Identity as a Women Entrepreneur: Does It Pre Defines the Area of Entrepreneurship Matching the Societal Outlook?

Abstract

In our present study we have raised the question, are women entrepreneurs synonymous with business women? Our work mainly concentrates on the special report Women’s Entrepreneurship from GEM 2015 focusing on the Asian Countries, where we find Philippines has 48% (approx) (the highest) and India has 9% (approx) of Adults Intending to Start a Business in Factor- and Efficiency-Driven Economies, by Region and Gender. Again, out of the total percentage of Business ownership by women entrepreneurs, India has got a negligible percentage and Thailand runs the highest. However, as per the reports, there is an interesting correlation between the two factors-Business closure and Fear of Failure, where we see that in India, which has a lower percentage of Business closure, the Fear of Failure is also low. But, in the area of business traits we see 76% of female entrepreneurs are in the Consumers, Culture and Society Sector. The education statistics show that India has got a lower percentage of education compared to the other Asian countries but has got highest percentage in Percentage of Entrepreneurs with Innovative Products/Services, which indicates that women have the potential to diversify their line of business but due to fear of the unknown they cannot go beyond a recognized pattern, which is created by societal attitude. Does identification of Women Entrepreneurship as a separate entity itself act as a hindrance towards the diverse growth of female entrepreneurs? Entrepreneurship gender stereotypes can discourage women from starting their own businesses. Gender difference is a timeless concept evolved from the psychology of the society. These differences seem to be anecdotal or based on archival data hence the edge of women entrepreneurship is predefined by the traditional outlook of the society.