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Years ago, entrepreneurship was considered a male-dominated domain, but now the time has changed. The entrepreneurial domain is embracing change – women are now parallel to their male counterparts for quite a while now.
According to the Women Business Owner Statistics, more than 11.6 million U.S firms are women-owned, employing nearly 9 million people, and generating $1.7 trillion in sales as of 2017. Women-owned firms (51% or more) account for 39% of all privately held firms and contribute 8% of employment and 4.2% of revenues. GEM Report 2016-2017 stats also show that overall female Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rates have increased by 10% and the gender gap has decreased by 5% in 74 economies. The stats indicate that women are not only increasing their visibility in the entrepreneurial domain but also contributing to economic growth and increased employment.
A research study by Abeer Yousuf Danish also found out that place like Saudi Arabia has even increased women-engagements in an entrepreneurial domain, and besides significant obstacles, female business owners are now establishing more enterprises than in the past.
Similarly, Pakistan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has also increased female-owned businesses. According to International Labour Organization (ILO) (modeled ILO estimate), female labour force participation for ages 15-24 was 22.04 as of 2017. Its highest value over the past 27 years was 22.04 in 2017, while its lowest value was 10.32 in 2000. But, the figure is still low as compared to men. According to GEM Report 2012 (Pakistan), the male TEA rate is about seventeen times higher than that of female.
Most women in Pakistan prefer small to medium sized enterprises, particularly in textiles or cottage industries, or home-based businesses, in some cases. According to research study, agricultural sector of the economy has the largest share of female participation, services and industry comes later.
Besides the fact that entrepreneurship trend among women is only increasing every other day, significant inhibitions in the entrepreneurial journey can’t be overlooked.
Access to financial resources:
Access to financial resources is the top barrier faced by women entrepreneurs. “Women face greater obstacles than men when starting and growing businesses, especially when it comes to receiving angel and venture capital. Though it might be unintentional, men fund people who look and sound just like them, and the consequences are just as harmful as if there was malicious aforethought.” – Geri Stengel, author of “Forget the Glass Ceiling: Build Your Business Without One” (Dell, 2014). According to a report by the Group of Twenty, it is estimated that female-owned enterprises have an annual financing gap of $290 billion to $360 billion.
Managerial or entrepreneurial skills:
Lack entrepreneurial skills and managerial is another major barrier for women because of insufficient prior experience, perhaps. Training plays an important part in developing necessary skills from the scratch to manage a business and overcoming further hindrances.
Flexibility:
Women are playing different roles, and society has a different set of expectations for each role. In most cases, women are expected to maintain a work-family balance and fulfil primary household responsibilities, which make it even difficult for her to dedicate enough timing to work.
Business Networks:
Lack of professional support and business partners are is a huge success factor, and lacking in both the fronts can prevent growth. With highly-professional businesses still owned by men, it is difficult for a woman to have professional connections and introductions.
Low Risk-Bearing Ability:
Businesses are always about taking the risk –higher the risk will be, higher the profits will be. Women often face this issue while running business operations, especially in Eastern societies where women have a protected life since their childhood.
Gender Disparity:
Gender Disparity exists throughout the globe, but according Global Gender Gap Report of 2016, Pakistan is ranked 143 out of 144 countries in terms of opportunities and participation for women. A research also estimated that the male-female wage gap in Pakistan is almost 67%.
According to 2016 IMF paper, bridging gender gaps in Pakistan has the potential to increase GDP by up to 30%. Therefore, the forecast indicates that women labor force participation is equally important to that of men.
In addition to above-mentioned obstacles, lack of power supply and water, poor infrastructure, lack of equal education, and socio-cultural hurdles also exist in our society.
Despite changing trends, there is an ample amount of need to create adequate facilities and training programs around the world to create and encourage women entrepreneurs, and especially those who can’t speak for themselves.
