Women Entrepreneurs in Micro and Small Sector: A Study from Odisha

Abstract

Recognizing the potential benefits of interventions to empower women through policy announcements and process changes Governments both at the Union and at State level have come forward to help women entrepreneurship development. In this paper, efforts to promoting gender equity through empowerment of women as a major development goal is assessed with its link to quality at entry, operation and scalability through analysis of secondary as well as primary data obtained from a major sample survey conducted in two districts of Odisha. The study finds that young women entrepreneurs are operating on very low scale both in rural and urban areas of one underdeveloped and an advanced district. Investment, employment and income interrelationships are analysed. It is found that with their varieties of products and services, the women entrepreneurs consolidate their position with increased employment and income, and improved new-found social status but are unable to upscale their operations to graduate to higher levels. The principal factors limiting their efforts to upscale are identified. In the context of globalization, increased competition and social dynamics, it is recommended that policy-relevant translation of available insights from this and other related studies needs to be effected through strategic operational changes at institutional level.