Impact of Background Differences on Some of Selected Psycho-social Variables: A Study of Women Entrepreneurs in Food Processing

Abstract

The significance of mean differences between locus of control, conceptual understanding of entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship awareness and technical know-how skills were identified for women entrepreneurs with different background variables in food processing enterprises. Differences were identified on the basis of age, educational level, social category, year of experience, monthly income, membership of association, entrepreneurship and technical training, place of enterprise, father's occupation and husband's education. A total of 32 women (16 each from Chennai and Bangalore) were included in this study. Rao's (1985) 'Locus of Control Scale' was used along with two other scales (self-devised) to measure the conceptual understanding of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship awareness and technical know-how skills. Results showed that the t' was found to be significant for age, social category and entrepreneurship and technical training on locus of control, indicating that elderly women, women in higher social category and those not having any entrepreneurship and technical training were having internal perceptions about their success/failure. interestingly, women .who had low monthly income and were members of the associations had more conceptual understanding of entrepreneurship, however, women from the general category showed more understanding than the other group. Though social category differences were not found on entrepreneurship awareness and technical know-how skills, findings on this variable was also in the same line of the previous finding indicating women having less monthly income and whose fathers were not presently occupied had more entrepreneurship awareness and technical know-how skills than their counterparts. Issues like gender sensitization, awareness and training programmes in rural as well as in urban areas has been discussed on the basis of the present findings.