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India ranked 52 among 57 countries studied for the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE), showed the findings of its second edition released on Wednesday.
The latest ranking for India remains unchanged from the previous year.
The MIWE focusses on female entrepreneurs’ ability to capitalise on opportunities granted through various supporting conditions within their local environments.
India’s low ranking in the index suggest that the underlying conditions for women business ownership/entrepreneurship in the country are less favorable as compared to the countries with high index score.
India came significantly behind the United States (4) and China (29) in the latest MIWE.
According to the report, the Indian women business owners, leaders or professionals exhibit less inclination towards business ownership due to cultural bias.
They are also less likely to grow their business, whether locally or overseas, and are more prone than other regions to discontinue their businesses due to unprofitability or lack of finance.
Commenting on India’s position on the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs, Manasi Narasimhan, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Mastercard, said,
“Learning from top ranked countries in the Index such as the United States and China, India needs to cultivate an environment where women have higher participation in the workforce and access to tertiary (post-secondary) education & financial services.”
The Mastercard report highlighted that the progress of women entrepreneurs was held back by one or more obstacles in nearly all of the 57 economies covered. These obstacles are largely caused by perceptions of gender bias, which contribute to poor social and cultural acceptance, lack of self-belief and access to financial funding or venture capital.
Below is India’s performance on three components used for developing the index.
Women’s Advancement Outcomes
India ranks 52 with respect to Women’s Advancement Outcomes, i.e., degree of bias against women as workforce participants, political and business leaders, as well as the financial strength and entrepreneurial inclination of women, far behind the United States at 8 and China at 27.
India ranks 55 in terms of Knowledge Assets & Financial Access for women entrepreneurs. On the other hand, China (10), and the United States of America (16) provide much higher degree of access to basic financial services, advanced knowledge assets to women, and better support the small and medium enterprises
India ranks 47 when it comes to Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions, not far behind China (41). However, the United States (11) scores significantly over the two when it comes to overall perceptions on the ease of conducting business locally, quality of local governance, women’s perception of safety levels and cultural perception of women’s household financial influence
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