Page 1 of 11
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 02
February 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 97
Employment Opportunities and Challenges for Women in India
Preeti Chhillar
Extension Lecturer(Commerce)
Govt College Gohana
preeti.dahiya02@gmail.com
Abstract- "When the women go forward, the family runs, the village goes and finally the nation
goes forward". If we talk about entrepreneurship, women are one of the most relevant unused
resources. Female entrepreneurship is gaining attention and importance in light of the evidence
of the importance of new business creation for economic growth and development.
Entrepreneurship refers to the act of setting up a new business so as to take advantages from new
opportunities. Entrepreneurs are responsible for shaping the economy and they help in creating
new funds and new jobs by inventing new products, processes and services. All of us understand
that economic. Development of today's women is important for the economic development of a
country like India, especially the service sector. Dependent on services has created many
entrepreneurial opportunities for women, which they can use to enhance their social status and
reputation. The present study investigated to identify the problems faced by the women
entrepreneur. Further the study try to explain the real condition of Indian working women and
the factors which affect their development and the suggestions are given to improve their status.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Women, Economy, Economic Development, Challenges,
Economic Development, Opportunities Women Entrepreneurship
Introduction:
In the history of human development, women have been as vital in the history making as
men have been. In fact higher status for women vis-à-vis employment and work performed by
them in a society is a significant indicator of a nation’s overall progress. There are many reasons
and problems that forced Indian’s women to work. The financial demands on the Indian families
are increasing day by day. Cost of living, expenses on education of children, and cost of housing
Page 2 of 11
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 02
February 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 98
properties in India raised and these reason force every family in India to look for ways and
means of increasing the household income. As a result, women in India who were mostly known
as homemakers are forced to go for jobs and take up even careers that were considered only
suitable for men such as working in night shifts. Working women i.e., those who are in paid
employment, face problems at the workplace just by virtue of their being women. Social attitude
to the role of women lags much behind the law. The attitude which considers women fit for
certain jobs and not others, causes prejudice in those who recruit employees. Thus women find
employment easily as nurses, doctors, teachers, secretaries or on the assembly line. Even when
well qualified women are available, preference is given to a male candidate of equal
qualifications. A gender bias creates an obstacle at the recruitment stage itself.
When it comes to remuneration, though the law proclaims equality, it is not always
practiced. The inbuilt conviction that women are incapable of handling arduous jobs and are less
efficient than men influences the payment of unequal salaries and wages for the same job. But in
most families her salary is handed over to the father, husband or in-laws. So the basic motive for
seeking employment in order to gain economic independence is nullified in many women’s case.
Problems of gender bias beset women in the industrial sector when technological advancement
results in retrenchment of employees.
Women Entrepreneurship is required to study separately for two main reasons. The first
reason is that women entrepreneurship has been recognized as an important untapped source
during the last decade for economic development. Women Entrepreneurs also create new jobs for
themselves and others, apart from management, organization and business problems as well as
provide society with various solutions exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. However,
they still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. Thus, the failure of the market to discriminate
against women entrepreneurs and their prospects of being present to be successful entrepreneurs.
The failure of this should be addressed by policy makers so that the economic potential of this
group can be fully utilized. The purpose of the paper to examine the constraints and opportunities
facing female entrepreneurship in developing countries at micro- and macro-level perspectives
and seeks to provide a detailed account of opportunities and constraints bought by
entrepreneurship.
Page 3 of 11
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 02
February 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 99
According to Kamla Singh, "A woman entrepreneur is a self-confident, innovative and
creative woman who is able to generate economic independence in individual capacity or in
collaboration with her family and social life.
According to Government of India, "An enterprise owned and controlled by a women
having a minimum financial interest of 51 per cent of the capital and giving at least 51 per cent
of the employment generated by the enterprise to women".
According to APJ Abdul Kalam, "Empowering women is a pre-requisite for creating a
good nation, when women are empowered, there is a promise of stability in society.
Empowerment of women is essential for them, ideas and their value systems creates good family,
a good society, and finally a good nation develop".
According to recent reports and studies, women entrepreneurship has attracted much
attention, it supports economic development in recent years in light of solid evidence.
Purpose of study:
To discuss problems faced by women entrepreneurs in India.
Factors affecting the development of women entrepreneurship.
To suggest measures to improve the status of women entrepreneurship in India.
Review of Literature:
Bowen and Hirschik, (1986), evaluated many research studies conducted on women
entrepreneurship. It has been concluded that women entrepreneurs are generally well educated,
but do not have appropriate management skills and higher in internal values of control.
Coohun, Wadhwa and Mitchell, (2010), present a description about men and women,
background and experience of the entrepreneur. The study is based on the data collected from the
primary source, where the survey was done to establish and collect data from successful female
entrepreneurs. The Study identified the top factors that motivate women to enter the field of
entrepreneurship. The factors found were the desire to build wealth, capitalize on their own
