‘Social stereotypes hold women entrepreneurs back’

Across the globe, women own only eight per cent of assets, said Sharada Ramani at a recent event organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, titled – “Is Entrepreneurship Gender Neutral?” As one of the speakers at the event and CEO of CI Global Technologies, she said that while entrepreneurship in itself did not have an inherent gender bias, social stereotypes relating to capabilities and roles of women were impediments to women developing their own identities, including entrepreneurial ones.

At a ratio of 17 men to 22 women at the venue, it seemed like the need for gender-balanced entrepreneurship was an interest shared by both men and women. The number of participants was more encouraging than those at a similar event last year, K Saraswathi, Secretary-General, MCCI, noted. “Business has to look beyond itself; it has to be embedded in society,” she said, drawing from JRD Tata’s vision that society must be the very purpose of business.

Geetha Premkumar, Director Vector Indo Janix Pvt Ltd, approached the role of women in business from the dimension of class. She said that the middle and underprivileged segments face more obstacles as they are expected to shoulder responsibilities on the domestic front as well.

She said that modernity has, sadly, come to be associated with dressing a particular way or hanging out at certain places rather than holding liberal views or having the capability to run your own

Many of the qualities associated with an entrepreneur are perceived to be “masculine”, like aggressiveness and risk-taking. Premkumar, however, challenged this notion, describing four important qualities in women that make them great entrepreneurs: ability to take informed risks, being conscientious about repaying loans, process-oriented approach to statutory norms, and belief in cosmic justice. The only man in a panel of three, Naveen Raman, presented an affirmative view. He said that men of his generation had no qualms working with women, or as their subordinates as women bring a unique set of perspectives.

An important discussion followed on whether women entrepreneurs were economically empowered — if indeed they had control over their resources. While the speakers felt that women from the middle segment did have the power to take independent decisions and were able to articulate needs for their own businesses, this trend was less evident in women from underprivileged backgrounds.

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