Role Of Women In Economic Development

Women Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

With growth in modern civilization overtime and due to expansion of business as well as social and political activities, the societies all over the world have realized the potential of women as contributors to economic growth and development. Be it micro or small or medium scale operation, women have come forward to establish themselves as owners and/or manage them. Empowerment of women is essential as their thoughts and their value systems lead to the development of a good family, good society and ultimately a good nation.(APJ Abdul Kalam). When a women is empowered, it does not mean that her counterpart becomes powerless. On the contrary together they can contribute more effectively towards

They convert the latent and idle resources like land, labour and capital in to national in¬come and wealth in the form of goods and services. They help increase the country’s net national product and per capita which are important yardsticks for measuring the economic growth. Thus, women as entrepreneurs play an important role in the employment generation for themselves as well as others, thereby supplementing their family income. Entrepreneurship among women no doubt improves the wealth of the nation in general and of the family in particular and helps to reduce

They are not only instrumental in improving their own economic welfare but also contribute to the economic and social fabric of society through job creation, innovative products and processes and services and cross border trade. In the area of women’s entrepreneurship, liberalization, privatization and globalization of the Indian economy, government policies and promotional strategies have been giving new opportunities to women, however only few have come forward. Unfortunately, majority of them remained at the subsistence phase operating in the informal sector of the economy. Thus, optimal utilization of women entrepreneurs as mediators of economic growth and development is not possible. The contribution of women to mainstream economic development in a significant way does not only depend on women. It is true that women in India needs to pursue higher education, develop necessary skills, be ready to undertake risks, gain self-confidence, have effective co-ordination, administration and control over business and finally possess leadership quality to emerge as potential entrepreneurs. At the same time the government and society also have a vital role to play in producing efficient and dynamic women entrepreneurs. As gender equality and economic growth are the two faces of the same coin, they should have a favourable gender ideology and promote a more enabling environment so that a large