dominated not just India, I don't need anyone's permission to say this"
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  It's not a question of gender nomination, for sure. The 'business' does not differentiate between males and females. Running a mess out of kitchen is also a form of entrepreneurship and it has its own challenges. I already said that I might be wrong about guessing that % of women entrepreneurs is less.
  
  We aren't talking about India alone. For the argument that 'family does not support girls getting into entrepreneurship', I replied saying even the boys don't find any support.
  
  For the sake of this debate; let's think about the typical engineering graduates ( boys and girls ) who have equal opportunities in most of the industries. I do agree that families to play an important role in a person becoming entrepreneur; but the 'willingness' is something that has to emerge from within. What say?
• 

  yorha 2b

  The_Big_K

  It's not a question of gender nomination, for sure. The 'business' does not differentiate between males and females. Running a mess out of kitchen is also a form of entrepreneurship and it has its own challenges. I already said that I might be wrong about guessing that % of women entrepreneurs is less.
  
  We aren't talking about India alone. For the argument that 'family does not support girls getting into entrepreneurship', I replied saying even the boys don't find any support.
  
  For the sake of this debate; let's think about the typical engineering graduates ( boys and girls ) who have equal opportunities in most of the industries. I do agree that families to play an important role in a person becoming entrepreneur; but the 'willingness' is something that has to emerge from within. What say?

  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  Must read this too .. interesting -- Women entrepreneurship in India: On the rise and how – Trak.in – Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups
• 

  Dancer_Engineer

  The_Big_K

  Running a mess out of kitchen is also a form of entrepreneurship and it has its own challenges.

  True!
  My mother preparing for breakfast and a lunch meal in the morning is nothing short of a deadline. Same goes for every mother / father who prepares breakfast and packs lunch boxes for office-going adults and school going children. 👍
  

  The_Big_K

  For the sake of this debate; let's think about the typical engineering graduates ( boys and girls ) who have equal opportunities in most of the industries. I do agree that families to play an important role in a person becoming entrepreneur; but the 'willingness' is something that has to emerge from within. What say?

  Willingness, Passion, Go-Getter Attitude, Risk-Taking all these help initiate the 'entrepreneurship' path. The later stages will have its own consequences. Just yesterday I read in the newspaper about #-Link-Snipped-#, founded by college-going students in Delhi established in January this year. I think the current generation youth are more than willing to go the entrepreneurship way and do something different that interests them. Coming to family's support, that's important. Family's support and encouragement will only help the individual to reach new heights.
• 

  nibhani

  BetterThanBefore

  I agree Society is the issue but time's changing so does mentality of people .... You are living in urban, arent you ?
  This "family dont permit girl for entrepreneurship" thing still prevails in rural but not anymore in urban.
  I agree that there's always been that male dominance .. but its not only India where male dominance prevails, its around the globe .... so why does only Indian female lags behind ?
  & yeah, Ekta kapoor herself is an entrepreneur, Neelam Dhawan MD of MS-India, Simone Tata- Lakme .... so i dont think indian ladies are behind !! Ironically 😛
  Well, I will tell you something which will enlighten mindset of girls here..... They want stability ! They wanna settle it down ... In entrepreneurship, the words "Stability" & "settle down" don't exist .
  Entrepreneurship is not just about risk taking ... its about wise thinking & risk taking .... most entrepreneur failed because of foolish risks.
  And, In india, after being graduated around at age 23-25 girls are forced to marry, being married there is responsibility of family care then kids nurturing ..... but again, If any woman with determination to jump in entrepreneurship, she gonna do it anyhow no matter what ..... so this "Family not allowing" ..... "male dominance" is just plain excuse.
  
  Well, no grudge towards female sex ... i truly respect 'em more than any living-thing in world.
  The only thing pissed me here was "India is male dominant country". I heard it like 5 times in last 5 posts & I was like "Damn! should i shoot myself ??".... Just think outta box, if India was male dominant country Indira gandhi would never be elected for PM, Shanno devi wont be selected as speaker of Lok-sabha, Pratibha patil wont be first female president. I am going bit off-topic .. sorry for that.

  
  
  
  sir you are talking about stability and settle down then i want to say that it is not only the maintality of girls....u are focusing on maintality of girls...then i want to say that i am also a girl and i didn't know that it is the mantal attitude of girls....and i have not such type of mental attitude so i am not agree with u...and i can't say about the mental attitude of mail because i don't know about this...and it is a reality that 90% persons want stability in their life whether that is mail or femail that is the reason that they don't go towards entrepreneurship...
  and u are saying about rural and urban family then i want to give u a real example of urban family that i
  belong to an urban family and i want to go towards entrepreneurship but my family doesn't permit me because it is not a stable job a/c to them and it is not favorable for girls..and similiarly there are a lot of families and a lot of girls who are facing such type of problems in urban area also...
  and i want to tell u sir that mail dominant means there is priority of mail it doesn't mean that there is no value of women, in other countries in the thinking of people there is not so much differences between a mail and female....but there is a lot of differences in the thinking of people in india...u are giving the example of indira gandhi and etc..then i want to tell u that at this time a lot of family supporting girls also if they will support then surely girls can occupy good position....and when the % of families supporting girls will become 100% in india then there will not be lack of women in any organisation or in any field or in any entrepreneurship........
• 

  yorha 2b

  nibhani

  sir you are talking about stability and settle down then i want to say that it is not only the maintality of girls....u are focusing on maintality of girls...then i want to say that i am also a girl and i didn't know that it is the mantal attitude of girls....and i have not such type of mental attitude so i am not agree with u...and i can't say about the mental attitude of mail because i don't know about this...and it is a reality that 90% persons want stability in their life whether that is mail or femail that is the reason that they don't go towards entrepreneurship...
  and u are saying about rural and urban family then i want to give u a real example of urban family that i
  belong to an urban family and i want to go towards entrepreneurship but my family doesn't permit me because it is not a stable job a/c to them and it is not favorable for girls..and similiarly there are a lot of families and a lot of girls who are facing such type of problems in urban area also...
  and i want to tell u sir that mail dominant means there is priority of mail it doesn't mean that there is no value of women, in other countries in the thinking of people there is not so much differences between a mail and female....but there is a lot of differences in the thinking of people in india...u are giving the example of indira gandhi and etc..then i want to tell u that at this time a lot of family supporting girls also if they will support then surely girls can occupy good position....and when the % of families supporting girls will become 100% in india then there will not be lack of women in any organisation or in any field or in any entrepreneurship........

  Miss nibhani, sorry if my sarcastic comment was targeting female sex ... i really never meant that.
  And i agree to your last part .... If family starts supporting female for entrepreneurship (Like i have seen my cousin's family helping her), that day is not far when we will see as much as female entrepreneur as males.
  And its not like that i have any grudge towards female .... I support 'em to most because in the end i wanna see equality in my country .. whether its caste, sex or color 😀
• 

  nibhani

  BetterThanBefore

  Miss nibhani, sorry if my sarcastic comment was targeting female sex ... i really never meant that.
  And i agree to your last part .... If family starts supporting female for entrepreneurship (Like i have seen my cousin's family helping her), that day is not far when we will see as much as female entrepreneur as males.
  And its not like that i have any grudge towards female .... I support 'em to most because in the end i wanna see equality in my country .. whether its caste, sex or color 😀

  sorry sir if my comments were wrong....but i have not such type of intension...what i had told u it was reality a/c to me....
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  Here is a heart warming story of how women entrepreneurship can be advanced, as told by a virtual illiterate - but a grand entrepreneur, Arunachalam Muruganathan:
  
• 

  Ankita Katdare

  bioramani

  Here is a heart warming story of how women entrepreneurship can be advanced, as told by a virtual illiterate - but a grand entrepreneur, Arunachalam Muruganathan:
  

  I have heard him talk live. The only thing I could think of all the time was, such a great entrepreneurship opportunity is missed by the whole female community.
• 

  Ankita Katdare

  Being a “Momtrepreneur” Is Hard. So Is Everything Else in the World. Let’s Move On.
  This article here: #-Link-Snipped-#
  is worth-a-read. 👍
  
  

  You may not be able to have it all, but if you want it badly enough you can certainly have two things: A healthy, growing company and a healthy, growing family. And don’t let link-bait articles and blog posts tell you otherwise. If you believe it; do it. The rest will work itself out.

• 

  Aruna Kumari

  Dancer_Engineer

  I always wanted someone to answer this question for me.
  Thanks Biggie for starting the thread.
  
  This morning while I was watching TV, I came across DesiCrew. DesiCrew is a Rural BPO founded by Saloni Malhotra. I liked the idea of generating professional job opportunities in rural areas.

  Hi, I was also reading about women entrepreneurs in India when I came across these reads:
  The above initiatives have been started by women.
  
  On the contrary, I was reading an article how mother have become successful entrepreneurs for the reasons because - They have a passion for their own ideas, they challenge for self-fulfilment, the Internet has been very handy in removing gender bias in India and women take more risks than men.
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  Internet has removed the gender bias and even the age bias as well. People can run their internet empires right from their chairs while being totally anonymous.
  
  There are servera initiatives started by women; but we aren't looking at specific cases in this discussion. The percentage may not be 50-50 exact; but it has to differ only by a small margin (not more than 10%).
  
  More curious to know - is the percentage more or less than men in rural areas?
• 

  Umesh Kumar Rai

  In India, yes there is lesser % of women in it because as per my observation, we have different view for woman and also women themselves think in dofferent way.
  But the one who set an example is Mrs Majoomdar who is heading the company of more than 10K crores.
• 

  barath rajamani

  hi
  there is a new series of episodes on cnbc tv18 showcasing women enterpreneurs and the troubles and tough times they go through.the episode is called "what women really want". i dont know the timings but they have showcased some of indias leading companies and the abilities in women who drive those companies....😀