WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA: ROLE OF MOTIVATION

Abstract

India’s growth story has resulted in improvements in social
parameters; however, has it translated into economic inclusion and
development of women? The demographic dividend combined with
educated population can help transform social and economic
development. Entrepreneurship among women is a critical
requirement to this. Today the share of women led business is nearly
20% of all businesses of which majority of them in fact are not
owned by women. It is on paper for financial and other reasons, with
women having little or no role to play. The comparison with global
yardsticks reflects that India needs to accelerate overall female
entrepreneurship, with a vision of 30 million women owned
enterprises by 2030. Understanding the reasons that both motivate
and discourage women from establishing their own businesses is
essential to achieving such ambition and realistic goals. The purpose
of this conceptual paper is to contribute to the entrepreneurship
knowl edge by examining the factors that enabl e women
entrepreneurship and the corresponding challenges that they face in
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India. The research also
attempts to integrate S-O-R theory to understand role of various
motivation factors affecting willingness of women to become an
entrepreneur.