Entry Barrier to Entrepreneurship: As Perceived by Youth

Abstract

An assignment was given to the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI) by the National Entrepreneurship Development Board, Department of SSI and ARI, Government of India, New Delhi, to conduct a research on 'Entry Barriers to Entrepreneurship: as perceived by youths'. The assignment was given in the month of March 2000 with the following terms of references (ToR): 1) The study would understand the perception of youths towards entrepreneurship as a career option. 2)The study would understand the factors, which restrict occupational mobility of young employees from employment to entrepreneurship. 3) The study would identify the factors that determine their perception - historical, social & environmental. 4) The study would isolate the enabling and hindering factors to the entry into entrepreneurship. 5) The study, on the basis of analysis, would evolve a policy framework and strategy to create an enabling environment wherein entrepreneurship germinates and grows. Keeping in view the ToR, the study focused on youth primarily because the decisions made at this age are likely to have a lasting effect on life. It is also often argued that young people prefer to gain some experience before starting their own ventures. It was, therefore, decided to cover young employees as well. The study also attempted to understand the perceptions of those employees who have reached the middle management level so that an inclination towards job vis-a-vis self-employmenU entrepreneurship could be assessed from their point of view. Thus, two major segments of sample, viz; (i) students who were at the final stage of graduation or post-graduation, and (ii) employees already in jobs- governmenUpublic, private, or co-operatives, were covered. In all, the study interviewed 1625 respondents individually (653 employees and 972 students). Four states viz. Gujarat, Karnataka, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh (UP) were selected to capture the region specific socio-cultural variations. Three districts/regions in each state were selected for understanding intra-state variations, if any. Due representation was given to females in both the segments of sample- about 30% in students and 15% in employees. Also adequate representation was given to employees of different sectors, i.e., government, private and public. A majority of them were from private sector. Again, majority of respondents were in junior management category, followed by middle, senior and non-management categories. Similarly, due representation was given to varied educational background, family occupation and annual family income. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics like frequency tables, percentages, Cross-tabulations, Chi-square, etc. The highlights of findings are summarised below.