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SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
IN TIRUNELVELI DISTRICT OF TAMIL
NADU
Dr. I. PREM ROSE THAYAMMAL*
Assistant Professor & Head,
Department of Commerce (CS),
CSI Jayaraj Annapakiam College,
Nallur (PO), Tirunelveli District,
Tamilnadu, India.
Dr. K. MURUGAN CHETTIAR
Principal,
Thiruvalluvar College,
Papanasam (PO),
Tirunelveli District, Tamilnadu,
India.
Email:
ipremrose@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present study was to analyze the
social development of women entrepreneurs in Tirunelveli district of Tamil
Nadu. To achieve the purpose of the study, 380 women entrepreneurs were
identified as sample evenly from 19 blocks of the district by adopting the
snowball sampling technique. Quantitative and qualitative research designs were
carried out as research design for this study. The six variables of Positive
Environment, Social and Family Responsibilities, Social Barriers, Women
Business Network, Administrative and Legal Support and Admiration at Public
Places under the core variable of social development were selected for this
study. Collected data were subjected to statistical analysis by using one
sample t test, cross tabulation technique and Pearson
Chi-Square test. The analysis was
carried out with the help of using popular statistical package SPSS 20. The
results of the study indicate that there was a significant development in
variables of Positive Environment, Social and Family Responsibilities and
Social Barriers and not in others. It also reveals that the age categories of
women entrepreneurs significantly associated with social development and not in
the categories of monthly profit. This study will be relevant and significant
to the women entrepreneurs.
Introduction
Today, more and more women entrepreneurs are
starting businesses and they now account for a quarter to a third of all
businesses in the formal economy worldwide. However, the great majority are
very small or micro enterprises with little potential for growth. Otherwise,
women entrepreneurs are under-represented in enterprises of all sizes, and the
bigger the firm the less likely it is to be headed by a woman. Societal
attitudes and social beliefs inhibit some women from even considering starting
a business, while systemic barriers mean that many women entrepreneurs stay
confined to very small businesses often operating in the informal economy. This
not only limits their ability to earn an income for themselves and their
families but restricts their full potential to contribute to socio-economic
development and job creation [9]. The World Bank’s
World Development Report 2011suggests that productivity could increase by as
much as 25% in some countries if discriminatory barriers against women were
removed. Removing these barriers, such as discriminatory property and
inheritance laws, cultural practices, lack of access to formal financial
institutions, and time constraints due to family and household responsibilities,
will create greater opportunities for sustainable enterprises run by women [7].
In spite of their important contributions to
socio-economic development, women suffer from various constraints, which
inhibit them from fully realizing their potential for development. Cultural
values and social norms hinder the equal participation of women in society. One
of the major constraints women face as entrepreneurs is the unequal access to
productive resources and services, including finance and skill upgrading opportunities.
Some legal provisions and legislative systems make it difficult for women to
take initiatives for business development. Furthermore, their reproductive role
in the family and the community puts women in a disadvantaged position to
engage in entrepreneurial activities [4].
STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
Women were the first humans to taste bondage. She
was a slave before slavery existed. Inferiority can largely be attributed to
her sexual peculiarities. “Man has always played the role of a lord; as a
result, his physical and mental development took place at a good pace befitting
his occupation and field of interest [4]. From the birth of earth onwards women
are facing gender inequality in physical, mental and social development. The
gender inequality reflects on women entrepreneurs in their business so that
they are facing so many barriers in business and especially in a society. Today
many women are seen running their own business successfully. Some of the areas
where women entrepreneur have shown their worth are running a restaurant,
boutique, beauty salon, fashion designing boutique or many others. Women if
given right directions are considered to be best opportunity seekers and
utilize their abilities in the best possible ways once they enter into a
business of their own [10]. The social and cultural roles played by women may
place an additional burden on them. As a part of their social binding, women
have to perform household duties with simultaneously operating as business
owners. A woman entrepreneur is expected to perform the roles of wife, mother,
daughter, daughter-in-law and businesswoman [4].
Tirunelveli district is the industrially backward
area when it is compared with other districts. Tirunelveli district has been
endowed with several facilities for the conducive growth of women entrepreneurs
when compared to other districts in Tamil Nadu. Many empirical studies have
proved that women entrepreneurs have more social barrier in their business.
Apart from this the women entrepreneurs are putting up their head in the
society by tackling the barriers. The scale of social development of a women
entrepreneur is the one of the key determinants of success in business. So, the
researchers felt that this district and the social development are ideally
suited for a study on women entrepreneurship. The researchers attempted to
analyze the social development of women entrepreneurs in the district.
OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the study is to analyze the social
development of women entrepreneurs in the district. To achieve the main
objective of the study, the following specific objectives were framed.
Research
Method
In the study, the social development of women
entrepreneurs in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu has been examined. Quantitative
and qualitative research designs were carried out as research design for this
study. Well structured and pretested interview schedule was used for collecting
the data by personal interview method. The interview schedule was prepared by a
five-point Likert scale to collect the information required for the study after
an in-depth review of the previous studies related to the present study,
discussions with the officials of the District Industries Centre (DIC) and
experienced women entrepreneurs. It was then judged for content validity and
pre-tested on a group of conveniently selected respondents to assess its
clarity and ease of completion. Based on the recommendations received, it was
modified and subsequently given to the study sample for the data collection.
The interview schedule focuses on the variable of Positive Environment, Social
and Family Responsibilities, Social Barriers, Women Business Network,
Administrative and Legal Support and Admiration at Public Places under the core
variable of social development. Each variable consists of four questions to
measure it. Each question item was scored on a five-point Likert scale (5 =
Always; 4 = Usually; 3 = Sometimes; 2 = Never; and 1 = No Idea). To achieve the
objectives of the study, 380 women entrepreneurs were identified as sample
evenly from 19 blocks of the district by adopting the snowball sampling
technique. One sample t test to find out the significant development of the variables
of social development, standard formula to find out the level of social
development, Cross Tabulation technique to find out the level of social
development of women entrepreneurs based on age, education and monthly profit
of their business and Pearson Chi-Square test to find out the significant association
between social development and age, education and monthly profit were
performed to analyze the data. The analysis was carried out with the help of
using popular statistical package SPSS 20.
ANALYSIS
The One-Sample t
Test procedure was used to find out whether any significant development occurs
in the variables of social development of women entrepreneurs when compare to
the test value. Test value was fixed at 10 based on the average mean of a sample
who can score maximum 20 for a variable. In the study, totally six variables
were analyzed to find out the social development of women entrepreneurs. The resulted
One-Sample t Test on the variables of
social development of women entrepreneurs are illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1: One-Sample t Test
(Source:
Primary Data) **Significant at .05 level of confidence
Since P value is less than 0.05 and no negative value of mean
differences, there is a significant development in the variables of Positive
Environment (t = 3.486, P < 0.05),
Social and Family Responsibilities (t =
5.798, P < 0.05) and Social Barriers (t = 3.244, P < 0.05).
Even though there is a statistical difference in the variable of Women Business Network (t = -4.222, P < 0.05), Administrative and Legal Support (t = -3.858, P < 0.05)
and Admiration at Public Places (t = -3.210, P < 0.05), the variables
are not considered for significant awareness due to the negative value of the
mean difference. The table 1 discloses that the women entrepreneurs in the
district are having adequate development in positive
environment, social and family responsibilities, social barriers. They are not
having significant development in the Women Business Network, Administrative
and Legal Support and Admiration at Public Places.
Further the level of social development of women entrepreneurs was
calculated by appropriate formula (Score > (
 ) ≅ High Level, Score <
( ) ≅ Low Level, () to () ≅ Moderate Level) [3]. The Cross
Table technique in descriptive statistics was used to find out the level of social development of women entrepreneurs based on age,
education and monthly profit. The Pearson Chi-Square test was used to find out the significant
association between social development and age, education and
monthly profit. The detail of scale for
level of social development is shown in Table 2.
Table
2: Scale for Level of Social Development
Source:
Primary Data
The table 2 shows the mean, standard deviation and
scale for level of awareness. The values have been classified into three level
of social development as < 5.6 for
Low level, 5.6 – 14.5 for moderate level and 14.5 < for high level. The details of the result on level
of social development of women entrepreneurs based on age
is presented in table 3.
Table
3: Age and Social Development - Cross Tabulation
Source:
Primary Data
The table 3 shows that the majority of
the respondents (6.3 percent) is having moderate social development followed by
the respondents (3.2 percent) who are having high social development among the age
group of 25 and below. As for the age group of 25 – 35, 60 (15.8 percent)
respondents are having moderate level, 20 (5.3 percent) respondents are having a
high level and 6 (1.6 percent) respondents are having low level of social
development. Among the age group of 36 – 45, most of the respondents (20
percent) have moderate level, 16 (4.2 percent) respondents have high level and
9 (2.4 percent) respondents have a low level of social development. Regarding
the age group of 46 – 55, 72 (18.9 percent) respondents have moderate level, 24
(6.3 percent) have high levels and 2 (0.5 percent) respondents have a low level
of social development. As for the age
group of above 55, most of the respondents (13.2 percent) have moderate level,
8 (2.1 percent) respondents have high level and one respondent have a low level
of social development. The result of Chi-Square Test regarding
the significant association between age and social
development of women entrepreneurs is presented in table
4.
Table 4: Chi-Square
Tests
**Significant
at .05 level of confidence
The low significance value (typically below 0.05) in
the table 4 indicates that there may be some association between the two
variables of age and social development of
women entrepreneurs. While the chi-square value (16.600)
may indicate that there is an association between two variables, they do not
indicate the strength or direction of the relationship. The detail of the result on level of social development
based on monthly profit of women entrepreneurs is presented in
table 5.
Table 5: Monthly Profit
and Level of Social Development - Cross Tabulation
The table 5 divulges that the majority of
the respondents (10.3 percent) are having moderate level, 16 (4.2 percent)
respondents are having a high level and 4 (1.1 percent) respondents are having
low level of social development among the group of less than Rs.10000 as
monthly profit. As for the group of Rs.10000 – Rs.20000 as monthly profit, 75 (19.7 percent) respondents are
having moderate level, 21 (5.5 percent) respondents are having a high level and
7 (1.8 percent) respondents are having low level of social development. Among
the group of Rs.20001 – Rs.40000 as monthly profit, most of the respondents (29.5
percent) have moderate level, 27 (7.1 percent) respondents have high level and 6
(1.6 percent) respondents have a low level of social development. Regarding the
group of above Rs.40000 as monthly profit, 56 (14.7 percent) respondents have
moderate level, 16 (4.2 percent) have high levels and one respondent have a low
level of social development. The
result of Chi-Square Test regarding the significant association between monthly
profit and social development of women entrepreneurs
is presented in table 6.
Table 6: Chi-Square
Tests
Significant
at .05 level of confidence
The
high significance value (P > 0.05) in the table 6 indicates that there is no
association between the two variables of monthly profit and social development of women entrepreneurs.
The table 6 indicates that the women entrepreneurs in the district have no
association between their monthly profit and social development.
DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
This study examined the social development of women
entrepreneurs in Tirunelveli district. The results have confirmed that the
women entrepreneurs in the study area have a significant development in the
creation of a positive environment in their business administration, perform
the social and family responsibility and outstrip the social barriers against
the women in the society. These variables of social development play a key role
on not only for the success of the business but also for the success of the
family. This finding is supported by the previous studies [11, 2
& 6]. The study further also
proved that the women entrepreneurs have no significant development in women's business network, administrative and legal
support and admiration at public places. This finding is in line with other
study [8]. The aspects of the
women business network,
administrative and legal support and admiration at public places where the
women entrepreneurs have not adequate development are the negative aspect of
social development. In connection with this result, the researchers suggest
that the women entrepreneurs in the study area have to develop the
communication skills, the attitude of regular contact with other business
people and up-to-date knowledge of global business. The study authenticated
that the most of the respondents in both categories of age and monthly profit
have moderate level of social development and some noted number of respondents
have a high level of social development. The study also proved that the social
development of women entrepreneurs and age has some association but the level
of monthly profit has not associated with social development. This
finding is supported by the previous studies [5 & 1].
CONCLUSION
In the business world, women entrepreneurs play a
big role in business development as well as economic development of a country
especially for developing countries like India. At the same time the women
entrepreneurs are facing much of hurdles than men to achieve various
developments related to the business. Now there is also not enough recognition
for women entrepreneurs in the men dominating society. Based on the result of
the study, the researchers propose some valuable suggestions for women
entrepreneurs to develop the social development. Women entrepreneurs have to
habitually connect to the business networks through which information flows and
contacts and connections can be shared. When women find a way to share their
know-how and their skills, their businesses will acquire beneficial. They have
to involve in various activities in the society where they survive. The
government has to create consulting service centers for women entrepreneurs in
the fields of information, business education, supply and financial management,
and marketing. The government should simplify the hindrance administrative
rules and regulations related to local and global business. In closing, the researchers
would like to add that women entrepreneurs must mold properly themselves with
the social development to sustain and strive for excellence in the
entrepreneurial arena.
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