Article on FACTORS AFFECTING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN MICRO & SMAL SCALE INDUSTRIES IN GUJARAT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------INTRODUCTION The emergence of women

entrepreneurs and their contribution to the national economy is quite visible in India. The number of women entrepreneurs has grown over a period of time. Women entrepreneurs need to be lauded for their increased utilization of modern technology, increased investments, finding a niche in the export market, creating a sizable employment for others and setting the trend for other women entrepreneurs in the organized sector. While women entrepreneurs have demonstrated their potential, the fact remains that they are capable of contributing much more than what they already are. In order to harness their potential and for their continued growth and development, it is necessary to formulate appropriate strategies for stimulating, supporting and sustaining their efforts in this direction. Such a strategy needs to be in congruence with field realities, and should especially take cognizance of the problems women entrepreneurs face within the current system. The present study will be an effort in this direction. An attempt will be made to document available information regarding the status of women entrepreneurs, against the backdrop of the socioeconomic context and the attendant challenges they face. It is a common assumption that majority of women in India are economically non-productive as they are not involved in activities that are financially remunerative. But this trend is gradually changing. Women across regions have started showing interests to be economically independent. Interested women with creative and innovative ideas are coming forward to start the small and medium sized enterprises. They are ready to gain experiences, willing to work hard in a supportive environment. Establishment of such enterprises through the initiatives of the women depends upon a number of factors. The experiences of the existing women entrepreneurs can facilitate the aspiring ones to overcome the hurdles. The socialization process, the cultural practices in specific regions, the influencing condition, the support system, the past experiences of other entrepreneurs and many such factors play a role in the making of women entrepreneurs.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Womens entrepreneurship needs to be studied separately for two main reasons. The first reason is that womens entrepreneurship has been recognised during the last decade as an important untapped source of economic growth. Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and by being different also provide society with different solutions to management, organisation and business problems as well as to the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. However, they still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. Thus there exists a market failure discriminating against womens possibility to become entrepreneurs and their possibility to become successful entrepreneurs. This market failure needs to be addressed by policy makers so that the economic potential of this group can be fully utilised. While without a doubt the economic impact of women is substantial, we still lack a reliable picture describing in detail that specific impact. The second reason is that the topic of women in entrepreneurship has been largely neglected both in society in general and in the social sciences. Not only have women lower participation rates in entrepreneurship than men but they also generally choose to start and manage firms in different industries than men tend to do. The industries (primarily retail, education and other service industries) chosen by women are often perceived as being less important to economic development and growth than high-technology and manufacturing. Furthermore, mainstream research, policies and programmes tend to be men streamed and too often do not take into account the specific needs of women entrepreneurs and would-be women entrepreneurs. As a consequence, equal opportunity between men and women from the perspective of entrepreneurship is still not a reality. In order for policy makers to address the situation the report makes a number of recommendations. In order to realise the benefits of policy changes it is important to incorporate a women entrepreneurial dimension in considering all SMEs and growth policies (e.g. meeting womens financing needs at all stages of the business continuum; take-up of business development and support services; access to corporate, government and international markets; technology access and utilisation; R&D and innovation; etc.).

Better qualitative information and quantitative data and statistics are required to profile women entrepreneurs (demographic information, barriers to start-up and growth). This would also assist in promoting awareness of the role of women entrepreneurs in the economy. Using a frame of reference such as that developed in the report could be valuable for the analysis of this information The potentiality and talent among the women is not identified adequately with only about ten percent of the women being entrepreneurs in some of the developing countries including India. At this critical juncture when the job market is down; these aspiring women entrepreneurs can be encouraged to set up the enterprises so that, apart from being independent they can employ people in their workforce. In the long run, these women can be the backbone of the regional as well as national economy. To encourage the rural based micro enterprises various programmes and schemes have been introduced through Government initiatives. Some of the prominent schemes are Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Training Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM), Prime Ministers Rojagar Yojana (PMRY), Development of Women and Children in Rural areas (DWCRA). The objective is to eradicate poverty through entrepreneurial initiatives. However these schemes despite its introduction have not been successful to a satisfactory level. There are a number of constraining factors, which obstruct the rural entrepreneurs to a large extent. Only blaming these entrepreneurs is not enough. Their enterprises need to be given a fresh and innovative touch that can help them in reviving the stagnation. The entire restructuring process could include not just financial support, rather introduction of technology and new infrastructure, which is most suitable for the specific enterprise The present study has been undertaken to seek answers to the following questions: 1. What will be the role of socio economic factors prevailing in the state for growth of women entrepreneurship? 2. What will be the impact of new economic policy on women entrepreneurial sector? 3. What will be the extent of growth of women in the entrepreneurial sector in Gujarat ?

4. What will be the real position of women enterprises in the state? 5. To What extent the institutional network and promotional measures support the sustainability of women entrepreneurs? 6. What are the real problems add to the high mortality rate of women enterprises?

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The overall objective of the study is to examine the major concerns involved in entrepreneurship development among women, and examine the factors that inhibit and obstruct women from advancing in the field of entrepreneurship and from availing of the opportunities open to them. The problem to be investigated is designed with the specific objectives demarcated below: l . To assess the effects of socio - economic environment on the development of women entrepreneurship in the state 2. To assess the impact of new economic policy on women entrepreneurial sector. 3. To assess the development of entrepreneurship among women in Gujarat 4. To assess the status of women enterprises in the state 5. To study the efficacy of institutional support system for the Entrepreneurship development among women in Gujarat. 6. To identify the weakness and shortcomings in the working of women enterprises 7. To analyse the problems faced by women to promote and run their units and to suggest possible solutions . HYPOTHESES Keeping the above objectives of the study and on the basis of the researcher's own experience the following hypotheses will be formulated: 1. Governmental supportive measures are not sufficient for the sustainable growth of this sector. 2. Lack of real entrepreneurial traits and management ability is one of the major causes of failure among women entrepreneurs.

3. The Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) offered for women entrepreneurs are not sufficient to promote managerial ability among them. 4. Women entrepreneurs in Gujarat are not fully aware about the policies, strategies and supportive measures of the Government. SAMPLE DESIGN Women entrepreneurs are mostly found in the self-employment small-scale sector. Registration of a small-scale unit empowers it to get various benefits and supports offered by the Government. Women entrepreneurs offered special benefits and assistances. Therefore, all the women entrepreneurs will register their units with the District Industries Centres. Hence, an exhaustive list of units registered with District Industries Centres would represent women enterprises in the State. Therefore, the study will be made on the basis of the small scale enterprises registered by women according to the records of District Industries Centres. The study will be conducted on the basis of a multi stage sampling. The sample will be comprised of 400 women enterprises. The Samples will be collected from Districts like Ahmedabad, Baroda, Banaskantha, Anand, Baroda, Rajkot, Mehsana, Panchmahal, Surat, Valsad.

METHODOLOGY AND DATABASE In pursuance of the above objectives and hypotheses, collection and analysis of both Secondary and primary data will be used. SECONDARY DATA The Secondary data will be mainly drawn from various records and publications of Industries Commissionerate Department, Govt of Gujarat, State Planning Board, District Industries Centres, Khadi and Village Industries Board, Gujarat State Industrial Development Corporation, Gujarat State Financial Corporation, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Gujarat State Women Development Corporation, EDI etc. Periodicals and Websites of Government and Non Government Organisations and Data from financial and other records of enterprises run by women will also be used.

PRIMARY DATA Primary data for the study will be collected from Districts of Gujarat like Ahmedabad, Baroda, Banaskantha, Anand, Baroda, Rajkot, Mehsana, Panchmahal, Surat, Valsad with the help of an interview schedule. Officials of District Industries Centres, Department of Industries Commissionerate Office Bearers of Industries Associations, entrepreneurs will be consulted. Giving proportionate representation to each of the districts and all the product groups a sample will be made with 400 units. These units will be personally visited to collect information. Hence, data required for this study will be collected from 400 units by direct interview. The interviews will be conducted in the premises of the entrepreneurs and interview timings will be scheduled on the basis of advance appointments from respondents. REVIEW OF LITERATURE In Indian universities, the field of entrepreneurship is being fast recognised as an important area of research. Not much research has been done in this direction, especially in the area of women entrepreneurship. Not much data is available on characteristics that constitute entrepreneurial personality, particularly women entrepreneurial personality. Researchers in the recent past have shown keen interest in the study of entrepreneurs, particularly focusing their attention on women entrepreneurs. Questions addressed to female entrepreneurs are the same as those addressed to male entrepreneurs. The studies are comparative in nature with those of male entrepreneurs, executives, managers, and people in other professions. A review of literature, though scanty, would point out the relevance of the study and provide a background for future research. Winch (1969) made a study to assess the entrepreneurial behaviour among women and found that older entrepreneurs would take 'no risk' option more frequently than the younger entrepreneurs. Gaikwad and Tripathi (1970) the main object of the study was to examine the pre-requisites for successful entrepreneurship. They found that all the entrepreneurs selected for study had basic characters of initiative, drive, and habit of hard work, but they did not have sufficient technical knowledge or awareness about the policy of the Government. The investigators found that unawareness and lack of sufficient fund are inhibiting factors in the development of industrial entrepreneurship in rural areas.

Sharma R A (1985) notices two mainstreams in entrepreneurial development of India. The entrepreneurs were more evolved from certain well-known group with some industrial and mercantile backgrounds. The other stream consists of some well-known caste and communities. According to him, strong desire to do something independent in life, technical knowledge and for manufacturing experience, financial assistance from institutional sources, business experience in the same or related line, accommodation in industrial estates and heavy demand for a particular product or service are the major factors induced the emergence of new entrepreneurial class. Bhanu Shali(1987) conducted a study on entrepreneurship development in Kholapur district in Maharashtra. The study lead to the conclusion that persons of minority or marginal groups trained in the art of engineering and having long contact with engineering industry have better capabilities to achieve success status. The study further stresses the need for co-ordination and synchronisation of various administrative and attitudinal efforts to attain maximum result with minimum waste of time and resources. Usha Jumani (1991) conducted a study to analyse the status of self-employed women in rural areas. Economic activities through which the income of the women will be increased have to be identified with great care. They have to be in consonance with time availability with family roles and with their awareness levels. . Kranti Rana(1998) Strongly recommended a centralised and properly co-ordinated institutionalised arrangement for extending technological backing and for the commercialisation of the benefits of Research & Development for the improvement of women entrepreneurs. The review of literature reveals that research on entrepreneurship; particularly on women entrepreneurship in Gujarat is scarce. I have not come across an in depth study conducted on Factors affecting Women Entrepreneurship in Micro & Small Industries. So there is a utmost need for research on this area.

IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH

This research will be very useful to know the exact status of Women Entrepreneurs having Micro & Small Industries in Gujarat.

This research will be highly useful to Various Government Departments and NGOs to design the policies and promotional activities for the benefits of Women Entrepreneurs.

The study will help find out the sick units and make them revived again. The study will help to solve the burning problems like Poverty and Unemployability in the State.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study will be made on the basis of secondary and primary data. The secondary data will be obtained mainly from the report and publications of Government departments. Therefore, the accuracy of the study will be based on secondary data depends upon the reliability of data obtained from these sources. The primary data will be obtained from direct interview. The accuracy of study will be based on primary data depends upon the reliability of information provided by the respondents. REFERENCE : -Data used From various websites and books.