Factors influencing women to adopt and sustain entrepreneurship in South Africa
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
This study aimed to understand the factors influencing women to adopt and sustain entrepreneurship in South Africa. The current gender salary disparity, high female unemployment rate, and improving yet high female entrepreneurial inactivity ratio and failure rate compared to male counterparts in South Africa are perplexing.
Compared to men, women are more likely to experience extended periods of unemployment, reducing their odds of finding employment. In this regard, 80,6% of women experienced long- term unemployment in Q4:2022, compared to 76,1% of males (StatsSA, 2023). Women have generally had a higher long-term unemployment rate than the general population. Given women’s maternal instincts, one would assume that women's active involvement in entrepreneurial endeavours would circumvent the high unemployment rate. However, women's entrepreneurial activity ratio has been seen to be below that of men, despite the efforts by the government to bridge the gap between the two genders. Women face a double-edged sword: high unemployment and low entrepreneurial activity ratios.
This study focused on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across various industries in South Africa. To validate the overarching objective of this study, “Factors which influence women to adopt and sustain entrepreneurship”, the study also looked at the factors influencing a small sample of men to adopt and sustain entrepreneurship in South Africa to understand if the factors are at all different. Both male and female business owner perceptions of factors influencing women to start and maintain businesses were also explored
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023
Keywords
Female entrepreneurship, Small and Medium Enterprises, Entrepreneurial adoption rate, Entrepreneurial activity rate, Sustainability, Success rate, Unemployment rate, Women-owned business, UCTD
Citation
Lesejane, Boitumelo . (2023). Factors influencing women to adopt and sustain entrepreneurship in South Africa [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/39996