The Role of Women in Social Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Across the globe, social entrepreneurs are engaged in making a change and creating an impact, to ensure growth and development of society in a way that the benefits future generations a well. It is observed that only 39% women are formally employed in India. The lack of female participation in the workforce usually has an adverse impact on the economy, which dampens productivity and in turn growth, leading to lesser females taking up full time work, due to the lack of female inspiration and role models. Social change in a woman’s status can be triggered by giving her increased economic opportunities. The management style and capacity to innovate by a social enterprise led by a woman can be considerably more than their male counterparts. Women social entrepreneurs have the vision and ambition to make it big, but are challenged by lack of support and access to resources essential for managing high impact enterprises. This paper emphasis the role females play in social entrepreneurship, by way of case studies of women who have overcome odds to presently lead successful social enterprises in the field of waste management, education, environment conservation, health and cultural upliftment. The paper follows the journeys of these women, and their method of thinking out of the box to develop a unique innovative approach to fight against poverty and social inequality to ensure a better tomorrow.