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Introduction
Many women have been participating in entrepreneurship of late; their businesses have been expanding quite rapidly in most countries in the world. It is believed that in the United States alone the number of women who own businesses is estimated to be 8 million compared to 4 million of them who owned businesses in the nine tees. The number presents 35 percent of all businesses in America as compared to 5 percent a century ago. In the 90s women were only participating in businesses such as beauty aids, Jewelry, clothing, and other service providing businesses but of late Women are even participating in non traditional businesses such as construction and manufacturing.
The participation of women in small businesses, service, retail, and construction sectors has enabled many countries to improve their economic status because they are expanding industries, creating competition, creating job opportunities and ensuring provision of high quality goods and services. For example in the United States it is estimated that women entrepreneurs employ an estimated number of 20 million workers and they contribute sales revenues of about 2.3 trillion dollars. The research below will look at how women were able to surface to be able to get jobs in industries as their male counterparts and how this knowledge they gained from industries assisted them to venture into entrepreneurship, it will also look at some of the factors that have affected the growth of women businesses.
Women and paid work
In the past few years women have proved to the world that they are a force to reckon with and they have really worked hard on any opportunity they have been presented with. Women considered to be low class women have put a great deal of effort in domestic work and factory jobs. Middle class women have also put a great deal of effort in jobs such as nursing, teaching, and social work; they have also participated greatly in typewriting and telephone jobs (Thomas: 81). In the past many women were employed as secretaries and switchboard operators and also they were employed in factories because they were seen to have the capability of handling repetitive jobs. Historically it is clearly known that women never did work out of their personal or career choosing but due to constrained opportunities. Before the nineteenth century not very many women had formal education because education for women was only provided to very wealthy and upper class women. The knowledge they only had was the crafting skills that they were taught by their parents and they passed it from generation to generation.
To them formal education was considered to be irrelevant and was even seen as a danger for Blacks who had been held as slaves. The limitation in the number of women who had formal education led to a limited number of women who had formal jobs since the informal education they received was not adequate enough to land them skilled jobs; this made them work as helpmates for their husbands. Though the upper class women had formal education they did not actively participate in entrepreneurship. And even though their were opportunities that existed for the upper class, and low class women to work in industries, cultural values limited them, because they stated that a married woman especially the one who had kids was not supposed to be employed but stay at home and cater for his Husband and Children needs (Thomas: 85). This made many women shun away from seeking jobs.
However nowadays women receive education as their Male counterparts. This has made many women, especially in the Western countries, to steadily rise and seek jobs in the labor market and in the economy as well. The United States for example in the year 1940 had a total workforce of about 25 percent of women. During the Second World War many women were encouraged by the government and the media to join the workforce. However after the war was over many industries such as the automobile industry tried to get rid of the women they had employed, but the women still persisted in finding jobs that they thought were fit for them. In the 70s and 80s women began to enter new job fields such as professors, attorneys, and physicians (Thomas: 90).
By mid nine tees women consisted of 46 percent of the total civilian labor force. The reasons for the steady rise of women are numerous; among the reasons is the fact that many women like the idea of being independent. The second reason is that they have received quality education that has expanded their qualifications for employment. The third reason is that women nowadays have fewer children which mean that the performance in their jobs is now stable. The high rate of divorce is another reason because it has made women find jobs so that they can fend for themselves. The change of legislation in many countries has also given women greater employment opportunities; however it is evident that women concentrate in low paying and low status jobs. Gender is seen as one of the inequality factors that affects women greatly in the labor market. Race is also another factor, in addition other factors such as unequal pay, and sexual harassment has also affected women in the labor force. The high level of education among women has seen them even expand their interest in business (Gail: 18).
Factors that affect women participation in business
There are many factors that affect women in their mission to venture into business operations some of these factors include; Education, experience, and Entrepreneurial preparedness (Lindsay: 20).
Education
In studies carried out by many humanitarian organizations it is found out that women are not that different enough from their male counterparts in matters regarding general characteristics such as; order of birth, marital status, or entrepreneurial motivations (Lindsay: 20). However when it comes to education there are a lot of differences that can be noted between the two. Reviewed literature exposes the fact that women have the same educational levels to men , however their fields of study are quite different form those of men. In the past women education was mainly focused in liberal arts and humanities while men had a keen interest in engineering, Computer science, and business related courses.
This is considered a big factor that influences the kind of business that women choose to run. However in the recent past, women have started changing and they are entering in business ventures that were dominated by males. Education plays a big role in the type of business that women try to venture in, for example in a survey carried out on highly educated women in Sweden found out that women who had an education experience of more than twelve years choose not to venture in to non- traditional trade. There has been a considerable change in womens education over the past few years. These changes began to be witnessed in the early 70s, when women began to change on the type of courses they were undertaking in their undergraduate levels. It is clearly noted that women began to get involved in courses that were career oriented and even furthered their degrees. They even majored in courses that were similar to those of their male counterparts (Warren: 16).
The seven tees also saw the rise of women enrolment in degree programs such as medicine, business, and dentistry. Thus it is clear to say that not only did women enrolment in colleges and universities increase in numbers but also the nature of their enrolment changed. The change in enrolment nature of women has played a very significant role, in the increase of number of women entrepreneurs because they have obtained the skills to venture into businesses that were previously dominated by men (Belkin: 120).
Experience
Experience gained from working in certain industries plays a very significant role in what kind of business an individual can operate. Apart from formal education women have to have the necessary experience to be able to run businesses more efficiently. Women may obtain experience from their previous employment. The three most important knowledge they should obtain includes; prior knowledge of the markets, knowledge of serving the markets, and knowledge about some of the customer problems. The number of years that a woman may have spent in a certain managerial position plays a significant role on how she will run her business. Certain surveys carried out prove that fulltime experience and startup experience is part of the knowledge that a woman would need to run up a successful business (Roger: 133).
Women who have inadequate business and managerial skills may find it very difficult when they try to engage themselves in a new business venture. Since there are a few experienced women as compared to men the chances of a woman running a successful business are reduced. The second factor is that there are a limited number of women who occupy managerial positions in industries. This fact makes it difficult for women to obtain the necessary experience required to run a business. Occupational segmentation and segregation also has an effect on experience in relation to women businesses. It is evident that women still hold low paying and unskilled work in most labor markets; this has an effect on women when they plan on starting a business since they are limited in sectors that they would venture into business (Warner: 120).
Entrepreneurial preparedness
Entrepreneurial preparedness is the personal skills, attitudes and resources that are not obtained from formal education and work experience (Warner: 121). One component of entrepreneurial preparedness is financial capital, Life experience is considered to be the other component. In most cases entrepreneurial preparedness comes from the cultural and family background of a businessman. An individual who grows up in a family that participates in entrepreneurship is likely to have great experience on running businesses as compared to one who was not raised in a family that practiced entrepreneurship. This factor mostly affects women; in a research carried out in France it was found out that most women entrepreneurs were influenced by their family environment. Financial capital as a component of entrepreneurial preparedness is very critical for women who would like to venture into businesses; Education, experience, and Entrepreneurial preparedness (Warner: 123).
The financial component forms one of the most significant components of entrepreneurial preparedness. The personal earning power and capability to get capital for starting a business is a very critical issue for business women. Moreover a certain level of capital can help reduce the risks involved in starting a business. Before a woman decides to venture into a new business it is very important that she evaluates all the risks that are likely to affect her business, she should also try to evaluate the nature of the business opportunity. The total amount of the money to start the business may be a combination of both the actual cost and the opportunity cost. A woman who does not rely on salary as her source of capital may find it less risky to begin a business because she has some other source of income apart from her salary. Income diversity is then considered to be another very important factor.
Many women of the world not residing in their own countries are affected by the immigrant factor when it comes to starting a business. In the year 2006 the nature venture capital association reported on the difficulties faced by women immigrants who want to start a business, especially in the technology field. They carried out a study on small business formation and noted the importance of women immigrant entrepreneurs among the important new demographic trends in small business ownership ().
Conclusion
Women have always found it very difficult to participate in Male dominated fields such as business ventures because certain cultural values limited them. In the past many cultures defined womens role as staying at home and serving their husband and children. However with time this value seems to be fading as many women have obtained jobs in various industries and even gone further to venture into businesses. Though women have been able to prosper in business there are various factors that limit their capability, some of these capabilities include; Education, Entrepreneurial preparedness, and the immigrant factor.
Education factor affects women in the sense that the courses women take in colleges and other learning institutions limit the chances they have in venturing in to a successful business, this is because the knowledge they obtain from the learning institutions is not adequate enough. Experience affects women in the sense that many women have not had the chance to fill in managerial positions, therefore lack the skill to run successful business ventures. Entrepreneurial preparedness factor covers issues like the knowledge a woman may have in running a business and the financial capital she may have to run the business, it is important to note that in order for her to run a successful venture she has to have an adequate amount of the two. The immigrant issue does not seriously affect business women, in most cases it only affects women who have migrated to another country.
Works cited
Thomas, J, Millionaire women next door , Sun Microsystems press 1998, pp 81- 90.
Gail, E, the most important rules business women needs to know Wiley press 2001, pp 18.
Lindsay, D, four steps to priceless business relationships , Wesley publications 1999, page 20.
Warren, R, the purpose driven life , Addison 2003, page 16.
Belkin, L, confessions of an unbalanced mum , Willey press 2003, page 120.
Roger, E, Dos and taboos around the world for women in business , Wesley publications 1997, page 133.
Warner, J, Women in business Adisson 2001, pp 120-124.
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