E-Commerce: a Gateway to Mobilizing Female Entrepreneurs in the Digital Era
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International Journal of Advance Science and Technology Vol. 29 No. 10S, (2020), pp. 1-17 E-Commerce: A Gateway to Mobilizing Female Entrepreneurs in the Digital Era Nida Masroor *1, Muhammad Asim 2, Saman Hussain 3 *1,2 KUBS & Department of Commerce, University of Karachi, Pakistan. 2 Karachi University Business School (KUBS), University of Karachi, Pakistan. 3 Department of Commerce, University of Karachi, Pakistan. *[email protected] Abstract Female population is approx. 48.6% of total population of Pakistan (World Bank, 2018). The culture of Pakistan is attributed with insider role of females rather outside homes but expecting the economic growth with just 51% males (including children & old as well) is irrational. Despite the growth in population, contribution of females in corporate sector is yet limited. Although, a significant increase in working females is observed in Asia but reaping their full entrepreneurial potential is still a dream. However, the rapid growth of ecommerce has provided the females the opportunity to come forward. The study aims to unveil factors impeding female entrepreneurship, to highlight the contribution of ecommerce to economy and its benefits facilitating female entrepreneurship. This will help determine the scope of female entrepreneurs in e-commerce and will also enable policy makers to devise policies to accommodate females in the right sector and ensure removal of actual barriers. Keywords: Female entrepreneurship, Ecommerce, Economic development, Women empowerment, Socio-Cultural Environment 1. Introduction A woman plays multiple roles in her life, a mother, sister, wife and daughter. Every role entails stories of love, care, struggle, motivation, sacrifice and success. Females always play a pivoting role in the emotional, social and economic growth of a family. Females always have been of vital importance not only for emotional well-being of a family but also accounts as strength of her family. A healthy family system contributes to a better society and every sound and balanced personality depicts the efforts of a female in their development. The economic development of a family as well as the country is almost impossible without the contribution of females. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah said: “No struggle can ever succeed without women participation and no nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you”. The total population of the world consists of males, females, infants, young and old people etc. Out of the mentioned, the productive workforce comprises of young males and females that are expected to have major contribution in economic development of any country. Approximately half of the world population i.e. 49.6% of total consists of women and in some countries like Thailand, Spain and Sri Lanka, female population is comparatively a greater proportion (World Bank, 2018). However, in most countries especially in East, they are non- productive and contribute little towards GDP and GNP. In agricultural sector, of course, the women contribute something through working in the field and a little proportion through working in industry and offices (FAO, 2015) (Boserup, Kanji, Tan, & Toulmin, 2007). Still, a great proportion remains unproductive. There is no doubt that females are physically weak in comparison to males and have limited capacity of doing tasks requiring physical strength. Women are not only structurally different ISSN: 2005-4238 IJAST 1 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Advance Science and Technology Vol. 29 No. 10S, (2020), pp. 1-17 from men but whether west or east, they have to cater for certain specific responsibilities including marriage responsibilities, up-bringing of her children and keeping her home intact. In eastern cultures, these responsibilities are multiplied specially the housewives hardly get time for activities like jobs or business. Although in west, women are comparatively given freedom in choosing field of education and career. However, even in west, a woman faces difficulties in balancing her personal and professional life. The imbalance in management of both domains of life of a female may lead to a number of societal issues including neglected children, broken families, work stress etc. Poverty, unemployment and Inflation have always been the major issues of developing and underdeveloped nations. The reasons may include instable political and regulatory environment that ultimately results in economic instability and dependence on foreign assistance. For the economic growth of the country, female participation is inevitable and excluding them results in the loss of a major part of total workforce. This is the reason that throughout the world, working women are facilitated through special provisions in industrial laws so as to encourage their participation in economic activities. The need of the hour is to develop sustainable business environment to ensure economic growth. Different Strategies have been adopted to cope up with the problem. The struggle for SME growth has gained momentum during the last decades. The transformation of sole proprietorship to entrepreneurship and introduction of digital means in business (IT and e-commerce) are some of the strategic moves to accelerate SME growth. The contribution of females to the corporate sector in form of employees or entrepreneurs is inevitable in the current era. Although being an employee assumes less risk but workplace exploitation, harassment, gender biasness and lack of career growth ultimately compel the females to pursue for their own setup. Moreover, majority of the females from Asian and Islamic countries are more risk takers that is an important entrepreneurial trait. This might be due to the fact that in such societies, mostly the fulfillment of basic needs is still the responsibility of the males whereas females just play a supportive role to enhance the standard of living thus giving the females enough peace of mind to assume risk. 1.1. Objectives of the Study • The study aims to fulfill the following objectives: • To signify the role of females in the economic development. • To evaluate the level of motivation in females towards entrepreneurship • To highlight the barriers restricting growth of female entrepreneurship • To highlight the benefits of IT industry & ecommerce for less developed countries • To check out the suitability of e-business for females in Pakistan 1.2. Significance of the Study The study will be helpful in identifying the impediments in the growth of female entrepreneurship. The study is of greater significance for developing as well as eastern and Islamic countries where a large proportion of females is economically non-productive due to socio-cultural traits. It will also be beneficial for developing and underdeveloped nations where the population growth rate is more than its economic growth rate. The study will help devising policies to bridge up the gap by converting the idle workforce into productive one. Women empowerment is the important topic of discussion these days. Apart from all government favorable policies, significant impact on women entrepreneurship is not yet achieved. The study will also help understand the reasons behind the limited growth of women entrepreneurship. Although the study is conducted in the country of Pakistan but it will be helpful for other underdeveloped or developing nations. Analyzing the barriers will help in dealing with them effectively. ISSN: 2005-4238 IJAST 2 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Advance Science and Technology Vol. 29 No. 10S, (2020), pp. 1-17 2. Literature Review The literature review will help revealing the facts and figures supportive to the research. The following discussion comprises of the barriers to female entrepreneurship, the benefits of ecommerce along with its potential to support female entrepreneurship and the empirical evidences from Pakistan. 2.1. Barriers to Women Entrepreneurship Success is rewarded to those who work hard and struggle against threats converting them into opportunities. Despite the vibrant stories of success, there also exists a dark side. Like any other struggle, there also exist many barriers and hurdles that need to be dealt with. Pakistan is an eastern and Islamic country. The general societal approach is family oriented and according to majority perception, females are supposed to stay at homes to look after their family. To deal with the hurdles and different mindsets, it needs a lot of courage. The females of countries like Pakistan fight multiple battles simultaneously, inside or outside their homes and above all with themselves as well. The basic problem lies with their physical strength. Eventually, females have to sacrifice their professional career either due to marital or post marital problems. The occurrence of career sacrifice is more in private sector where they are unable to get desired leaves/ relaxation in times of need. Other than their own physical weaknesses i.e. their limited tendency to do work and their ability to deal with the work stress, some of the barriers are mentioned in Figure 1, that are faced by women if they have decided to get into the career. Family oriented approach has always been the beauty and the most positive trait of Asian countries. In Asian countries, it is considered as the primary responsibility of the females to look after the personality development of her kids. Females are double burdened if they opt to take financial responsibility as well. They