Entrepreneurship is the engine of economic growth, but it can only really take off when the number of women increases.
“If you want to change the world, help women,” said Nelson Mandela. Entrepreneurs are the engine of economic growth that can fuel post-pandemic recovery. However, while women are just as creative and innovative as men, far fewer women are entrepreneurs.
The average percentage of female business owners fluctuates around 25%, while the average percentage of female sole proprietorships is less than 35%. Globally, 16 million more women than men live in poverty due to unequal access to and control over economic resources. As the world becomes more digital, a level playing field could reduce poverty rates.
When nearly every country imposed some form of lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, female small entrepreneurs were disproportionately affected. However, the pandemic has forced businesses to adopt technology and move online. Digital tools have replaced physical interactions and transactions, and information and communication technology (ICT) has been recognized as an essential tool for promoting women’s empowerment in emerging economies.
ICT enables women micro-entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses, and if they are already in business, reach out more to their customers, become more efficient, and build their businesses in ways they could not before. can do. As a result, women’s social status and quality of life can be improved. But not everyone benefits equally.
Globally, it is estimated that only 57% of women will be using the internet by 2020, compared to 62% of men. While the digital gender gap is closing in all regions, women are still digitally marginalized in many of the world’s poorest countries, where online access can have the strongest impact.
Factors related to this digital divide include age, disability, gender, illiteracy, income level and the urban-rural division of economic activity. Despite efforts by policy makers and NGOs to promote e-commerce adoption during the pandemic, women micro-entrepreneurs facing social and structural barriers have not been able to participate.
To facilitate e-commerce adoption, policymakers can turn to research on the role of popular belief systems in technology adoption.
Different popular beliefs give rise to different attitudes towards new technologies, and these different attitudes have different impacts on women micro-entrepreneurs’ perceptions and responses to ICT use. Recent research indicates that growth-minded female micro-entrepreneurs are more likely to perceive technology as easy to use and useful, and are therefore more likely to adopt e-commerce for their business. It has been.
Cultivating a growth mindset has important implications for entrepreneurship and could be a promising channel for facilitating more e-commerce.
Addressing the gender gap in entrepreneurship is essential to foster innovation, boost competitiveness, boost productivity and create jobs. All of these will help achieve zero global poverty.
(This article is not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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