Women entrepreneurs in India, represent a dynamic group of women who have broken away from the tradition track and are exploring new vistas and of economic participation. Women face a variety of traditional views and perception of clients, demands at home and other family oppositions leading to lack of support. Great many of them have chosen the entrepreneur's world because of a compelling urge to do something positive. They form the pacesetters for women in their quest for economic independence. Women's entrepreneurship needs to be studied separately for two main reasons. The first reason is that women's entrepreneurship has been recognized during the last decade as an important untapped source of economic growth. Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and by being different also provide society with different solutions to management, organisation and business problems as well as to the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities.The industries (primarily retail, education and other service industries) chosen by women are often perceived as being less important to economic development and growth than high-technology and manufacturing. Furthermore, mainstream research, policies and programmes tend to be “men streamed” and too often do not take into account the specific needs of women entrepreneurs and would-be women entrepreneurs. As a consequence, equal opportunity between men and women from the perspective of entrepreneurship is still not a reality.

This conference proceedings explores the phenomenon of women entrepreneurs in small and medium entreprises, examining such issues as governmental support, networks, doing business overseas, starting businesses, and financing.

In the current era of globalisation, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are recognised as major players in innovation and job creation. Furthermore, entrepreneurship is no longer a male preserve: although few women can be found at the head of

This conference proceedings shows how women-owned SMEs can seize the opportunities offered by globalisation, ICTs, changes in firm organisation, the increasing importance of the service sector, and other current developments.

Covers the background information to the ILO-African Development Bank country-level studies on the subject and presents the findings and recommendations resulting from the application of the analytical integrated framework in the three countries.

"The growth experiences of women-owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the context of a developing economy are examined through the lens of pragmatism. This approach views a businesswoman{u2019}s {u2018}belief{u2019}, {u2018}habit{u2019} and {u2018}doubt{u2019} as critical for researching gender related issues in entrepreneurship. This study explains the growth aspects of women-owned manufacturing and services SMEs of Bangladesh with the aim of addressing two neglected research issues. One is the scarcity of studies on growth oriented women entrepreneurs in developing countries. The other is the lack of focus on very successful high-growth women-owned firms in the context of a strong male-dominated economy. This study adopts a framework developed out of the Diana International Project to evaluate the factors influencing the growth of these successful, growing, Bangladeshi women-owned businesses. In order to evaluate the growth process itself, this framework was then modified with growth resources and actions as explained by Edith Penrose in her 1959 seminal book The Theory of Growth of the Firm. This allows for the investigation of the effects of managerial and entrepreneurial abilities in growth, and the identification of how firms achieve growth. A multiple-case design is adopted, covering sixteen successful growth-oriented firms in the manufacturing and services sector. SMEs were studied as the basis for firm growth from initial venture creation, while the sector concentration on manufacturing and services reflects the urban nature of the study in examining firms that exist in the capital city of Dhaka. Data from in-depth interviews and supporting documents were used for the case studies and integrated with the theoretical framework. Themes were categorised and patterns compared against the framework. The results of this research suggest that SME growth is a process which is gradual and iterative, comprising a series of growth strategies and approaches. The framework identifies interactive connection between different growth variables and highlights how industry sector and the national context of a growing economy facilitate growth of women-owned SMEs. The case study based research seeks to advance scholarship in relation to women{u2019}s entrepreneurship globally and contribute to the understanding of growth oriented women{u2019}s entrepreneurship. Building upon existing knowledge, this research endeavours to generate new insights and advance theoretical discourse by providing richness and subtlety to the knowledge of growth process and opening up new avenues for future research." -- Abstract.

The African Development Bank's (AfDB) Addis Ababa Forum in June 2003 focused on the role of women entrepreneurs in private sector development, poverty reduction, and sustainable growth and development. It provided an opportunity for the AfDB and the International Labour Office (ILO) to join forces using their complementary expertise in support of women-owned businesses in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zambia. This report is based on the country assessment for Kenya, where the ILO has been researching and supporting women's entrepreneurship. Examining such issues as the economic context, micro-finance.

Women's entrepreneurship research and the understanding of factors influencing the growth of women-owned business advanced significantly over the last decade. Yet, challenges remain. Women Entrepreneurs and the Global Environment for Growth provides wide-ranging insights on the challenges women entrepreneurs face growing their businesses and how these may be addressed. This volume is rooted in research and considers growth challenges both contextually and firm specific, provoking current thought and enriching the current literature on gender and entrepreneurship. Part one highlights how contextual factors, and especially social and familial settings of entrepreneurs, have a differential impact on men and women. Part two examines strategies, constraints and enablers of growth and performance. The authors aptly demonstrate that a well-focused gender lens is necessary to better explain the phenomenon of women's entrepreneurship. Extending previous studies about women's entrepreneurship, this volume is unique in its application of research from the Diana Project, a path breaking initiative dating from 1999 to study female entrepreneurial success. Contributions from an international cast of authors make this a comprehensive and broadly appealing reference work.

The African Development Bank's (AfDB) Addis Ababa Forum in June 2003 focused on the role of women entrepreneurs in private sector development, poverty reduction, and sustainable growth and development. It provided an opportunity for the AfDB and the International Labour Office (ILO) to join forces using their complementary expertise in support of women-owned businesses in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zambia. This report is based on the country assessment for Tanzania, where the ILO has been researching and supporting women's entrepreneurship. Examining such issues as the economic context, micro-fina.

Women’s entrepreneurship is vital for economic and social development, yet female entrepreneurs worldwide are consistently found to have weaker sales and employment growth, fewer jobs, and lower profitability. This book was written to address this reality, and focuses on the high-growth potential of women entrepreneurs.