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UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
CULTURE AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A CASE STUDY OF
NABDAM DISTRICT
BY:
GOLDA ANAMBANE
(10550860)
THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL MARKETING DEGREE
JUNE, 2017
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DECLARATION
I do hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own research and has not been presented by anyone for any academic award in this or any other university. All references used in the work have been fully acknowledged.
I bear sole responsibility for any shortcomings.
......
GOLDA ANAMBANE DATE
(10550860)
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CERTIFICATION
We do hereby certify that this thesis was supervised in accordance with procedures laid down by the University of Ghana.
…………………………………......
DR. KWAME ADOM DATE
(SUPERVISOR)
……………………………….. ……………………
DR. SAMUEL C. K. BUAME DATE
(CO-SUPERVISOR)
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DEDICATION
This work is in loving memory of my FATHER, Mr. Moses (Muvis) Awimbire
Anambane. I could not become the mathematician you wished I be: but certainly, I have become a strong woman. Thoughts of whom you craved I become, keeps me striving.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my profound gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Kwame Adom. Thank you for your timeless dedication, guidance, motivation, corrections, and insightful suggestions throughout the supervision of this thesis. Further, I am thankful to my co-supervisor
Dr. Samuel C. K. Buame. Dr., I immensely appreciate your support, time, advice and motivation which kept me through the period of undertaking this work. Also, I am grateful to you Dr. Prince Kodua and Dr. Mark Boadu, for your support and advice.
Great acknowledgement again goes to all the women entrepreneurs in the Nabdam
District, especially those that were included in this study: thanks for your insights and may God bless the work of your hands. Moreover, recognition goes to Madam Beatrice
Azure, as a single mother, you gave me good education despite the challenges: I appreciate you. A big thanks once more goes to Madam Salomey Adofoli (departmental secretary), Mrs. Victoria Mann (PhD student), and all lecturers of the Marketing and
Entrepreneurship Department for your assistance in countless ways. Nonetheless, appreciation goes to my friends: Prince Olani Olabode Ola Norbert, Francisca Duah-
Agyeman and Melony Ankamafio, with whom I have shared ideas. Most importantly,
I am grateful to Gifty Akafabli Anambane, without whom, getting an Mphil at this stage of my life would have been impossible: I say “THANK YOU.”
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Content Page
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA ...... i
DECLARATION ...... ii
CERTIFICATION ...... iii
DEDICATION ...... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...... v
LIST OF TABLES ...... xi
LIST OF FIGURES ...... xii
ABSTRACT ...... xiii
CHAPTER ONE ...... 1
INTRODUCTION ...... 1
1.0 Introduction ...... 1
1.1 Research Background ...... 1
1.2 Research Problem ...... 4
1.3 Research Purpose ...... 6
1.4 Research Objectives ...... 6
1.5 Significance of the Study ...... 6
1.6 Chapter Outline ...... 7
1.7 Chapter Summary ...... 8
CHAPTER TWO ...... 9
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A LITERATURE
REVIEW ...... 9
2.0 Introduction ...... 9
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2.1 The Concept and Definitions of Entrepreneurship ...... 9
2.2 Contributions of Entrepreneurship to Society: A Global Perspective ...... 12
2.3 Women Entrepreneurship Explained ...... 14
2.4 Assessing Women Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa...... 17
2.5 Holistic Evaluation of the Motivations of Women Entrepreneurs...... 18
2.6 Gender Variations in Entrepreneurship ...... 20
2.7 Nature of Women Owned Enterprises ...... 22
2.8 Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs ...... 24
2.9 Explaining Culture ...... 27
2.10 Contrasting the Dimensions of Culture...... 30
2.10.1 Geert Hofstede’s Dimensions of National Culture ...... 31
2.10.2 Ronald Inglehart’s Dimensions of Culture...... 34
2.11 Explaining Culture and Entrepreneurship ...... 35
2.12 The Stereotype Threat Theory ...... 38
2.3 Chapter Summary ...... 41
CHAPTER THREE ...... 42
CONTEXT OF THE STUDY ...... 42
3.0 Introduction ...... 42
3.1 Section One: Overview of the Nabdam District ...... 42
3.1.1 Nature of the Nabdam District ...... 42
3.1.2 Population Size, Structure and Composition...... 43
3.1.3 Economic Activity Status ...... 44
3.1.4 Culture of the Nabdams...... 45
3.2 Overview of Women Entrepreneurship in the Study Area ...... 47
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3.2.1 Synopsis of Women’s Labour Force Participation in Ghana ...... 47
3.2.2 Women Entrepreneurship in Ghana ...... 47
3.2.3 Women Entrepreneurship in the Nabdam District ...... 49
3.2.4 Programmes Designed to Increase Women’s Entrepreneurship in Ghana ..... 50
3.3 Chapter Summary ...... 51
CHAPTER FOUR ...... 52
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...... 52
4.0 Introduction ...... 52
4.1 Philosophical Approach ...... 52
4.2 Research Design...... 54
4.3 Research Approach ...... 55
4.3.1 Qualitative Approach ...... 55
4.3.2 Quantitative Approach ...... 56
4.4 Sources and Types of Data ...... 57
4.5 Data Collection Methods ...... 58
4.6 Data Collection Procedure ...... 59
4.7 Study Population ...... 60
4.8 Sample Size ...... 60
4.9 Sampling Technique ...... 61
4.10 Data Analysis ...... 62
4.11 Data Reliability and Validity ...... 62
4.12 Ethical Considerations ...... 63
4.13 Limitations of the Study...... 63
4.14 Chapter Summary ...... 64
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CHAPTER FIVE ...... 65
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ...... 65
5.0 Introduction ...... 65
5.1 Data Analysis ...... 65
5.1.1 Profile of Respondents ...... 65
5.1.2 Understanding Culture: The Community’s Perspective...... 68
5.1.3 Motives of Women Entrepreneurs in the Nabdam District ...... 74
5.1.4 Evaluating Gender Stereotypes and Women Entrepreneurship ...... 79
5.1.5 Cultural Practices and Women Entrepreneurship ...... 80
5.1.6 Analysing the Contributions of Women Entrepreneurs to Society ...... 86
5.1.7 Women Entrepreneurs Benefit too ...... 89
5.2 Discussion of Findings ...... 91
5.2.1 Culture Acts as a ‘Push’ Motivational Factor to Women Entrepreneurship ... 91
5.2.2 Culture as a Determinant of the Size and Sector of Business of Women
Entrepreneurs ...... 93
5.2.3 Culture as a Limitation to Women Entrepreneurs’ Growth and Expansion ... 94
5.2.4 Contributions of Women Entrepreneurs to Society Mainly Focus on Human
Development ...... 96
5.2.5 Spousal Support is Necessary for Women Entrepreneurs ...... 97
5.3.6 Entrepreneurship is Perceived as a Preserve for the Uneducated in the District
...... 98
5.4.7 Majority Women Entrepreneurs are Ignorant of Business Registration/
Formalization ...... 98
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5.4.8 Women Entrepreneurship Have the Capacity of Reducing Rural-Urban
Migration ...... 99
5.3 Summary of Chapter ...... 99
CHAPTER SIX ...... 100
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSISON & RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 100
6.0 Introduction ...... 100
6.1 Summary of the Study ...... 100
6.2 Conclusion of the Study ...... 101
6.3 Recommendations ...... 103
6.4 Future Research Directions ...... 104
6.5 Chapter Summary ...... 105
REFERENCES ...... 106
APPENDIX I: INTERVIEW GUIDE ...... 140
APPENDIX II: CROSS CASE ANALYSIS TABLE ...... 143
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.9.1: Definitions of culture ...... 29
Table 3.1.3.1 Self-employed population 15 years and older by employment status and sex ...... 45
Table 5.1.1.1: Profile of respondents ...... 66
Table 5.1.2.1 Cultural limitations of women ...... 70
5.1.3.1 Motivations for business creation ...... 74
5.1.5.1: Cultural practices that promote or limit women entrepreneurship ...... 81
Table 5.1.6.1 Contributions of women entrepreneurship ...... 86
Table 5.1.7.1 Benefits Gained from Entrepreneurship ...... 89
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1: Map of the Nabdam District ...... 43
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to explore the role of culture in shaping the entrepreneurial behaviour of women. It is believed that the disparities in the levels of entrepreneurship across countries may be caused by differences in culture. However, it appears women entrepreneurship is more responsive to cultural norms and values than male entrepreneurship. In Sub-Saharan Africa especially, most countries have strong cultural practices that traditionally impose restrictions on women and their entrepreneurial behaviour and also create additional barriers for women that make it more difficult for them to start or grow business enterprises. Yet, most existing studies on culture and women entrepreneurship focus on the extent to which national cultural values affect women entrepreneurship by employing quantitative methods, with little probing into “the how”: to give a better understanding of the phenomenon. This study starts to fill this gap by employing a qualitative research approach with the case study design, using face-to-face in-depth interview of 20 women entrepreneurs. The key finding of the study is that culture acts as a ‘push’ motivational factor of women entrepreneurship and largely limit the growth and expansion of women-owned enterprises. This therefore calls for programmes that will stimulate the growth and development of women-owned enterprises, factoring in the predominant cultural issues affecting women entrepreneurs in this area. This study has significant value and it is original since it is the first known study that looks at culture and women entrepreneurship in the Nabdam district (Ghana). The study has unearthed some critical ideas as to how certain cultural practices are shaping entrepreneurial orientation of women in the Nabdam District.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
This chapter covers the introductory issues in relation to the research phenomenon. It contains the research background, research problem, research purpose, research objectives, research questions, significance of the study, and the chapter outline of the study.
1.1 Research Background
Huggins and Thompson, (2014) posit that the nexus between culture and development is mediated by entrepreneurship. Several studies indicate the culture of a group of people plays a vital role in their entrepreneurial behaviour (Aramand, 2012; Petridou &
Glaveli, 2008; Welter, 2011; Wennberg, Pathak & Autio, 2013). Berger (1991) emphasizes that culture serves as the conductor, while the entrepreneur, the catalyst to entrepreneurship. In light of this, Huggins & Thompson (2014), strongly attribute the disparities in levels of entrepreneurship among localities to community culture. This is because entrepreneurship occurs in a society and hence the norms, believes, values, among others of the people affect it.
However, one of the difficulties in studying the role of culture in relation to entrepreneurial activity is the lack of a precise and commonly understood definition of culture (McGrath, MacMillan, Yang & Tsai, 1992) as several authors suggest different definitions and views. According to Woodside, Bernal and Coduras, (2016), culture represents a complex whole of attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviour. Their definition propose attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviour as the elements of culture. An in-depth
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study by Hofstede (1980; 1984; 2001) propounds six dimensions of national culture based on value systems which are labelled: individualism versus collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity, long-term versus short- term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint. Additionally, it appears women entrepreneurship is more responsive to cultural norms and values than that of men
(Baughn, Chua & Neupert, 2006; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015; Langowitz
& Minitti, 2007). All over the world, women exhibit similar features in terms of how institutional arrangements define their position in society in which culture, class, race, among several others, shape their roles (Della-Giusta & Phillips, 2006).
Besides, entrepreneurship, just like culture, has varying definitions. According to
Zacharis, Bygrave and Shepherd (2000), entrepreneurship refers to any effort to create a new business enterprise or to expand a current one by an individual, a team of individuals, or an established business. Therefore, the term “Women Entrepreneur” refers to women who accept challenging roles to meet their personal needs and become economically self-sufficient through enterprise creation (Manjunatha, 2013). Women entrepreneurs have been identified as unexploited resource for economic growth and development (Minniti & Naudé, 2010; Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, 2012). It is therefore not surprising that there is an increasing interest in women entrepreneurship: both in research and in practice (Denanyoh, Adjei & Owusu,
2013; Singh & Bewal, 2008; Sullivan & Meek, 2012). Women entrepreneurship has been found capable of providing jobs for more women and consequently contributing to gender equality, economic stability and economic development (Allen, Elam,
Langowitz & Dean, 2008; Aramand, 2012; Singh & Bewal, 2008) which is necessary for national development.
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In 2012, a Forbes report admonished government of various countries to focus on gaining foreign investment for women entrepreneurs who are key drivers for economic growth rather than concentrating on obtaining foreign aid (Isaac, 2012). This points out the significant contributions of women entrepreneurs in poverty alleviation and development (Adom, 2015; Buame, Asempa & Acheampong, 2013; Roy, 2010; Signh
& Bewal, 2008). For instance, Dzisi (2008) postulates that the entrepreneurial activities of Ghanaian women have contributed substantially to the economic growth of Ghana in terms of innovation, job creation, and reduction in poverty and unemployment
(see, Adom, 2015).
Globally, more than two hundred and twenty-four (224) million women are estimated to be engaged in entrepreneurial activities (GEM, 2012). However, across countries and regions, women’s engagement in entrepreneurial activity differ. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest level of female Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) with about 27% of the female population engaging in entrepreneurship. Latin America/Caribbean economies display fairly high levels of female TEA (15%). The Middle East and North
America (MENA) and Mid-Asia region have the lowest female TEA levels among women with only 4% of women engaging in entrepreneurship. Although Sub-Saharan
Africa reports the highest level of female TEA, the region records the highest level of business discontinuance among women entrepreneurs (GEM, 2012). Due to the significant growth in women entrepreneurship, some scholars argue that their contributions to economic growth is higher than that of their male counterparts (Minniti,
2009). Irrespective of this growth, more males still own enterprises than females
(Bosma & Levie, 2010; Vossenberg, 2013; Rubio-Banón & Esteban-Lloret, 2016) as it
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is estimated that men make up 52% of all entrepreneurial activity, compared to 48% of women worldwide (GEM, 2012). However, at the national levels, some countries have more women than men engaging in entrepreneurship. In Ghana for instance, 55% of entrepreneurial activities are done by women (GEM, 2012). The underlying factors for such an outstanding difference in women entrepreneurship in Ghana is worth exploring.
Nonetheless, entrepreneurship is considered a necessary tool for rural development and growth (OECD, 2006; Paul & Sharma, 2013; Saxena, 2012). In developing nations, rural entrepreneurship accounts for about 25% of full-time rural employment and 40% of rural incomes (Nguyen & Fredrick, 2014). It is considered as a platform by which the relative hardship of women in rural areas could be lessened and also a means of using the untapped economic development potential of rural women (Anthopoulou,
2010; Driga, Lafuente & Vaillant, 2009). Majority of the rural poor are women.
Therefore if more people, especially rural women are encouraged and supported to engage in entrepreneurship, rural poverty could be reduced.
1.2 Research Problem
Also, although global statistics suggest that one-third of entrepreneurs are women, literature on entrepreneurship contains relatively few studies which are focused on women entrepreneurs as Bhatnagar, Bhardwaj & Gupta, (2013) and Brush, (2006) indicate. The few existing studies on women entrepreneurship primarily tend to focus on women’s contributions to financial growth and performance (Adom, 2015;
Mitchelmore, Rowley & Shiu, 2014), women’s motivations for entrepreneurship
(Orhan & Scott, 2001; Robinson, 2001), among others, with little done on a relevant and predominant issue such as culture. Also, generally, studies on culture and
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entrepreneurship do not consider gender differences (see Autio, Pathak & Wennber,
2013; George & Zahra, 2002; Huggins & Thompson, 2014; Kreiser, Marino, Dickson
& Weaver, 2010) though research has established that male and female entrepreneurs differ in terms of their motivations, access to finance, barriers, and others (OECD, 2013;
Perez-Perez & Aviles-Hernandez, 2016; Sabarwal & Terrell, 2008). Therefore culture could have differing effects. The relatively few studies focusing on women entrepreneurship and culture are either conceptual papers (see Przybyszewska, 2014;
Tongel, 2016) or rely on quantitative methods (see; Guiso & Rustichini, 2011; Rubio-
Banón & Esteban-Lloret, 2015). This does not really show “how” culture affects women entrepreneurs from an empirical perspective.
Further, according to Nguyen & Frederick (2014), women entrepreneurship in rural regions is generally under-researched. In Africa especially, although women constitute majority of the total population, the entrepreneurial world of rural African women is still a very limited one (Islam, 2009). Irrespective of various calls for attention to be paid to the economic activities of rural women, little has been done; both in research and in practice. Though the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), admonishes member countries to take account of the significant roles rural women play in the economic survival of their families (CEDAW article 14), little has been done in that regards. In 2014, during the 59th session of CEDAW in
Geneva, Ghana’s representatives were probed as to why there is a lack of recognition and value placed on women’s economic activities in rural Ghana (Vibes Ghana, 2014).
This indicates that Ghana as a country pays little attention to rural women entrepreneurship. This study therefore seeks to fill these gaps by employing a
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qualitative research approach to explore the role of culture in women entrepreneurship in the context of a rural area.
1.3 Research Purpose
The primary purpose of this study is to explore the role of culture in women entrepreneurship in the Nabdam district: found in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
1.4 Research Objectives
The objectives of this study are:
1. To determine the role of culture in the enterprise start-up intentions/behaviour
of women.
2. To identify the cultural practices that have effects on women entrepreneurship.
3. To understand the contributions of women entrepreneurship to society
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study contributes to existing literature as it seeks to fill the research gap of culture and women entrepreneurship especially in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa. For policy makers, this study will turn the attention on the essence of an integrated approach for promoting female entrepreneurship that does not relegate the predominant cultural structures and gender unevenness due to culture. This could lead to a reduction in female rural-urban migration in the study area. Also, to the women entrepreneurs, this study will enable them understand the sources of some of the challenges they face by providing insights on how cultural factors facilitate/hinder the growth of their enterprises.
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1.6 Chapter Outline
This study is presented in six main chapters as follows:
Chapter one entails the general introductory issues of the research topic which consists of an introduction, background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, as well as the chapter disposition.
This is followed by chapter two which reviews existing literature on the concept and definitions of entrepreneurship, contributions of entrepreneurship to society, women entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa, gender variations in entrepreneurship, nature of women owned enterprises, challenges facing women entrepreneurs, explaining culture, contrasting the dimensions of culture, as well as explaining culture and entrepreneurship. The chapter also highlights the Stereotype
Threat Theory as the theoretical foundation of the study to help explain the research phenomenon.
In chapter three, the study examines the context of the study. The chapter also covers an overview of entrepreneurship in Ghana and the Nabdam district as well as gives an overview of the Nabdam district.
Chapter four provides detailed information on the methodology used for the study. That is, the various methods that were applied in acquiring data for the study in order to find answers to the research questions. It discusses the philosophical assumptions for the study, the research design, sources of data, data collection instruments, among others.
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The data analysis and discussion of findings is captured in chapter five. A thorough analysis is done as well as the appropriate interpretations given.
Chapter six comprises summary, conclusion and recommendation of the study. This determines whether the research questions were answered and the objectives of the study fulfilled. Also, recommendations for future research is presented in this chapter.
1.7 Chapter Summary
This chapter introduced the study. It began by giving a general background to the study and also presented the research problem, research objectives, research purpose and a brief layout of the study.
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CHAPTER TWO
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter entails a review of extant literature on the broad concepts of women entrepreneurship and culture in relation to the objectives of the study. The meaning of entrepreneurship and culture is explored through a review of various definitions and conceptualizations presented by scholars. The chapter also reviews literature along the following thematic areas: the role of entrepreneurship in economic development, the concept of women/female entrepreneurship, gender variations in entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa, nature of women-owned enterprises, challenges of women entrepreneurs, dimensions of culture, as well as culture and entrepreneurship. The chapter also examines the stereotype threat theory and how it relates to the nature and current state of women entrepreneurship especially within the context of the study.
2.1 The Concept and Definitions of Entrepreneurship
Sexton (1988) questions if the field of entrepreneurship is growing or just getting bigger. This concern is iterated by Gartner (1990) as he probes if entrepreneurship is just a buzzword, or has particular characteristics that can be identified and studied. The relevance of these questions today cannot be overlooked since there is no single universally accepted definition of entrepreneurship in literature over the years
(Adomako, Danso & Ampadu, 2015; Bruyat & Julien, 2001; Bula, 2012; Carland,
Carland & Carland, 2002; Holzl, 2010). One reason for the lack of a universally accepted definition of entrepreneurship is its multidisciplinary nature. Researchers from
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different academic fields such as economics, psychology, and sociology have used different philosophical assumptions in analysing and creating meaning for the field
(Audretsch, Boente & Tamvada, 2007; Low & Macmillan, 1988; Penedar, 2009; Shane
& Venkataraman, 2000).
The definition and meaning of entrepreneurship are disparate as per the views of Orhan
& Scott (2001). According to Vesper (1982), entrepreneurship refers to the creation of new independent businesses. Carton, Hofer and Meeks (1998), present similar view of entrepreneurship by defining it as the means by which new organizations are created with their consequential job and wealth creation. To Zacharis et al. (2000), entrepreneurship is the attempt to create a new business enterprise or to expand an existing business by an individual, a team of individuals, or an established business.
Huggins and Thompson (2014) further include the social embededness of entrepreneurship by defining it as the creation of new organizations which occurs as a context-dependent, social and economic process. This definition points that context and environment are crucial and serve as the bedrock to entrepreneurship.
However, to Reynolds (2005), entrepreneurship is the unearthing of opportunities and the ensuing creation of new economic activity, often through the construction of a new organization. Likewise, as per Onuoha (2007), entrepreneurship is the practice of beginning new organizations or invigorating mature organizations, normally in response to identified opportunities. It can also be considered as an act of starting, creating, building and expanding an enterprise or organization, building an entrepreneurial team and gathering other resources to exploit an opportunity in the market place for long-term gain (Van Aardt, Hewitt, Bendeman, Bezuidenhout & Van
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Rensburg, 2011). However, the concept of “opportunity” recognition as highlighted by the preceding definitions is vague and subjective. Therefore it is only business owners who can tell if they are entrepreneurs (if the creation of their enterprises is as a result of an opportunity recognition).
Additionally, some scholars view entrepreneurship as the ability to create something new (innovation). Schumpeter (1934), is one of the earliest scholars to propose the idea of innovation in entrepreneurship. In line with that, Morris and Sexton (1996) identify three underlying scopes of entrepreneurship: innovativeness, calculated risk-taking and pro-activeness. To emphasize these preceding opinions, Hisrich (2004), describes entrepreneurship as a process of creating something different with value by devoting the necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying financial, psychological and social risks and receiving the resulting rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction.
Hindle (2010) express similar thoughts by proposing that entrepreneurship is the process of evaluating, committing to and achieving under contextual constraints, the creation of new value from new knowledge for the benefit of defined stakeholders. The idea of innovation being entrepreneurship is however problematic. This is because it is challenging to define what exactly innovation constitutes. Even so, if innovation is the basis for entrepreneurship, then at what level of innovation must one’s enterprise achieve or reach to be qualified as entrepreneurial? It is in this light that Hanson (2009) queries what constitutes innovation.
In view of the foregoing discourse, the study adopts the definition by Zacharis et al.
(2000), as the meaning of entrepreneurship for the study. This is because it presents a broader perspective of what entrepreneurship is and allows all kinds of entrepreneurs
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(formal or informal, necessity-driven or opportunity driven) to be accorded the recognition as such. Hence, for this study, entrepreneurship refers to any attempt to create a new business enterprise or to expand an existing business by an individual, a team of individuals, or an established business (Zacharis et. al, 2000).
2.2 Contributions of Entrepreneurship to Society: A Global Perspective
Poverty is one critical issue affecting a large proportion of the world's population
(Bruton, Ketchen & Ireland, 2013). Coupled with high rate of unemployment, poverty is widespread in developing countries especially, which pose as a challenge to economic growth and development (Rodrik, 2014; Okah-Efogo & Timba, 2015).
However, one remedy to poverty is the growth of the private sector through entrepreneurship (Bruton, et al., 2013; Okah-Efogo & Timba, 2015). This is evident in the fact that most of the better performing economies in the world are achieved through vibrant entrepreneurial sectors (Abor & Quartey, 2010). Accordingly, there has been a dramatic increase in the acceptance and interest in entrepreneurship worldwide
(Heilman & Chen, 2003).
In recent years, entrepreneurship has gained increasing attention around the world, as it is closely linked with economic development and well-being of societies (Langevang
& Gough, 2012; Maden, 2015; Soriano & Peris-Ortiz, 2011). De Vita, Mari, and
Poggesi, (2014) indicate that entrepreneurship plays a leading role in economic development worldwide. Hence it is widely acclaimed that entrepreneurship is a platform for economic development and job creation (Audretsch & Fritsch, 2003;
Sriram & Mersha, 2010) and thus some authors suggest that a substantial causal relationship exists between entrepreneurship, economic growth and poverty reduction
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(Rupasingha & Goetz, 2013; Stephens & Partridge, 2011). Entrepreneurship is capable of eliminating all the vices connected with economic growth, social inequalities and unemployment (Singh & Bewal, 2008). It is also perceived as a source of economic development, innovation and growth (Rubio-Banon & Esteban-Lloret, 2016). It provides millions of job opportunities, increases national prosperity, and makes it possible for consumers to have alternative goods and services. Hence, it is seen as an important factor in the socio-economic growth and development of nations (Zahra,
1999).
Hereafter, many authors believe that in this contemporary times, the transformation and economic progression of world economies is highly dependent on entrepreneurship
(Boz & Ergeneli, 2014; Lee & Peterson, 2000; Soriano & Huarng, 2013). For this reason, the United Kingdom government in 2011, proposed a strategy that clearly identified entrepreneurship and enterprise development as the solution to the “twin economic aims”: growth and employment, which the country set to achieve (HM
Treasury, 2011). Huggins and Thompson (2014) however specify that though entrepreneurship is positively linked with economic growth (which is also linked to other factors), entrepreneurship unaided by other factors is unlikely to be adequate to resuscitate struggling economies.
Aside economic development, entrepreneurship contribute to the developmental level of societies (Cantzler & Leijon, 2007; Duman, Beduk, Koyluoglu & Ay, 2015) by way of improved standard of living and reduced poverty levels through the creation of employment (Rwigema & Venter, 2004). When people are employed, they are able to provide better food, better education, better healthcare, among others, for themselves
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and their families and this improves their standard of living. According Stephens and
Partridge (2011), the positive role of entrepreneurship in economic growth is better felt when a nation has a greater share of opportunity-driven entrepreneurs (highly creative and innovative individuals who identify and exploit opportunities) than necessity- driven entrepreneurs (individuals who are compelled to start businesses as a result of lack of work – Acs, 2007). They however add that, the most important thing is having more people engage in entrepreneurship by starting their own businesses rather than the distinction between necessity-driven versus opportunity- driven entrepreneurs. Also,
Delmar and Davidson (2000) present that higher rates of education result in higher levels of entrepreneurship in economies. Harper (1991) then recommends that countries that are less developed, should encourage entrepreneurship as an instrument to trigger economic growth.
2.3 Women Entrepreneurship Explained
Isaac (2012) emphasizes that if people/governments want to change societies for the better, then they should start with entrepreneurship for women. This points out the relevance and importance of women entrepreneurship to societies. It is therefore not surprising that there is an increasing interest in women entrepreneurship globally: both in research and in practice (Achtenhagen & Tillmar, 2013; Bernard & Victor, 2013;
Bjerke, 2013; Teoh & Chong, 2014). Reports indicate that female entrepreneurship is growing at a faster rate than male entrepreneurship (Kelley, Brush, Greene & Litovsky,
2013; Miniti & Naude, 2010). According to Manjunatha, (2013), the term “Women
Entrepreneur” refers to women who accept challenging roles to meet their personal needs and become economically self-sufficient through enterprise creation. Although male entrepreneurship is higher than female entrepreneurship currently, the significant
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role of women in entrepreneurship cannot be overemphasized (De Vita et al., 2014;
Rubio-Banon & Esteban-Lloret, 2016). Women entrepreneurs continue to make great contributions to world economies (Revell-Love & Revell-Love, 2016).
In the global setting, women entrepreneurship has become a key driving force for the economic development and wealth creation (Adom & Asare-Yeboah, 2016; Knorr,
2011) and have been identified as an important ‘untapped source’ for economic growth and development (Madichie & Gallant, 2012; Minniti & Naude, 2010; OECD, 2012).
The World Economic Forum (2012) also identifies women entrepreneurs as “the way forward” in terms of building strong economies. Isaac (2012, p1 ) iterates this by stating:
“forget aid, focus on foreign investment in women entrepreneurs as key drivers for growth and development”. These views suggest that the general wellbeing (economic, social, among others) of a nation depends on the work of its women and when more women work, societies grow. In support of this, Welsh, Memili and Kaciak, (2016), document that women entrepreneurs contribute to the economic well-being of countries by reducing poverty and increasing the overall level of family income, which leads to better education and health for their children. In developing countries, women entrepreneurs are deemed as “rising stars” and the “new instruments” for growth of economies (De Vita et al., 2014; Vossenberg, 2013). This is because they are taking leading roles in establishing and developing noteworthy enterprises that contribute significantly to poverty reduction and job creation (Buame et al., 2013; De Vita et al.,
2014).
Also, women entrepreneurship aids in achieving gender equality and has been noted as a means through which developing countries can boost economic growth (De Vita et
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al., 2014). Dzisi (2008), highlights that aside contributing to better economies, women entrepreneurs contribute positively to the social environment they find themselves. It is therefore in the right direction as Reynolds, Camp, Bygrave, Autio and Hay (2002), suggest that the greatest initiative any country can put in place to hasten its pace in entrepreneurship is to encourage more of its women to be entrepreneurial.
The United States Census Bureau (2008) predict that the percentage of women entrepreneurship will increase by fifty-five percent (55%) by the year 2025. Anna,
Chandler, Jansen and Mero, (2000) specify that female entrepreneurs usually aim at balancing home life with their business while male entrepreneurs usually have higher career expectations of amassing wealth. Again, women entrepreneurs are less likely to notice opportunities for entrepreneurship, are more limited by the fear of failure, and are less likely to have the intent of starting a business (Brush, De Bruin, Gatewood &
Henry, 2010). This explains why male entrepreneurs outnumber female entrepreneurs.
They also tend to be more risk averse and less innovative than their male counterparts
(Thomas & Mueller, 2000; Wagner, 2007) and this seem to limit the growth opportunities of their enterprises. Nonetheless, necessity driven entrepreneurship is predominant among women; especially those in poor countries, indicating the role of inequality and exclusion of women in entrepreneurship (Malach, Lerner & Schwartz,
2010). Extant literature presented above imply that women entrepreneurship has become a necessary tool for nations which wish to attain economic progress and prosperity.
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2.4 Assessing Women Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa
In Sub-Saharan Africa, women do most of the work ranging from agricultural activities to household chores (Jiggins, 1989). This portrays the hardworking nature of African women. Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are extending this hardworking nature into business creation in order to cater for their increasing need for cash (Jiggins, 1989).
Consequently, Sub-Saharan Africa is making remarkable progress in the arena of women entrepreneurship. The GEM (2015) indicates that half of the entrepreneurs in
Sub-Saharan Africa are women. The region has the highest level of female Total
Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) as compared to other regions of the world: with about
27% of its female population engaging in entrepreneurship (GEM, 2012). Irrespective of this progress, the region also records the highest level of business discontinuance among women entrepreneurs (GEM, 2012).
The GEM (2015) women’s report, holds that globally, ten countries (Ghana, Nigeria,
Uganda, Zambia, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and El- Salvador) have more women entrepreneurs than men entrepreneurs or have equal number of women entrepreneurs to men entrepreneurs. Four countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and Zambia) out of these ten are Sub-Saharan African countries, giving the impression that Sub-Saharan Africa is a leader in women entrepreneurship in terms of numbers.
Alas, despite the high numbers of women entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa, women entrepreneurs still face demoralising array of challenges which emanate from the socio-cultural, economic, political, technological and legal environment in which they find themselves (Amine & Staub, 2009). These place extra encumbrances on women who crave to become entrepreneurs or expand their businesses. Women entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa have a higher rate of operating businesses alone
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without employees and also a higher rate of operating unregistered businesses as compared to their male counterparts (Hallward-Driemeier, 2013). Nonetheless, the relevance and attention given to the contributions of female entrepreneurship towards economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa is of recent (Adom, 2015). Also, according to Madichie & Hinson (2014), women entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa show both similarities and differences in relation to what motivates them to start businesses as well as their concerns about the future of the business, despite variations in their level of education, family structure, and nature of business.
2.5 Holistic Evaluation of the Motivations of Women Entrepreneurs
Over the years, scholars state that individuals, groups or institutions engage in entrepreneurship as a result of the trigger of one factor or the other (see Minarcine &
Shaw, 2016; Stephan, Hart, Mickiewicz & Drews, 2015). However, the pull–push model has been widely used to explain the factors that stimulate entrepreneurship (Itani,
Sidani & Baalbaki, 2011; Jamali, 2009; Verheul, Stel & Thurik, 2006).
On one hand, pull factors to entrepreneurship emanate from fundamental expectations that entrepreneurship is beneficial, with non-economic motivates frequently being the most dominant factors, especially for women (Ulhaner & Thurik, 2010). Pull factors range from the need for self-accomplishment, to the desire to help others (Robinson,
2001; Verheul et al., 2006). Scholars in support of the ‘pull’ perspective consider entrepreneurship to be largely influenced by individual choice and other factors, where people willingly seek out greater freedom, trial and success (Baughn et al., 2006). In relation to women entrepreneurship, studies propose that due to family responsibilities which put more burden on women (Loscocco & Bird, 2012), they are possibly pulled
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into the entrepreneurship field in order to be able to attend to responsibilities associated with motherhood (Itani et al., 2011).
Theoretically, the ‘pull’ factors discourse for entrepreneurship is buttressed by the social approval/legitimation viewpoint (Freytag & Thurik, 2007), and the materialism/post-materialism view (Ulhaner & Thurik, 2010). The legitimation/social approval philosophy explains that people are pulled into entrepreneurship when the culture of the country they live in exhibits high legalization of and support for entrepreneurship, thereby increasing entrepreneurial events (Etzioni, 1987). However, the materialism/post-materialism squabble is based on the proposition that entrepreneurship is connected to the economic developmental levels in any country
(Baughn et al., 2006; Verheul et al., 2006). It suggests that the economic progress of a country’s citizens is positively connected to the value for non-material life-goals
(Inglehart, 1997). Post-materialism denotes the degree to which a society encourages its members to value life-goals which are non-material such as self-esteem, desire for meaningful and personal development, over material goals (Inglehart, 1997).
On the other hand, push factors force people into entrepreneurship due to a “conflict between one’s current and one’s desired state” (Ulhaner & Thurik, 2010: 3). They are usually related to negative circumstances which spring from low income, job dissatisfaction, strict working hours as well as lack of job opportunities (Robinson,
2001). By this argument, individuals consider entrepreneurship when there is a displeasure with organisational issues such as lack of flexibility (Jamali, 2009) or changes in the organization arising from restructuring that lessen the job security of mainstream employment (Hughes, 2003). Push factors also emanate from population
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issues, such as urbanisation rate, population growth, age structure and unemployment rates (Verheul et al., 2006), as well as cultural values and beliefs, and gender inequality
(Aidis, Welter, Smallbone & Isakova, 2007; Baughn et al., 2006).
According to Itani et al., (2011) and Jamali, (2009), considering organisational discrimination against women, push factors could play a role in directing their interest away from mainstream employment to entrepreneurship. Adom (2014) finds no/low levels of education as a push motivational factor to women entrepreneurship. Therefore,
Tambunan (2009) suggests that higher levels of education among women could lead to lower levels of women entrepreneurship. Moreover, Noorderhaven, Thurik, Wennekers
& Stel, (2004) suggest that in a predominantly non-entrepreneurial culture, a clatter of values may transpire between some people and the major cultural values, resulting to the rejection of mainstream employment for entrepreneurship. Again, research posit that the need for survival motivate women more than men in becoming entrepreneurs
(Adom, 2014; Lock & Smith, 2016). As a result, the informal sector of most countries especially developing countries are dominated by women (Adom, 2015; De Vita et al.,
2014).
2.6 Gender Variations in Entrepreneurship
All over the world, women’s participation in entrepreneurship is lower than that of men
(Hattab, 2012; Malach et al., 2010). Malach et al., (2010) submit that countries with smaller per capita income and countries where women have limited options to making a living tend to have higher percentages of women entrepreneurs. Statistics also indicate that, globally, one-third of entrepreneurs are women (Dela-Guista & Phillips, 2006).
They dominate traditional sectors such as services and trading, which are
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predominantly characterized by relatively fewer growth opportunities and tougher competition (Brush, 2006).
Additionally, studies on entrepreneurship from a gendered perspective disclose notable differences in the levels of participation, entrepreneurial orientations, motives and business opportunities of men and women in entrepreneurship (Perez-Perez & Aviles-
Hernandez, 2016; Quaye, Acheampong, & Asiedu, 2015). Globally, women and men differ in terms of access to resources, and this continues to affect the ability of women to start and grow businesses (The Gender Global Entrepreneurship and Development
Index, 2013). Studies in advanced economies identify unconditional performance gaps between men and women entrepreneurs (Sabarwal & Terrell, 2008; OECD, 2013).
Similarly, Justo, DeTienne and Sieger, (2015) find that women entrepreneurs exit from entrepreneurship more often and voluntarily than men. A study by Aterido, Beck and
Iacovone, (2013), reveal that, in Sub-Saharan Africa, women entrepreneurs make use of lesser financial services, earn less, and have less education and these constitute an unconditional gender gap. In contrast, Robb and Watson (2012), find no existing performance gaps between women and men entrepreneurs likewise, Bardasi, Blackden and Guzman, (2009) who studied gender gaps in performance in established businesses in several African countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, and Botswana.
However, the gendered assumptions regarding “female enterprise under-performance” have been criticised by Al- Dajani and Marlow, (2010) and Zolin, Stuetzer and Watson,
(2013). Marlow and McAdam (2013) also argue that the claim that women-owned enterprises do not perform well as compared to male-owned ones reflects a gendered prejudice within the entrepreneurial discourse where femininity is equated to under-
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performance. In their view, the “female under-performance” notion is invalid. Other studies also challenge the female underperformance assumption and reveal that women- owned businesses do not under-perform (Robb & Watson, 2012; Zolin et al., 2013).
Consequently, Carter, Anderson and Shaw, (2001) point out that gender has no impact on the success of entrepreneurs.
Nonetheless, literature advocate that female and male entrepreneurs react differently to the same environment as a result of the characteristics attributed to gender dissimilarities (Croson & Gneezy, 2009). This is in line with the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) Project (2013), which testify that cultural norms concerning the role of women in family and labour market are major confining factors for businesswomen. Culturally, women are perceived to be less capable than men and not deserving the same opportunities as men (Teoh & Chong, 2014). Hence, cultural practices create additional barriers for women that make it more difficult for them to start or grow business enterprises (Female Entrepreneurship Index, 2015; GEM, 2015).
Also, factors such as family constraints and gender differences strongly influence the decision of women to engage in entrepreneurship (De Vita et al., 2014). Social structure and cultural values affect women entrepreneurs and the extent to which they do, is country-specific (De Vita et al., 2014). In Africa, most countries have strong cultural practices that traditionally impose restrictions on women and their behaviour: hence their entrepreneurial behaviour (GEM, 2015).
2.7 Nature of Women Owned Enterprises
The study of the differences between female and male entrepreneurs has existed since the 1980s (see Hisrich & Brush, 1987). Research indicate that women and men-owned
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enterprises differ in terms of motivation for engaging in entrepreneurship, management style, choice of industry or business sector, among others (Huarng, Mas-Tur & Yu,
2012; Stevenson, 1990). However, Halkias, Nwajiuba, Harkiolakis and Caracatsanis,
(2011) assert that just a little or no significant differences exist between male and female entrepreneurs. Irrespective of the increasing interest and participation in women entrepreneurship, it appears women entrepreneurs still dominate less profitable sectors.
Carter and Marlow (2007) note that women-owned enterprises are concentrated in congested and low-value adding sectors (Hallward-Dremier, 2013), have the capacity of employing just few employees, earn less profits and have less market share.
Akehurst, Simarro and Mas‐Tur, (2012) point out that women operate in less value- adding and small business as a result of difficulty in gaining finance and lack of skills.
The employees of women-owned enterprises are usually unskilled relatives (Belwal,
Tamiru & Singh, 2012). Women-owned ventures usually have smaller start-up capital
(Coleman & Robb, 2012; Fairlie & Robb, 2009) and only a few are found in the formal sector as compared to men-owned enterprises (Brixiova & Kangoye, 2016). This iterates the findings of Hallward-Dremier (2013) and Adom (2015) that women owned enterprises dominate the informal sector.
Besides, women mostly operate retail and service businesses and there are only a few operating in sectors such as construction, wholesale, finance, insurance, and real estate
(Blake & Hanson, 2005). Also, it is evident that there are less women operating businesses in the technology sector (Wiederhold, 2014). Consequently, enterprises owned by women are characterized by lower revenues and profits (Kelley, et al., 2011;
Morris, Miyasaki & Watters, 2006). In terms of size, women own relatively smaller businesses as compared to those owned by men (Belwal et al., 2012; Hallward-Dremier,
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2013). Blake (2006) buttresses this finding by specifying that women-owned businesses are mostly small scale, have fewer employees, and have less access to capital. As such,
Sabarwal and Terrell (2008), observe that women usually own small sized businesses because they are capital constrained and also operate in sectors with small potential for growth. Therefore, the nature of women-owned businesses seem to have created a protected feminised niche where men could not intrude or control (Al-Dajani &
Marlow, 2013). Nonetheless, in relation to their male colleagues, female/women entrepreneurs are more likely to operate their businesses on part-time basis, more likely to use their homes as their business centres, less likely to be registered for the purpose of tax, and also less likely to own more than one business (Mason, Carter & Tagg,
2011).
2.8 Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs
In society, women seem to have a weak position and this has a strong negative effect on women entrepreneurship (Pettersson, 2012). United Nations Conference for Trade
(2001) finds that customs and cultural practices, coupled with legal imbalances in the legal structure are the root cause of the problems women entrepreneurs face. Women entrepreneurs face challenges that are different from their male counterparts (Ahl, 2006;
Mirchandani, 2005). These challenges include: inadequate access to capital/finance
(Asiedu, Kalonda-Kanyama, Ndikumana & Nti-Addae, 2013; Vossenberg, 2013;
World Bank, 2012), insufficient training and access to information (Belwal et al., 2012;
Chirwa, 2008), family and household responsibilities (Amine & Staub, 2009; Cesaroni
& Sentuti, 2014; Mordi, Simpson, Singh & Okafor, 2010; USAID, 2010), lack of support and recognition from society (Jamali, 2009; Singh, Mordi, Okafor & Simpson,
2011) cumbersome legal procedures (Jamali, 2009), difficulty finding a suitable
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location (Halkias et al., 2011) inadequate professional networks, motherhood (Brush,
De Bruni, & Welter, 2009) and culture (Aramand, 2012; FEI, 2015; GEM, 2015).
To begin with, Brush, Carter, Greene, Hart, & Gatewood, (2002), discover that female entrepreneurs have fewer opportunities to obtaining credit than male entrepreneurs.
This drives them to run traditional, home-based, and small businesses (Haan, 2004).
Contrary to this finding, Belwal et al. (2012), reveal that women have more opportunities to gain credit than men in Ethiopia. They indicate that women entrepreneurs have 14.9% chances of gaining access to credit as against 7.7% for male entrepreneurs. This results from the readiness of most micro-finance institutions to lend to women due to trust and also the realization of the importance of women entrepreneurship (Chirwa, 2008).
Roddin, Sidi, Yusof, Mohamed and Razzaq, (2011) indicate that one major challenge of women entrepreneurs is the conflict between work and family (work-family conflict) and this causes business failure among women. The Women entrepreneurs who face this challenge the most are those that operate home-based businesses and lack support from their spouses (Hashim, Ho-Abdullah, Raihanah, Yusof, Hamdan & Jamsari, 2012;
Schoff, 2012). Family/spousal support for women entrepreneurs is instrumental in the success of women entrepreneurs. It reduces financial burdens and emotional breakdowns among women (Mordi et al., 2010; Verheul et al., 2006) and hence enables them build and grow better businesses. To the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (2010), family support is a major factor that has an impact on women- owned ventures in terms financial support, network support, or unpaid human resource.
Zamberi (2011) therefore finds strong family ties to be influential in the success of
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women entrepreneurs. According to Casaroni and Sentuti (2014) the inability of women to properly balance their personal, family and professional life affects the success of their enterprises. Hence, Shelton (2006) notes that properly balancing the demands of both work and family continue to be challenge for female entrepreneurs and this worsens the work-family conflict which affect the well-being of these women in an undesirable manner.
Another strong factor that pose challenges to women entrepreneurs is culture
(Aramand, 2012; Mordi et al., 2010; Siringi, 2011). Itani et al., 2011 and Jennings and
McDougald (2007) maintain that women, particularly in developing countries, have more family and household responsibilities which affect women entrepreneurship.
These responsibilities are usually as a result of socio-cultural traditions and gender stereotypes (Zeidan & Bahrami, 2011). They often make most women wrongfully believe that they do not have the right opportunities and know-how to operate their own businesses due to the limiting nature of these socially constructed roles and responsibilities (Bruin, Gherardi & Poggio, 2004; Ellis, Coutura, Dione, Gillson, &
Manuel, 2007).
Additionally, women have less freedom to engage in physical mobility than men
(Sullivan & Arthur, 2006; USAID, 2010). Resultantly, women entrepreneurs have insufficient social networks (Hattab, 2011; World Bank, 2012) which they can leverage on for benefits such as the ability to gain resources such as finance (Batjargal, 2003;
Sengupta, 2011). Rutashobya, Allan and Nilsson, (2009) demonstrate that women have little contact with business partners, colleagues and people belonging to the same tribe as compared to men, making them have fewer social networks. Furthermore, the lack
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of confidence on the part of women limits their ability to start and operate their own businesses (Baughn, et al., 2006; Sengupta, 2013; Zeidan & Bahrami, 2011).
Additionally, a key barrier to successful women entrepreneurship in most economies results from negative social attitudes towards women entrepreneurs as Woldie and
Adesua (2004) indicate. Moreover, the lack of adequate information, technical capability, and proper managerial skills on the part of women entrepreneurs, limit them in undertaking value-adding businesses such as manufacturing (Belwal et al., 2012).
This explains the reason for the dominance of women in low value-adding business sectors like retailing. It appears that women entrepreneurs face challenges ranging from those that emanate from the home to those that are caused by society and the business environment.
2.9 Explaining Culture
Defining culture is not an easy task as per Hofstede (2015). This is because it is a very multifaceted concept which cannot be fully understood on the surface (Yeganeh, 2013).
According to Hofstede (2015) culture can be examined using the following as a reference frame: country, language, religion, value, ethics, among others. Useiner and
Lee (2005) also note that culture has so many sources such as language, education, nationality, social class, gender, ethnicity, religion, organization, profession, and family. This means that everything that constitute human life and behaviour is influenced by culture. However, this influence could either be direct or indirect and/or enduring or temporary (Craig & Douglas, 2005). Craig and Douglas (2005) maintain that culture is so intertwined with all aspects of human life such that it is often difficult to determine the extent of its impact on human life. Culture is vague, complex and problematic (Barber & Badre, 1998). It is also an abstract notion which evolves over
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time and its influences also change (Usunier & Lee, 2005). This emphasizes the dynamism of culture. Though culture is dynamic, its change is not overnight (Braidford,
Stone & Tesfaye, 2013) but takes a while. Progressively, culture is being penetrated by elements from other cultures causing cultural contamination, cultural pluralism, and cultural hybridization and this is making culture a more difficult phenomenon to study
(Craig & Douglas, 2005).
Also, there are different conceptualizations of culture among different disciplines, authors and schools of thought. This led to so many definitions of culture without a single universally accepted definition. Originally, the word “culture” is French and was defined by Emile Littre to mean cultivation and farming activity in the nineteenth century dictionary (Usunier & Lee, 2005). Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952) finds more than 160 different definitions of culture in literature. This huge number of definitions did not prevent them from developing their own. Although there are many definitions of culture, not all of them are accepted and used in literature. Hence, some of the accepted definitions are presented below:
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Table 2.9.1: Definitions of culture
Author Definition Dimensions Tylor (1871) Culture is the complex and interrelated sets of elements, comprising Knowledge, knowledge, beliefs, and values, arts, law, manners and morals, and all beliefs, values, other kinds of skills and habits acquired by a human as a member of a manners, morals, particular society. arts, law, habits Linton (1945) Culture is the configuration of learned behaviour and results of Behaviour behaviour whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society. Kluckhohn Culture consists of the patterned ways of thinking, feeling and Thinking, feeling, (1951) reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting reacting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts.
Kroeber and Culture is the transmitted and created content and patterns of values, Values, ideas, Parsons (1958) ideas and other symbolic-meaningful systems as factors in the shaping symbols, artefacts of human behaviour and the artefacts produced through behaviour. Goodenough Culture is a set of beliefs or standards shared by a group of people, which Beliefs (1971) help the individual decide what is, what can be, how to feel, what to do and how to go about doing them. Barnow (1973) Culture is the configuration of stereotyped patterns of learned behaviour Language, which are handed down from one generation to the next through the behaviour means of language and imitation. Child and Kieser Culture is the pattern of thought and manners which are widely shared. Thought, manners (1977) Hofstede (1980; Culture refers to the collective programming of the mind which Values 1984) distinguishes the members of one human group from another and includes systems of values. Herbig (1994) Culture refers to a set of shared beliefs, values and expected behaviours. Beliefs, values Thomas and Culture is the underlying system of values peculiar to a specific group Values Muller (2000) or society, which shapes the development of certain personality traits and motivates individuals in that society to engage in behaviours that may not be evident in other societies. Craig and Culture is a pervasive influence which underlies all facets of social Social behaviour Douglas (2005) behaviour and interaction. and interactions Beugelsdijk and Culture is the collective identity of communities. Identity Maseland (2011) Duman et al., Culture is the common features of people in group and it is transmitted Common features (2015) from generation to generation. Hofstede (2015) Culture means shared and transferable perceptions, values or practices. Perceptions, values, practices Woodside et al., Culture signifies a complex whole of attitudes, beliefs, values, and Attitudes, beliefs, (2016) behaviour. values. Behaviour. Source: Literature Review, 2017
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A look at the above definitions imply that culture is all about behaviour, beliefs and values as these are the dominant aspects or dimensions of culture.
Nonetheless, culture is a process and not a distinctive whole and is identifiable by the sum of its elements (Useiner & Lee, 2005). Culture is a process in that it provides people within a society with directions for use in their daily lives. However, differences exist both between cultures and within cultures (Huggins & Thompson, 2014). This can be observed in modern societies particularly, where people have different professions and people live in large groups. Even though culture is peculiar to a group of people in a society, people within that group still have some degree of individuality (Linton, 1945) and each individual within that group cultivates his own unique thoughts and actions
(Donmezler, 1990). One difficulty in the study and application of culture is the ability to identify the boundaries of social collectivity within which the sharing of beliefs, values, behaviour, manners, and so on occur. Hence, referring or considering class/regional/community culture may be appropriate than national culture.
2.10 Contrasting the Dimensions of Culture
Extant literature suggest that culture is multi-faceted (Yeganeh, 2013) and has different dimensions. Different authors propose different dimensions of culture (see Hofstede,
1980; 1984; 2001; House, Javidan, Hanges & Dorfman, 2002; Inglehart, 1997; 2007;
2008; Trompenaars, 1993) but the most influential one is that of Geert Hofstede. The different dimensions of culture are discussed below:
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2.10.1 Geert Hofstede’s Dimensions of National Culture
Hofstede (1980; 1984; 2001) conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on how cultural values affect workplace values in particular. His work has been influential in most studies related to culture. Despite the fact that Hofstede’s work is constructed around a specific survey of respondents within one large international organization
(IBM), his findings have been modified and applied to different settings, especially at the national level of culture (Huggins & Thompson, 2014). He proposes that the culture of a nation can be described in six dimensions. These are: individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, long-term versus short-term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint.
To begin with, individualism versus collectivism as a dimension of culture denotes the relationship the individual has with the group of people within which he/she finds himself or herself. It describes the degree to which people in a given society are unified in groups. Whereas some societies are individualistic, others are collectivist. An individualistic society is one in which the individual is mainly responsible for defining his/her beliefs and behaviours. However, a collectivist society is one that has its members being loyal towards one’s job, family, and country and these tend to determine the attitudes of individuals. In individualist cultures, ties between individuals are not tight and each individual is expected to protect himself or herself and his or her immediate family. However, a collectivist culture is characterised by people being integrated into strong groups (usually from birth) which often are the extended families.
And from these groups, they gain protection in exchange for absolute loyalty. McGrath
& MacMillan (1992) state that more entrepreneurs can be found in individualistic cultures than collectivistic cultures.
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Secondly, the power distance dimension of culture describes issues pertaining to inequality which prevails within the society. It considers the extent to which the members of a society or institution (family) who are less powerful, accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The Power distance dimension suggests that both leaders and followers of a society or institution are responsible for the level of inequality in that society. Hence, the level of inequality taking place in a society is not caused by only the leaders but the followers as well.
However, people within different cultural settings respond differently to uncertain events. Hence, Hofstede adds the Uncertainty avoidance dimension of culture to depict this. Uncertainty avoidance denotes the degree to which individuals within a particular culture feel endangered by unexpected events, and the subsequent degree to which society make rules, promotes absolute truth, and refuses to go against nature in order to avoid risks. It depicts a society’s acceptance for ambiguity. Uncertainty avoidance designates the extent to which a particular culture makes its members to feel either comfortable or uncomfortable in unplanned situations. In uncertainty avoiding cultures, people try to limit the possibility of unplanned situations occurring by instituting and adhering to strict behavioural codes, laws and rules, as well as promoting the disapproval of deviant opinions.
Another dimension of culture proposed by Hofstede is masculinity versus femininity.
This dimension denotes the distribution of values between genders. A masculine culture is characterized by higher concerns for achievement, promotion, and challenges in work. A feminine culture, however, is dominated by the establishment of good
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relationships, work security and a good living environment that are considered the most important (Hofstede, 1980, 2001). A country could have a masculine or feminine culture. In feminine countries, women have similar modest and caring values as the men in same country. But, women in masculine countries tend to be assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men (Hofstede, 1998).
Nonetheless, a fifth dimension was later introduced by Hofstede (1991): long-term orientation versus short-term orientation. Originally, this fifth dimension was labelled
“Confucian Dynamism”. It mirrors the Confucian nature of the values it encompasses.
However, in 1991, Hofstede renamed it: “Long-term versus short-term orientation”.
Cultures which score high on long-term orientation appear more future oriented, and accept delayed satisfaction of material and social needs. However, cultures that are short-term oriented place much value on respect for tradition and social obligations.
Further, Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov (2010) introduce a sixth dimension: Indulgence versus Restraint. This dimension was originally discovered by Minkov (2007). It reflects the degree to which societies have strong norms regulating and suppressing the instant fulfilment of human desires. It focuses on aspects that are not captured in the other five dimensions. The indulgence dimension represents a society that tolerates comparatively the fulfilment of basic and natural human desires that are related to enjoying life and having fun. However, the restraint dimension represents a society that controls gratification of human desires and needs and regulates it by using strict social norms.
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Hofstede’s framework on cultural values dominates quantitative research. However, the economic development of countries and the modernization theory speculate shifts in cultural values. This probably will affect the scores of countries on Hofstede’s work- related value dimensions and brings to mind the relevance and true reflection of countries’ scores on Hofstede’s framework in today’s world (Beugelsdijk, Maseland &
Hoorn, 2015).
2.10.2 Ronald Inglehart’s Dimensions of Culture
In explaining cultural and social differences across countries, Inglehart (1997),
Inglehart & Baker (2000), and Inglehart & Welzel (2005), used two main dimensions of cultural values: traditional versus secular-rational and survival versus self-expression values.
The traditional versus secular-rational value dimension describes the difference between societies in which tradition and religion are very important and those in which they are not (Inglehart, 2008; Inglehart & Baker, 2000; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005).
According to Inglehart (1997; 2007; 2008), traditional societies are ones that value the following: parent/child ties in families, respect for authority, and absolute moral standards. They also strongly reject divorce, abortion, euthanasia, and suicide.
Waldinger, Aldrich, Ward and Blaschke (1990) posit that values such as close family and ethnic ties, and group trust enable certain ethnic groups to succeed in business.
However, secular societies possess secular-rational values which do not place importance on parent-child ties, and see acts such as abortion, divorce, and euthanasia as permissible. They are branded by rational, secular and bureaucratic values.
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Furthermore, Inglehart’s second dimension of national cultural values is the survival versus self-expression values. To him, societies that are characterized by survival values display relatively low levels of subjective wellbeing, are materialist, show relatively poor health, and are intolerant towards people that do not fall within their group (e.g. foreigners, women, homosexuals). They also rank relatively low on interpersonal trust, and stress on hard work rather than imagination. In contrast, societies that are characterized by self-expression values place increasing emphasis on subjective well-being, self-expression and quality of life (Inglehart, 2008; Inglehart &
Baker, 2000; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005).
2.11 Explaining Culture and Entrepreneurship
Authors maintain that entrepreneurship and culture are closely related (Aramand, 2012;
Welter, 2011; Wennberg et al., 2013). Different cultures have different attitudes towards business formation (Shapero & Sokol, 1982). However, entrepreneurship appears to thrive better within certain cultures than others (Landes, 1953; Lee &
Peterson, 2001), causing the levels of entrepreneurship to vary across countries. Extant research establish that the level and type of entrepreneurship in a society or country is as a result of the cultural structure of that country (Begley & Tan, 2001). The link between culture and entrepreneurship stems way back to Mark Weber’s (1930) work on the protestant work ethics. Over the years, researchers rely on national cultures to help explain the varying levels of entrepreneurship across countries (Stephan & Pathak,
2016). It is in line with this that Thomas and Mueller (2000) admonish the study of entrepreneurship should be extended to international markets in order to explore the conditions and characteristics that promote entrepreneurial activity in different
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countries and regions. To them dominant values of national culture have effects on entrepreneurship.
All social behaviour and therefore entrepreneurship is embedded in certain social contexts and is linked to extremely cherished values and beliefs (Pheng &Yuquan,
2002). The establishment of new businesses occur as a context-dependent process
(Buame, 1996; Porfírio, 2016). Landes (1953) posits that to a large extent, culture determines the supply of entrepreneurship within society. He argues that the poor economic performance of France in the nineteenth century could be explained by the conservativeness and timidity of French entrepreneurs which resulted from their culture. The French entrepreneurs consider business as an integral part of family status rather than as an end in itself (Landes, 1949). The cultural values of a society indicate the extent to which that society considers entrepreneurial behaviours, which include risk taking and independent thinking. Cultures that value and reward risk taking, independent thinking, and others are likely to groom more entrepreneurs. But cultures that promote conformity, group interests, and control over the future are likely to have fewer numbers of entrepreneurs (Herbig,1994; Hofstede, 1980).
In addition, literature note the important role culture plays in entrepreneurship. For example, Bates (1995) advocates that the different types and levels of entrepreneurial opportunities and resources across cultures is due to the differences in cultural values.
Also, Hofstede (1980) points that greater opportunities for entrepreneurship typically exist in long-term oriented cultures such as China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Likewise,
Busenitz and Lau (1996) suggest that entrepreneurship flourishes in cultures where less value is placed on power distance. Sawyer (1954) puts it that the relatively higher
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encouragement for entrepreneurship in the United States of America is as a result of the perseverance of puritan values and the frontline spirit in the American society. Also, there have been arguments that the noteworthy transformation of Meiji Japan in the late nineteenth century could be attributed to entrepreneurs who were “community-centred” and placed national development over personal interest (Hirschmeier, 1964; Ranis,
1955).
Nonetheless, there are varying findings concerning the relationship that exists between entrepreneurship and some dimensions of culture. Bowen and De Clercq (2008) and De
Clercq, Danis & Dakhli (2010) report that there is a negative relationship between uncertainty avoidance and entrepreneurship. Similarly, Hayton, George and Zahra,
(2002) conclude that an expected negative relationship exist between collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and entrepreneurship. Also, Autio et al. (2013) finds no relationship between uncertainty avoidance, individualism and entrepreneurship. In contrast, Hofstede, Noorderhaven, Thurik, Uhlaner, Wennekers and Wildeman, (2004) and Wennekers, Thurik, Stel and Noorderhaven, (2007) indicate uncertainty avoidance is related to entrepreneurship. Finally, Barnett (1953) asserts a positive correlation exists between the individualism of a society and its potential for innovation. The reason is that the greater an individual has the freedom to explore and express his/her opinions, the greater the probability of new idea generation. In answer to these contradictory findings, researchers such as Stephan and Uhlaner (2010), propose that cultural values may only have an indirect impact on entrepreneurship causing the lack of clear and unified findings. Also, Stephan & Pathak (2016) believe the reason for these inconsistent findings is as a result of the broad and general nature of cultural values. Again, the use of different measures of entrepreneurship (opportunity-driven,
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nascent, necessity-driven, innovation driven) may be the reason for the contradictory findings (see Bosma, 2013, Terjesen, Hessels & Li, 2013).
2.12 The Stereotype Threat Theory
The stereotype threat theory as coined by Steele and Aronson (1995) highlights the effect of negative stereotypes on the motivations and performance of target stereotyped group(s). They define stereotype threat as the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one's social group through self-characteristics. The stereotype threat theory emphasizes that people show low aspirations and perform poorly in stereotyped tasks associated with their social group(s). Davies, Spencer and Steele, (2005) postulate that when people are conscious of the stereotypes associated with their social group and believe they may be adjudicated based on these stereotypes, they tend to become threatened by that stereotype. Research indicate that people tend to psychologically disengage from stereotyped tasks that are associated with them and this results in decreased performance on the stereotyped task (Davies et al., 2005; Steele, 1997).
Steele and Aronson, (1995) reveal that black Americans perform poorly when they take a test that have previously exhibited racial differences, which they are conscious of.
Similarly, Spencer, Steele and Quinn, (1999) make it known that women perform badly in mathematics tests when they are made conscious of the commonly-held gender stereotypes which position women to be bad at maths.
Nonetheless, in as much as the number of women entrepreneurs has improved significantly over the years (Wilson, Kickul & Marlino, 2007), entrepreneurship still remains an area dominated by men (de Bruin, Brush & Welter, 2006). Additionally, it is continually reported that women exhibit lower entrepreneurial intentions (Zhao,
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Seibert & Hills, 2005). This proposes that the gender gap in entrepreneurship is not likely to end soon without any intervention. However, research show that gender-role stereotypes is a key influencing factor in women’s entrepreneurial intentions (Baron,
Markman & Hirsa, 2001). According to Lama (2000, p2) gender is “a set of ideas, performances, practices and social prescriptions that a culture develops from the anatomical difference between women and men, to symbolize and socially build what is ‘own’ of the men (masculine) and ‘own’ of the women (feminine)”. This proposes that gender is culturally and socially constructed. Therefore, gender roles are socially and culturally distinct guidelines and beliefs relating to the behaviour and emotions of men and women (Anselmi & Law, 1998).
Over the years, entrepreneurship has been stereotypically positively associated with masculine characteristics and negatively associated with feminine characteristics (Ahl,
2006). Gupta, Turban, Wasti and Sikdar (2009) stress that entrepreneurs are usually described in stereotypically masculine terms using masculine characteristics such as
“strong-willed” and “firm”, while feminine characteristics such as “emotional”,
“gentle”, and “shy” are the direct opposites of entrepreneurial traits. This is iterated by
Buame et al., (2013), who state that the attributes and skills such as being goal oriented, pragmatic, self-confident, and resolute are necessary for the success of women entrepreneurs. Generally, scholars argue that entrepreneurship is an activity that demands a sense of dominance associated to philosophies of masculinity (Bruni, et al.
2004). Hence, the ventures of women entrepreneurs face negative prejudice in society.
In Ghana for instance, an Akan (an ethnic group in Ghana) proverb says: “women sell garden eggs and not gunpowder” (Adom, 2015 p19). This is society’s expectation that women should engage in small and less risky businesses. Also, Buttner and Rosen
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(1988) finds that American loan officers regard women as less "successful" entrepreneurs as compared to their male counterparts on the following scopes: leadership, risk-taking, autonomy, endurance, readiness for change, lack of emotionalism, and low need for support, indicating a gender prejudice. This creates the impression that women do not fit the image of a typical entrepreneur (de Bruin et al.,
2006). It should therefore be noted that the ability of stereotype threat leading to individuals or groups disengaging from stereotyped tasks means that it can also lead them to disengage from traditionally stereotyped careers such as entrepreneurship.
Hence, the general low levels of women entrepreneurship and the perceived under- performance of women enterprises could be as a result of entrepreneurship being a stereotyped career for men.
Furthermore, researchers stress that, stereotype threat, is a “situational predicament” which occurs only when the negative stereotype applies to the individual(s) involved
(Steele, 1997). When people notice that a negative stereotype about their social group is pertinent in a situation, they disengage from the task, thus confirming the stereotype
(Steele & Aronson, 1995). However, since the effect of stereotype threat is situational, the removal of the situational factors that cause the threat would aid lessen the threat.
Therefore, Davies et al. (2002) argue that the eradication of the factors that generate stereotype threat will allow people to psychologically involve in the task again and subsequently perform better to their real potential. This is confirmed by Spencer et al.
(1999), who reveal that women perform better in difficult math tests when they are informed that the math test is not known to show any gender differences. This means that gender stereotypes can be invalidated by making women aware that there are no gender differences in the earlier stereotyped tasks. Therefore, making women aware
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that entrepreneurship is not gender prejudiced would improve their entrepreneurial intentions and also their performance in entrepreneurship. This will help close the gender gap in entrepreneurship.
In the Nabdam district, women entrepreneurs are not relieved from the effects of the stereotype threat. Entrepreneurship in the study area is generally considered as a male endeavour with women expected and considered to be less successful in the entrepreneurial domain. Women in the district generally operate small businesses in less risky and low value-adding sectors such as retailing/trading and services.
Resultantly, their ventures appear stagnant, which designates poor performance. This poor performance could be linked to psychological disengagement from entrepreneurial activities by women entrepreneurs as a result of the gender stereotype attached to entrepreneurship in the community.
2.3 Chapter Summary
The chapter firstly reviewed relevant literature on the research phenomenon. Extant literature were reviewed along a number of thematic areas including: concept and definition of entrepreneurship, contributions of entrepreneurship to society, women entrepreneurship, as well as gender variations in entrepreneurship. The chapter then proceeded to present the theory (stereotype threat theory) underpinning the study.
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CHAPTER THREE
CONTEXT OF THE STUDY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter is divided into two main sections. The first section presents an overview of the Nabdam district in order to create an understanding of the current issues in the district in relation to the research topic. However, the second section gives an overview of women entrepreneurship within the study area.
3.1 Section One: Overview of the Nabdam District
This section gives a description of the Nabdam district. It takes into consideration the nature of the district, the population size, structure and composition, the economic activity status of the district, as well as the culture and social structure of the district.
3.1.1 Nature of the Nabdam District
The Nabdam district is a relatively new district found in the Upper East Region of
Ghana. It was carved out of the then Talensi-Nabdam District Assembly in the year
2012 and is divided into three area councils: Nangodi, Sakoti and Zoliba, of which
Nangodi is the district capital. The district is bordered to the North by the Bongo
District, South by the Talensi District, to the East by the Bawku West District and to the West by the Bolgatanga Municipality. The Nabdam district, has nineteen communities. The district map is presented below:
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Figure 3.1: Map of the Nabdam District
Source: GSS (2014, p2)
3.1.2 Population Size, Structure and Composition
According to the Ghana Statistical service (2012), the population of Nabdam District stands at 33,826 which represents 3.2% of the total population of the Upper East region.
Out of this total district population, 16,871 are males, constituting 49.9%. Female population stands at 16,955 which represents 50.1% of the total district population. This depicts a slight predominance of the female population. The district is predominantly
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rural and has a youthful population as indicated by the GSS (2014). The youth makes
41.7% of the population. This gives the impression that there are vibrant economic activities going on in the district since the youth are full of energy which can be exerted in doing so.
3.1.3 Economic Activity Status
The Nabdam district consists of both economically active and non-economically active population. Whereas the economically active population consist of the employed and unemployed persons, the non-economically active persons are those who are not working and are not seeking for any work. It includes full time students, the aged, and children. 14,879, representing 75.4% of the total district population are economically active. Out of this, 7,583 (50.9%) are male while 7,296 (49.1%) are female. However, of the economically active, 14,623 are employed. It can be inferred that women in the district are striving to create a means of survival for themselves. The economic activities that residents of the Nabdam District engage in include agriculture, civil service, services, crafts, shea butter extraction, small-scale mining, among several others. Additionally, with regards to employment status, 50.3% of the workforce in the district are self-employed without employees while only 1.3% have employees. Data on the employment status of the district is presented below:
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Table 3.1.3.1 Self-employed population 15 years and older by employment status
and sex
Employment Sector Both sexes Male Female
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage Total 7,551 100 4,459 59 3,092 41 Self-employed without 7,357 97.4 4,368 59.4 2,989 41.6 employee(s) Self-employed with 194 2.6 91 47 103 53 employee(s) Source: Ghana Statistical Service, (2012, p37)
From the data presented in the table, it can be deduced that 3,092 women are self-
employed and own businesses which is the population of the study.
3.1.4 Culture of the Nabdams
Ghana as a whole has a rich and vibrant culture with many positive elements such as
diversity, respect and consideration for others notwithstanding age and status, and a
preference for compromise instead of conflict. The Nabdam culture though dynamic is
not too different from the Ghanaian national culture. In relation to Hofstede’s scores of
national cultures, the Ghanaian culture was originally not captured (see Hofstede 1980;
1984). But based on the ratings attached to similar countries, rankings have been
developed for Ghana through the lens of 6D-Model of national culture (Hofstede, n.d)
Ghana is rated 80% on power distance, 15% on individualism, 40% on masculinity,
65% on uncertainty avoidance, 4% on long-term orientation, and 70% on indulgence.
This holds true for the Nabdam culture, though differences could exist due to within-
group variations.
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The Nabdam culture is collectivist: it is family oriented with a strong cultural identity and social cohesion. Also, group conformism is accentuated, and people in the community are expected to alter their personal goals to meet or achieve the goals of the community. Much respect is given to the elderly and the male gender. Women are generally considered inferior to men. This is as a result of the patrilineal system practiced in the community. Due to this patrilineal system, men are seen as those that continue a family’s lineage and hence the preference for male children. Therefore, the
Nabdam culture is male-dominated. Gender roles within the culture are firmly demarcated and distinguished. It is expected of men to be firm and decisive and women, spontaneous and fixated on building quality relationships and life. Notwithstanding the modernisation that the Nabdam society has witnessed through acculturation during the past decade, its culture is still traditional and male-controlled. The patriarchal facet of the Nabdam culture burdens males in the family (usually the father) the duty of providing for and shielding the family, as well as power over the family’s decision. The inclination for masculinities encourages shrill differences in gender roles and restricts the role of women to the domestic frontiers of their homes and that of men to work outside the home as main breadwinners.
The indigenes of the district hold their culture in high esteem. Customs, norms, values, and taboos are greatly revered. However, culture is used at all levels of the Nabdam society as an excuse to discriminate against women. Culture is supposed to belong to the whole society but women are often expected to comply with cultural practices than men. Just like most African countries, most of the cultural practices of the Nabdam district seem to limit women and construct barriers which limit their potentials. Some of these cultural practices include the relegation of women in the inheritance system,
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gender stereotypes, widowhood rites which seem to degrade the dignity of the women involved, among others. The culture of the people of Nabdam depict high levels of collectivism and power distance as well as short-term orientation. The indigenes of the district are Nabit speaking people and belong to the Nabdam ethnic group.
3.2 Overview of Women Entrepreneurship in the Study Area
This section consider the issues relating to women entrepreneurship in Ghana as a whole and in the Nabdam district.
3.2.1 Synopsis of Women’s Labour Force Participation in Ghana
Women, especially in Africa, are hardworking (Jiggins, 1989). They engage in a variety of tasks ranging from unpaid work (such as agricultural activities, household chores) to paid work. This is evident in the 2010 population census of Ghana which indicates that out of the 10,939,923 people who were employed, 5,567,544 (51%) were females. This portrays that Ghanaian women are very active in the labour force. However, the
International Labour Organisation (2014) reports that in the year 2013, there was an unequal participation between women and men in the labour force in Ghana. Whereas the male employment-to-population ratio stood 72.2%, the ratio for females stood at
47.1 %. It is important to note that most economically active women in Ghana operate in the informal economy (Adom, 2015).
3.2.2 Women Entrepreneurship in Ghana
Women entrepreneurship in Ghana is making significant progress and has received recognition and attention both in industry and academia. Scholars such as Adom (2015),
Adom and Asare-Yeboah (2016), Buame et al., (2013), Dzisi, (2008), and Denanyoh
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et. al., (2013) have written on the subject of women entrepreneurship within the
Ghanaian context. Ghanaian women have been and continue to be enterprising and industrious across various sectors of business. For instance, they introduced a different recipe for preparing noodles (indomie) which is different from the original recipes given by manufacturers. By adding pepper, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and other spices to their preparations, these noodles became tastier and desired by many, thereby leading to the springing up of so many indomie sales outlets (indomie joints). The influence and impact of women entrepreneurs in the transformation of the Ghanaian economy cannot be over emphasized.
GEM (2015) reports that there are more women entrepreneurs in Ghana than their male counterparts. The growth of female entrepreneurship in Ghana could be resultant from the broader process of social change which is noticeable through increases in the number of women in the workforce (including women in business), increased education for women, postponement of early marriage, smaller family sizes and the increased aspiration of women for financial independence. Currently, entrepreneurship is an accepted and arguably a preferred career path for most women in Ghana. This is because it is capable of offering flexibility and independence that women love to experience, which typical employment does not offer (Dzisi, 2008). The nature of businesses Ghanaian women entrepreneurs engage in are predominantly low value- adding businesses like retailing, wholesaling, services, among others. Dzisi (2008), notes that Ghanaian women are engaged in seven major business sectors namely: trading (26%), services (21%), agro-processing (16%), manufacturing (12%), textiles and fabrics (12%), agriculture (5%), and construction (4%).
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Despite the argument that the institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks for business development in Ghana are gender neutral, some social-cultural factors and structural situations continue to work against women entrepreneurs. They face much time burdens, are poorer and are likely to be less literate as compared to their male counterparts (Owusu, Quartey & Bawakyillenou, 2014). In the Ghanaian cultural setting, women are expected to play the role of caretakers of homes. This role often conflicts with being a business owner and women usually find it difficult to balance the time it takes to run a business and the expectations of society in meeting family obligations. The cultural practices in relation to land and property ownership as well as limited access to start-up capital and credit are some of the challenges of women entrepreneurs in Ghana. Despite the diverse responsibilities and challenges these women entrepreneurs face, their tenacity, resilience, commitment, passion, ingenuity, vision and exploits are worth recognizing and celebrating.
3.2.3 Women Entrepreneurship in the Nabdam District
Women in the Nabdam district engage in a range of businesses including catering, sewing, trading, weaving, extraction of shea butter, and manufacturing of soap, among several others. According to the GSS (2014), three thousand and ninety-two (3,092) women in the Nabdam district are self-employed with only one hundred and three (103) of these women having employees. Whereas some women in the district operate businesses from their homes, majority operate at the market square. The district has two major market squares where these women mostly ply their trade. These markets are located at Kongo and Pelungu. It is important to note that the district capital (Nangodi) has no market or main business centre. The markets have different market days which comes off every three days. Some women sell their wares at both market squares
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(Kongo and Pelungu market). Women from other districts, especially the surrounding districts also trade at these market squares. The women operate relatively small businesses that yield smaller profits. A careful observation of the ventures of women in the Nabdam district depict they are stagnant. Many women owned ventures in the district have not experienced growth in terms of physical expansion and number of employees. As a result, quite a number of women are unemployed and often resort to rural-urban migration where they mostly migrate to the southern part of Ghana to seek for work.
3.2.4 Programmes Designed to Increase Women’s Entrepreneurship in Ghana
Over the years, various governments with other donor support agencies have made cognizant efforts towards implementing programmes that promote women entrepreneurship in Ghana. Notable among them are the following:
To begin with, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Government of Ghana strengthened the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), the GRATIS
Foundation, and the Microfinance and Small Loan Centre (MASLOC) in order to improve entrepreneurship, most essentially, the informal sector. This is impacting women entrepreneurship.
Secondly, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection developed and promoted a National Gender Policy which seeks to encourage gender equality and freedom of women and men as well as girls and boys from discrimination on the basis of social or economic status. This policy was launched in the year 2015. It propagates
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the inclusion of gender and mostly women issues into all programmes and projects in
Ghana, and this includes entrepreneurship programmes (Government of Ghana, n.d).
Additionally, as part of Government’s efforts to reduce poverty and improve living conditions in rural Ghana, the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) was implemented in 1995. The programme provides matching grants/funds for micro small enterprises as well as offer training on different sectors of business (Ministry of Trade and Industry, n.d.).
Lastly, a land tenure reform pilot programme, known as Land Administration
Programme (LAP) has been initiated since 1999. Its purpose is to streamline, strengthen and decentralise the administration of land in Ghana. This is perceived to adequately address the problem of women’s access and control over land in Ghana (Women’s
Manifesto for Ghana, 2004).
3.3 Chapter Summary
The chapter gave an overview of the current nature of women entrepreneurship in
Ghana and the Nabdam district. It also presented an in-depth synopsis of the Nabdam district in order to create a picture of the current issues in the district relating to the research problem.
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CHAPTER FOUR
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.0 Introduction
This chapter entails the issues relating to the research methodology. It captures the approaches followed to find answers to the research questions posed by the study.
Therefore, the chapter discusses the research paradigm, research design, research approach, data collection methods, sources and types of data, study population, sample size, sampling technique, data analysis, data presentation, as well as ethical considerations.
4.1 Philosophical Approach
A key decision a researcher needs to make when undertaking a study is stating a knowledge claim. This involves grounding the study on certain assumptions about what will be learnt and how it would be learnt during the study. According to Lincoln and
Guba (2000), knowledge claims are also known as research paradigms. One of the earliest authors to propose the idea of research paradigms is Thomas Khun (1970).
Research paradigms provide guidance for carrying out studies (Jonker & Pennink,
2010). Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2012), define research paradigms as assumptions and beliefs that govern the way a researcher views the world. Different paradigms embody different ideas about reality and how knowledge about that reality can be gained (see Creswell, 2003). It is relevant to note that they differ radically in their assumptions and implications (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). Procter (2005) maintains that philosophical assumptions in academic research can be broadly categorized into two extreme dimensions; positivism and phenomenology. However, different authors
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propose different names for these assumptions. For instance, Holden and Lynch (2004) label their philosophical positions as objectivism and subjectivism whereas Malhotra and Birks (2007) name theirs; interpretivism and social constructivism.
To begin with, positivism as a research paradigm advocates that the social world exists as an external environment where definite structures affect people in similar ways and at the same time, in different ways. Hence its elements should be measured through objective methods, rather than subjective (Proctor, 2005). The knowledge obtained through a positivist lens is based on careful observation and measurement of the objective reality that exists in the world (Creswell, 2003). However, phenomenological perspective of research (also known as social constructivism or interpretivism) emphases on subjective views rather than objective views. Proponents of this paradigm believe that, knowledge or access to reality is socially constructed through the meanings people attach to them. Phenomenology aims at generating an understanding of the context within which people live and the process by which the people influence and are influenced by the context (Easterby-Smith, Lyles & Tsang, 2008). Additionally, interpretivist consider themselves as part of the phenomenon under study and are consequently able to develop their ideas through the use of multiple data gathering tools such as the use of interviews, focus group discussions, and observations to investigate samples (Creswell, 2003; Proctor, 2005).
Therefore, this study adopts the phenomenological worldview of research to analyse its research problem. The focus of the study is on the specific context within which women entrepreneurs in the Nabdam district live and work, in order to understand the cultural settings and how it affects them. To achieve this, the research needs the subjective
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views of the women entrepreneurs on how they view and the meaning they create for the role of culture in their entrepreneurial activities. This was done by conducting in- depth interviews which allowed respondents express their subjective views on the issues of interest.
4.2 Research Design
A research design is necessary for every study. Creswell & Plano-Clark (2007) define research design as the procedure(s) involved in collecting, analysing, interpreting and reporting data in research. It depicts how a researcher plans to practically conduct a research (Cresswell, 2012). The aim of a research design is to structure a research in order to gain accurate answers to the research questions (McGivern, 2006). However, some scholars refer to research design as “research strategy” (see Creswell, 2003). On one hand, research designs/strategies available for quantitative studies include experiments, and surveys. On the other hand, designs/strategies such as ethnography, grounded theory, case study, phenomenological research, and narratives are used for qualitative studies (Creswell, 2003). However, this research embraces a case study design/strategy.
The use of a case study design enables a researcher explore a program, an event, an activity, a process, or one or more individuals (Cresswell, 2003). According to Yin
(2009), the case study strategy is appropriate if the phenomena under study are complex and deeply integrated in the organizational context of an establishment. Case studies are mostly used in explanatory and exploratory studies with the ability to answer the
'why', 'what' and 'how' questions (Saunders et al., 2012). A single case or multiple cases could be used in studies (Creswell, 2003). This study used a single case study strategy
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where the entire district was considered as one case, considering the unified culture persisting in the district. However, twenty women entrepreneurs were interviewed at their respective business centres within the district. This allowed them express themselves in their own language and in their natural environment.
4.3 Research Approach
The selection of an appropriate research approach for a study is determined by the aim of the research in question and not just the researcher’s intuition or preference (Babbie,
2004; Fossey, Harvey, McDermott & Davidson, 2002). Scholars such as Vanderstoep and Johnston, (2009) and Denzin and Lincoln, (2000) propose two main methodological approaches that could be applied in research; quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative and qualitative research are considerably different in their procedures for data collection and analysis (Marshall, 1996; Saunders et al., 2007).
According to Bell and Bryman (2007), while qualitative research is inductive, quantitative research is deductive in its observation on the connexion between research and theory.
4.3.1 Qualitative Approach
According to Maanen (1983), a qualitative research is an approach that aims at describing, decoding, and translating phenomena in terms of meaning rather than frequency. To Malhotra and Dash (2013), qualitative research seeks to gain understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations for a phenomenon. It provides insight and understanding of complex psychosocial issues and are most useful for answering humanistic 'why?' and 'how?' questions (Fossey, et al, 2002). Qualitative approach aid researchers understand people and the social and cultural contexts within
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which they find themselves (Blaikie, 2010). Qualitative studies also allow researchers gain insights about people’s feelings, thoughts as well as experiences (Rubin & Rubin,
1995). It therefore involves a close contact with a small sample over an extended period of time (Malhotra & Dash, 2013). Generally, qualitative studies are unstructured: they start with broad research problems and use relatively unstructured data collection instruments such as interviews and observations (Boateng, 2014). Qualitative approach allows flexibility in all activities of the research process (Boateng, 2014). Another advantage of qualitative approach to research is that it provides insights into a research problem which leads to better understanding. It also creates openness by encouraging people to expand on their responses which consequently enable studies unearth issues they initially did not intend to find. However, there are some disadvantages associated with qualitative research. Firstly, qualitative researches usually study fewer people which makes it more difficult to generalize their findings. Also, collecting qualitative data is generally more time consuming as compared to collecting quantitative data.
4.3.2 Quantitative Approach
Quantitative research approach is used for testing objective theories by examining the relationship between or among determined variables (Creswell, 2014). The aim of quantitative studies is to test pre-determined hypotheses and produce generalizable results. This is made possible due to the huge samples used. Quantitative approach is more useful for answering mechanistic 'what' questions (Fossey et al., 2002). Saunders et al., (2009), point out that quantitative approach relies on quantification and statistics in its data collection and analysis. According to Boateng (2014), this approach seeks to determine the extent to which a problem exists or the relationship that exists between aspects of a phenomenon by quantifying variations. Undertaking a quantitative study
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entails the testing of data to either support or disprove a proposed relationship between two or more aspects of a phenomenon. Hence, quantitative studies usually start by developing hypotheses and this makes them structured (Boateng, 2014). Nonetheless, the element of generalizability in quantitative studies is one of its strengths. However,
Yin (2009) and Wisker (2007) argue that the weakness of quantitative studies lie in the fact that their analysis do not apply to specific situations. Also, they lack the ability to give insight or understanding into a given research problem.
Since the aim of this study is not to find the relationship existing between culture and women entrepreneurship but rather to explore how culture plays a role in women entrepreneurship in the Nabdam district, the qualitative approach is considered appropriate. The research phenomenon is arguably new in the study area. This brings about the need to gain deeper insights into the research problem rather than just gathering frequencies. Indeed, the qualitative approach allowed the respondents express themselves in their own words and language which subsequently enabled the research achieve its exploratory purpose.
4.4 Sources and Types of Data
Scholars postulate that there are two main sources from which data can be gathered for research; primary and secondary sources (Saunders et al., 2009; Yin, 2009). Therefore, there are two types of data: primary and secondary data. According to Yin (2009) primary data refers to data that are collected for a specific purpose which was pre- determined. They originate from the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing a research problem (Malhotra & Birks, 2007). Also, they are usually collected by the researcher based on the research purpose and questions through observation,
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interviews, experiments, or surveys from the sample or target population (Ghauri &
Gronhaug, 2005). An advantage of using primary data is that it helps a research stay in focus since the data was collected for that purpose.
However, secondary data refers to data that were collected for a different purpose other than the research problem in question (Malholtra, 2008; Malhotra & Birks 2007). They are usually obtained from sources such as publications, personal records, census, and company documents which provide information which may have been collected for other purposes (Hair, Anderson, Basin & Black, 2010). Some advantages associated with the use of secondary data include; it cost lesser to acquire, it is less time consuming to collect, and can easily be accessed as compared to primary data. The study uses primary data which were acquired through in-depth interviews with women entrepreneurs in the Nabdam District. This was because, the specific purpose of the study required specific information/data that were not readily available in secondary sources.
4.5 Data Collection Methods
This study used a semi-structured interview guide as its data collection instrument. The use of this instrument is justified on the basis that it allows for more flexibility by giving room for follow up questions where necessary (Malhotra & Birks, 2007). It therefore made it possible for interviewees to give other relevant information which were initially not captured on the interview guide.
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4.6 Data Collection Procedure
As indicated earlier, data for this study were collected with the use of a semi-structured interview guide. However, before the design of the interview guide, literature were reviewed thoroughly which provided guidance in developing the guide. The research ensured that the interview guide was objective and consistent to ensure standardization of the research process as well as subjectivity on the part of the respondents. Most of the interviews were conducted at two major market squares in the district (Kongo and
Pelungu market) and a few were done at the other business centres of respondents.
Majority of the women entrepreneurs within the district mostly ply their trade at the market squares. Therefore, in order to get them to help gain answers to the research questions, they were tracked at their various business centres. All respondents were engaged in face-to-face interview which each on average lasting for 25 minutes. With permission from them, the interview sessions were audio recorded. Notes were also taken manually for the purpose of creating a backup. The recorded audio enabled the research transcribe and analyse the data accurately without leaving out key discussions.
Though the respondents did not expressly request that their identity be kept anonymous, the research developed codes to protect their identities. Therefore, the respondents were referred to as respondent 1 to respondent 20 (R1-R20). However, all the respondents spoke “Nabit” (the language of the Nabdams) and that created the need for transcription through translation. Nonetheless, the research ensured that data did not lose its meaning by using effective summary where necessary.
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4.7 Study Population
Every research work has a study population. Babbie (2008), defines a study population as the collection of elements from which the sample is essentially drawn. Similarly,
Kumekpor (2002) highlights that the population of a study is the total number of units of the phenomena to be investigated that exist in the area of investigation. Therefore, the population for this study was all women entrepreneurs within the Nabdam District.
Firstly, the study focused on women entrepreneurs because, all over the world, especially Africa, women are expected to conform to cultural practices than men
(Women’s Manifesto for Ghana, 2004); meaning that culture affect women than men.
The situation is not different in the Nabdam district and this could be playing a key role in their entrepreneurial behaviour and activities. The study therefore sought to explore if culture had effects on women entrepreneurship. Lastly, the Nabdam district was chosen because of easy access to information as well the stagnant nature of women- owned ventures.
4.8 Sample Size
In conducting research, selecting a sample size is a very crucial step due to the fact that it is mostly impractical and inefficient to study the whole population of a study.
Therefore, researchers usually select some units or members of the population to be a representation of the entire population. This is known as sampling. A sample is a subset of the population of a study. According to Vernoy and Kyle (2002) a sample is a relatively small representative group drawn from the population of a study. Denzin and
Lincoln (2005) present that qualitative research seeks to make meaning of or interpret phenomena with respect to the meanings people ascribe to events and hence generally rely on small samples. Therefore, the study used a sample size of twenty (20), which
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was enough to gain answers to the research questions (Marshall, 1996) since the focus of a qualitative study is more on sample adequacy than sample size (Bowen, 2008).
Also, the choice of a sample size of twenty (20) is in line with a proposal made by
Creswell (2003) that the ideal sample size for a qualitative study is between five (5) to twenty-five (25) respondents. In a qualitative study, sufficiency of sample size is measured by the depth of data rather than frequencies and therefore the sample for this study consisted of participants who best represented the research topic (Morse, Barrett,
Mayan, Olson & Spiers, 2002). The participants were a true representation of the study population because they were able to give in-depth insights into the research problem.
4.9 Sampling Technique
The choice of any sampling technique is dependent on factors such as the aim of the study, the adopted research approach, the time available to the researcher, as well as the nature of the study population (Marshall, 1996). The sampling technique adopted by this study is the purposive sampling technique where selection of respondents is based on the researcher’s judgment. This technique is deemed appropriate for this study because it offers researchers greater freedom and flexibility in selecting the sample units (Tongco, 2007). Further, the purposive sampling was used because the research had to ensure that participants of the study were those with the required knowledge and relevant information. Hence, the study included twenty (20) women entrepreneurs who were within the age group of twenty-four (24) to fifty-nine (59). This is because GEM
(2015) notes that women within the age range of eighteen (18) to fifty-nine (59) are those that are actively engaged in entrepreneurship. The study believes that women between the age of twenty-four (24) to fifty-nine (59) are those that are matured enough
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to have experienced the role of culture in their entrepreneurial journey and are more likely to give relevant information.
4.10 Data Analysis
In analysing qualitative data, there is the need for preparing and organizing data through transcripts, reducing the data into themes through a process of coding, and finally presenting the data through analysis and discussions (Creswell, 2012). Hence, recordings of the interviews were first transcribed through translation from the “Nabit” language into English. Thereafter, data were explored without any prior assumptions in order to identify themes that will emerge from the data. Data were then analysed in accordance with these themes in order to generate meaning (Robson, 2002). The thematic analysis technique was chosen as the analytical method for this study due to its ability to make reasonable inferences in interpreting data (Vaismoradi, Turunen &
Bondas, 2013). However, the thematic categorization reflects the research objectives and aided to find answers to the research questions. The goal of the data analysis was not just to describe the data but to interpret, explain and understand the meanings given to the research phenomenon. After analysing the individual cases or the responses of individual respondents, a cross case analysis was done in order to test the comparability of findings across the stories of respondents (Flick, 2002). This cross analysis has been depicted in the appendix section of the research.
4.11 Data Reliability and Validity
To ensure data reliability and validity, five (5) respondents were contacted to verify or confirm their views after data transcription. All the five (5) sampled respondents approved the transcripts as a reflection of their thoughts. This proved that the data
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collected did not lose its meaning after transcription. Also to increase the reliability and validity of this study, the research followed appropriate research procedures such as the philosophical underpinnings and the research methodology. Nonetheless, the themes by which data were analysed emerged from the data and not from the researcher’s own constructs. Moreover, a pre-test of the interview guide was done by using three (3) interviewees before data collection. The interview guide was then modified to help the research achieve its aim.
4.12 Ethical Considerations
The study employed different ways to ensure the ethics of research were followed.
Firstly, the research ensured that the interviewees remained anonymous as possible.
This was achieved by ensuring that, the names and identity of respondents did not appear in the study and were replaced with codes (R1 to R20). Secondly, respondents were informed about the purpose of the study and their consent was sought before interviews. Lastly, the research assured the respondents that the information given was solely for academic purpose and this was adhered to by using the data as such.
4.13 Limitations of the Study
This research is limited in scope. Firstly, it studied only women entrepreneurs in the
Nabdam district. This does not give an understanding of how culture affects general or male entrepreneurship in the district. Secondly, only the Nabdam district was used as the study area. It is therefore not known if the findings are applicable to the Upper East
Region as a whole since different ethnic groups in the region such as “Gurenes”,
“Talensis” and the “Kusasis” seem to have similar cultures as the Nabdams.
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4.14 Chapter Summary
This chapter described the research methodology. It began with an introduction of the chapter and discussed the research paradigm for the study. It proceeded to discuss the research design, research approach, and sources of data. Other issues that were discussed in this chapter include; data collection methods, sampling techniques, data analysis, data presentation, and ethical considerations. It also presented the limitations of the study.
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CHAPTER FIVE
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
5.0 Introduction
This chapter consists of two main sections. The first section presents an analysis of the data collected from the study area while the second section discusses the findings with extant literature. To carry out a thematic analysis, the research identifies themes from the data.
The emergent themes are the following:
1. Understanding culture: The community’s perspective
2. Motives of women entrepreneurs
3. Gender stereotype and women entrepreneurship
4. Cultural practices and women entrepreneurship
5. Contributions of women entrepreneurs to society
6. Benefits of entrepreneurship to women
5.1 Data Analysis
This section analyses the data in accordance with the themes identified.
5.1.1 Profile of Respondents
The profile of respondents presented in this study covers the age, marital status, educational level of respondents, as well as age, type, legal and employment status of business.
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Table 5.1.1.1: Profile of respondents
Profile Measurement Percentage Age 24-28 15% 29-33 20% 34-38 15% 39-43 10% 44-48 15% 49-53 15% 54-59 10%
Current marital status Single 10% Married 90%
Single 20% Marital status at the inception of Married 80% business
Level of education No formal 65% education Basic 20% Secondary 10% Tertiary 5%
Age of business 1-5 45% 6-10 20% 11-15 5% 16-20 20% 31-35 10%
Type of business Service 55% Retail 35% Manufacturing 10%
Legal status of business Unregistered 95% Registered 5%
Offered employment No 75% Yes 25% Source: Field Data, 2017
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The respondents of the study are between the ages of twenty-four (24) and fifty-nine
(59). The age of respondents is not skewed towards any age group and this suggests that women entrepreneurship in the district is an endeavour for all women within these age bracket. In relation to marriage, 90% of the respondents are married. However,
80% of the total respondents indicate that they started their businesses after marriage.
This proposes that marriage as a cultural value plays a key role in women entrepreneurship thereby making spousal support essential. With regards to level of education, 65% of the respondents have never been to school, 20% have basic education, one-tenth have secondary education, and one-twentieth have tertiary education. Though quite a number of women in the district have relatively higher levels of education such as senior high school certificates, teachers training certificate, degrees, among others, they are largely absent from the entrepreneurship field, making the field dominated by women with no or low levels of formal education. Additionally, majority (65%) of the women entrepreneurs have been in business for less than 11 years. It can therefore be inferred that women-owned enterprises in the district are relatively young. A reason for this could be a high rate of business discontinuance among women entrepreneurs or that the idea of women engaging in entrepreneurship is relatively new in the district. Notably, women who operated businesses for more than
16 years reportedly waddled between or among different kinds of businesses, signifying a lack of stability in business.
Predominantly, women entrepreneurs in the study area engage in service and retail businesses with only 10% in the manufacturing sector. There is therefore a preference for low value-adding businesses among women in the district. Again, all but one of the respondents run unregistered ventures and hence operate in the informal sector:
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majority of the respondents cite that they have no idea they are supposed to register since they pay market toll. The study further probes if the respondents provide employment opportunities for others. The study reveals that majority (75%) have no employees either in the past or currently. They either operate alone, with their children, or other family members who receive no pay. This percentage is slightly lower than the district figure of 96.7% given by the Ghana Statistical service (2012). A reason for this slight difference could be the sample size involved.
5.1.2 Understanding Culture: The Community’s Perspective
It is imperative to discover or understand the culture of the study area and its effects on women’s life and business. To achieve this, the study asks the respondents, “What is culture”. In response, they showcase the broadness, uniqueness, and learnedness of culture. To them, culture is basically about the way of life of a group of people which is passed on from one generation to another. This depicts the learnedness of culture.
Additionally, they mention that the culture of their community differ from that of others: iterating the existing notion of the uniqueness of culture. However, different elements of culture, which are largely missing in literature are identified: traditions and taboos. Most extant literature on culture in relation to definition were written based on western cultures. It can therefore be said that the elements of culture is context dependent and hence in the African culture, other elements such as traditions and taboos are integral. Therefore, culture is the way of life of a group of people, which is learned and expressed in language, values, attitudes, norms, behaviour, traditions, and taboos.
In support of the foregoing discourse, sample responses are presented below:
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According to R10, “Culture is expressed in our language, our festivals, funerals and traditions. It is generally about the way of life of the people of this land which we are all supposed to live by.”
Similarly, R1 express: “To me, culture is broad. We have things that we do with respect to different things like funerals, marriage, and what is expected and prohibited of us in this community. It is also how important we view certain things relating to life. Well, our culture here is not the same as the culture of those from southern Ghana and even those from ‘Navrongo’ which is nearby.”
However, R13 simply states: “I think culture is about what the people in a society do.”
Further, the study probes the nature of the Nabdam culture with respect to women. It discovers that the Nabdam culture is highly discriminatory against women. All respondents indicate they experience gender inequality and stereotyping in several aspects of their lives. This discrimination is evident in the biased distribution of wealth, inadequate recognition and respect for women’s work, exclusion of women in decision- making, as well as limitation on the movement of women, especially the married.
However, most respondents state more than one discriminatory element. Therefore, the table below depicts each factor against the total sample size (20).
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Table 5.1.2.1 Cultural limitations of women
Discriminatory factors Percentage
Unequal distribution of wealth (inheritance system) 85%
Inadequate recognition for women’s work 75%
Lack of inclusion of women in decision making 60%
Limitation on the movement of women 30%
Source: Field data, 2017
There is an unequal distribution of wealth among men and women in the district which is as a result of culture. In the Nabdam culture, women are excluded from inheritance and prohibited to own landed properties. Irrespective of how rich a woman’s father or husband might be, she inherits nothing from him. Also, culturally, any property a woman owns automatically belongs to her husband. By virtue of marriage, a woman belongs to another family: once a woman is married, her husband’s family has an upper hand in matters of her life than her family of birth. Therefore, giving an inheritance to a woman means enriching another family, hence the exclusion of women in matters of inheritance. Interestingly, it is a taboo for a woman to own a dog within the Nabdam culture. It is believed that a dog is “human” because of the spirituality attached to it.
For this reason women are perceived to lack the ability to handle it. However, women nurture these dogs they cannot own. This depicts the extent to which women are limited by culture. Additionally, women do not own lands since traditionally, lands are inherited and they are excluded. This unequal distribution of wealth makes women poorer than men. In events where they decide to start entrepreneurial endeavours, it limits the availability of sources of capital to them as compared to their male counterparts who could easily raise capital personally by selling off some properties. It
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also limits women in terms of the sector(s) to operate in. In support of the foregoing dialogue, the submissions of R12 and R3 are submitted below:
“To me, there is discrimination in the inheritance system. Then as a lady, I gained nothing from my father when he died because of my gender. So I had no financial support when I was starting this. At least, getting a piece of land could have helped me when I wanted to start this business. I would have sold it to get capital. Instead, it took me like two years to start this business from the time I conceived the idea: I was looking for capital.” - R12
“The business I desired to venture into was farming. But I could not get the land since culturally we are not entitled to some. Besides, in accordance with culture, even the food that a woman cultivates on her husband’s land belongs to him (husband). So farming was out. I then settled on this ‘kooko’ (porridge) business.” - R3
Again, there is an attitude of lack of recognition and respect for women’s work in the community. The work most women do are not respected; both formal and informal work. As such, small and unproductive activities are referred to as “Bompork toubd” – which literally means “a woman’s work”. Hence the culture of the study area portrays women as people who should engage in less profitable activities and employment. With this, women entrepreneurs are often tempted to keep the status quo of running small size businesses and in low value-adding sectors. The submission of R2 highlights the lack of respect for women-owned ventures:
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“When I wanted to expand my business by moving into this container, I faced resistance in terms of where to situate it. I was asked to go see the owner of the land for space for that expansion. He was always tossing me around without giving me any concrete answer. So I was told to contact another man within that same family who had an upper hand. After gaining permission from the second man, a fight ensued between the first and the second. I ignored their fight and still developed the foundation and placed my container on it. It became a big issue which ended up at the chief’s palace. They also reported me to my father’s people who said that a market is a place meant for women to sell little by little in order to feed and not for one woman to cover the whole place with a container. As we speak, the case is still at the chief’s palace.” – R2
Further, decision-making is considered as a duty of men in the study area. Hence, women within the community are usually excluded in making relevant decisions. This is due to the believe that women are weak and emotional and do not have the ability to make critical decisions. These decisions are sometimes related to these women and their wellbeing. Even the decisions of women to venture into entrepreneurship are usually finalized by their spouses or fathers (in cases of single ladies). If the decision-makers decide otherwise, then the women have to unfortunately overturn the intention of self- employment. Hence, spousal support is a necessary element to progressive women entrepreneurship. As such, R9 and R5 state respectively:
“Our culture here seems to make women backwards. For instance, I do not have a say in matters of my family. I even needed to seek permission from my husband before starting this business. So assuming he said no, where would I have been today? […].
These are the unfairness I find in the culture.”
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“Our culture mostly favour the men and discriminate against us. For instance, in terms of decision-making, we are left out. Meanwhile, I could probably have been the one to contribute great ideas to solve the issue. This brings some kind of sadness in us because it makes it look like we women are useless. This makes us less anxious to bring out our potentials. Eeeheeem, so it helps the men.”
Lastly, culturally, women: especially the married, have the duty of seeking permission from spouses before embarking on journeys. Also, the time of the day a woman, is expected to be outside the home is regulated. It is considered inappropriate for women to stay out of home during late hours. This creates a restriction in the movement of women. Subsequently, it determines the time of close of work, as well as the places to visit for business purposes. Hence, R3 laments:
“When you look at it, it is the women that are usually pressurized to conform to culture than men. So our culture is unfavourable to women. Can you imagine first-borns who are female are not supposed to take chicken? They say it is a taboo. But male first- borns can. Why should that be? They say a married woman should not be outdoors during certain late hours, but the married men roam in town till the next day. So you even feel uncomfortable staying late to do your business because you will be given a negative tag.”
From the foregoing discussion, it is gathered that the discriminatory nature of the
Nabdam culture determines the sectors and size of business women operate, and in this case, small sizes and in low-value adding sectors such as retailing and services.
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5.1.3 Motives of Women Entrepreneurs in the Nabdam District
There is the need to ascertain the reasons behind the enterprise creation of respondents.
This is to enable the study identify the significance of culture in women start-up intentions. The key motivation mentioned by each respondent is used in the analysis.
5.1.3.1 Motivations for business creation
Motive Percentage Lack/low levels of education 35% Cultural issues 30% Utilization of talent 15% Inborn trait 10% Spotted an opportunity 10% Total 100% Source: Field Data, 2017
Undeniably, the underlying aim of every business is to make money/profit. But beyond the monetary motivations, the study discovers that women entrepreneurs in the Nabdam district are motivated by lack of education, cultural issues, desire to utilize a talent, inborn trait, as well as opportunity recognition.
To begin with, majority (35%) of the respondents were motivated to start ventures as a result of the lack/low levels of education. To those women, entrepreneurship is the only available option since securing jobs in the formal employment sector demands some form of formal education. The profile of respondents reveal that 85% of them have no/low levels of education. This is a result of the lack of value for girl-child education in the study area in the past. Formal education was initially considered as the pursuit of men. Most females where therefore denied access to education as the ‘kitchen’ was
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regarded as their suitable place rather than the classroom. Thankfully, due to acculturation which led to the introduction of the “Free Compulsory Basic Education”
(FCUBE) during the 1990’s in Ghana, female children are now given the opportunity to formal education in the area.
“I started this business because I didn’t go high in school. My siblings are many…..
My father couldn’t cater for us all in school. So I decided to drop out of school and learn a trade. I thought that this is a means to also have something doing because no one would employ me in government sector.” – R4
“I considered the fact that I am not educated. And wouldn’t have anything to rely on in future to cater for myself and my children.” – R6
On one hand this may well lead to reduction in the number of women venturing into entrepreneurship in future since high educated women are not visible in the female entrepreneurship arena. One the other hand, it may promote women entrepreneurship as an alternative to formal employment since these educated women could now conduct environmental analysis to spot viable business opportunities.
Additionally, some cultural issues motivate women into entrepreneurship. These cover the fear or effects of some cultural practices. For instance, the fear of widowhood rites, unequal distribution of wealth, and the burdens of numerous traditional rites are identified as the cultural factors that motivate women to start ventures. In the study area, widows are tasked to select a man from the kindred of the deceased husband. The purpose of this is to have someone to cater for the widow as well as her kids; if any.
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However, the respondents observe that women who are financially liberated receive little pressure with regards to this practice. They opine that once a widow is able to prove she can cater for herself and children, the elders of the husband’s family do not pressurize her since she would not be a burden on them. Hence, one way of achieving this financial liberation and subsequent escape of widowhood rites is entrepreneurship.
In view of this, R1 indicates:
“For me, I thought that anything could happen in my marriage: like me becoming a widow. In that case I will still be living in my husband’s home to take care of my kids.
I would not get anyone to help me. And most importantly it is our culture that when your husband passes on, you choose another man from his kindred to be with, which I find appalling. Usually, women who succumb to this are those who have no source of livelihood. If I have an employment, I can just stay as a widow without a man. Even when the elders see that you are self-dependent, they would not even bring such a suggestion.”
Again, the unequal distribution of wealth as expressed in the unfair inheritance system continue to make women poorer. It also mean they have no support from home and need to create their own wealth. This continuous poverty trigger a desire to make a living. This then motivates some women in the district to try entrepreneurship in order to lessen their poverty levels.
Lastly, the Nabdam culture embeds the performance of numerous traditional rites such as funerals rites, marriage rites, and other rites associated with religious beliefs. The desire to have the financial capacity to perform all these rites is found to be the
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motivation behind the creation of some businesses. With respect to this, excerpts from the in-depth interview with R10 is presented below:
R10: “The issue is that some of our cultural demands here makes one to always be in need of money. Something like our funeral rites. For our funeral rites, they have to take some things out. They are too involving and demand money. […] Now, if they are to perform the funerals of the others, whether I have money or not, I have to buy a lot of things like Bambara beans, beans itself, two gallons of cooking oil, four bars of key soap, plus bathing soap….aaaaah, I can’t even count them all. Then I now have to add a pig.
Interviewer: Mmaaa (mother), is it not guinea fowl?
R10: “‘Kurikuri’ (A pig)! […] So when I carefully looked at these cultural responsibilities, there was the need to have a source of livelihood. So that when these arise, I can fulfil them. We wish this culture wasn’t existing, but they say it is culture.
Though it is not a force to do these, but we usually consider what friends and family will say. So these responsibilities have become the norm.”
Further, the desire to use one’s talent in a meaningful way is a motivational factor to women’s entrepreneurship. As such, those who are motivated by this, establish businesses in sectors that require the use of the specific talent they have. Hence, R13 emphasize:
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“As a kid, I admired sewing and was good at it. I was not also doing well in school. So
I decided to drop out and learn the sewing. […] So after that I decided to start this business using my talent. I felt it was a God-given talent and it will prosper.”
Even so, some women entrepreneurs in the district are pursuing entrepreneurship because of inborn traits. They have the inward passion for entrepreneurship. These respondents are mainly women who started their entrepreneurial journey at tender ages.
According to R14,
“I started running a business at a very tender age like 10. I starting by taking kola nuts on credit to sell. Then I pay the supplier after selling. It was something I enjoyed doing aside the financial benefits I was getting from it. […] So I believe the skill of business is a gift from God.”
Nonetheless, the identification of opportunities lead some women into entrepreneurship. After observing that a particular kind of business is not being operated by anyone, they mobilize resources and start that business. In this vain, R16 specifies:
“When I got back from Kumasi I realized no one was doing ‘indomie’ (noodles) business here. So I decided to take that opportunity to make money. And that is how come I became a business owner.”
From the foregoing discussion, it can be deduced that predominantly, culture is a motivational factor to women entrepreneurship in the district. The fear or effects of
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some cultural issues, coupled with the lack/low levels of education (which is as a result of negative attitude towards female education in the past) provide extrinsic motivations to entrepreneurship. Considering that only one-tenth of the respondents mention intrinsic motivational factor like inborn traits. It can therefore be concluded that the culture of the people largely ‘push’ than ‘pull’ women into entrepreneurship, thereby breeding more necessity-driven women entrepreneurs.
5.1.4 Evaluating Gender Stereotypes and Women Entrepreneurship
The Nabdam community is not exempted from Gendered stereotypes in relation to entrepreneurship as all respondents indicate. Successful entrepreneurship is viewed as a male pursuit since it involves time, physical and emotional strength, financial management, and the ability to take risks which women are perceived to lack. Hence, women owned-ventures are expected to be within small limits in terms of growth. From the interview session,
R7 indicates: “Well, my father-in-law and husband kicked against my venturing into business. They said chasing money is not for women. It was a fight and was frustrating.
It took the plea of my mother-in-law to get me out here. Truthfully, it got to a point I nearly gave-up.”
Similarly R11 expresses: “Well, the mind-set of the people here is that a successful business woman achieved that through voodoo or witchcraft. Errrrrrrn….. It is the women you hear being accused of using that for business prosperity. They never speak such of male business owners.”
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However, R 8 adds: “When I wanted to start this business I sought capital from my brother. He asked me if I could I answered the affirmative. It was clear he did not believe in my ability and therefore advised I start very small at home to test my strength.
And that was what happened”
The study further asks the respondents the effects of the gendered stereotype in relation to entrepreneurship on their businesses. In response, 85% specify it negatively affects their ventures while the remaining 15% opine they are able to handle it. For instance,
R7 posits: “Yes. But with me it was the start-up stages. I nearly decided not to anymore because of the opposition I faced at home. So I decided to start small. And right now, I am alright doing my business.”
R11 adds: “Well, I don’t mind because I know what I get from it though I sometimes get worried upon hearing such negative comments.”
The study therefore observes that the women entrepreneurs are psychologically affected by these gendered stereotypes and this lead them to operate small businesses in low- value adding in order to keep the status quo. Hence, the stereotype threat theory holds in the study context.
5.1.5 Cultural Practices and Women Entrepreneurship
The study explores the specific cultural practices that have effects on the ability of women to successfully engage in entrepreneurship. In effect, 35% out of the total respondents cite some practices that are helpful in the running of business. The
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remaining 65% see no cultural issue that help or promote their ventures. However, all respondents mention some cultural practices which they feel are detrimental to the growth and expansion of their businesses.
5.1.5.1: Cultural practices that promote or limit women entrepreneurship
Practice Percentage Cultural practices beneficial to WE Strong family ties 35%
Cultural practices detrimental to WE Social cohesion (value for funerals) 70% Traditional belief about the role of women in 60% families Limitation on the movement of women 55% (especially the married) The believe on the small and less profitable 45% nature of businesses women should operate Negative attitude towards industrious women 35% Source: Field Data, 2017
The strong family ties existing in the community enables women entrepreneurs gain support from home. As a result of the value for the extended family system, women entrepreneurs gain support from home which enable them in operating their businesses.
Through strong family ties, women entrepreneurs are able to gain unpaid human resource. It is therefore not surprising that three-quarters of the women entrepreneurs have no paid employees. Similarly, others explain that by virtue of the extended family, their burdens at home in terms of household chores lessened. In their absence, there are people who cook, and do other works and this gives them more time to spend at the business premises. They however quickly add that enjoying this benefit is dependent on the good relationship one creates with the other members of the family and did not
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necessarily mean one has no responsibilities at home; it only lessened. This is what R13 and R18 have to say:
“Ok. I will say our value for the extended family is helping my business. In that, I live in a family house and I relate well with the other women at home. So when it comes to household chores, they help me. Of course, it isn’t every house work that they will do in my stead. But they are very helpful. […]. This gives me more time at the shop and I run my business with a relaxed mind, knowing things are in order at home. If I were living with just my husband and kids, I wouldn’t have had such a privilege.” - R13
“I get help from my family in terms of workers in my shop. I live in an extended family house and they help me. So I do not need to employ someone. I believe that is helping my business save money.” – R18
However, on the cultural issues or practices that are detrimental to women entrepreneurship, respondents mention time consuming funeral rites, limitations on movement of women, especially the married, position and role of women in families, the believe on the small and less risky nature of businesses women should operate and the negative attitude towards industrious women.
Out of 100%, 70% of the respondents state that the number of days spent in performing funeral rites are too much and affects their ventures. According to them, it takes three and four days to perform the funerals of men and women respectively. However, these days could be extended depending on the financial capability of the family, especially children of the deceased. The value placed on funerals means that funerals are not a
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family affair but a community’s, and full participation is expected. These relatively high number of days spent at the funeral houses have a toll on businesses, especially those who have no support in terms of human resource. It is added that leaving a business in the care of someone else yields insufficient results. This is stressed by R2 as she says:
“Well, specifically, I will say our funeral rites are too involving and usually take many days. If you don’t participate in them too, they say heeey! […]And in our culture, a funeral is not just a family affair. The community supports so we usually have to be actively involved. So you can imagine what will happen if I have to attend a funeral, perhaps in my father’s house. I will have to either lock up the shop or leave it in the care of my daughters who are not experts like I am. This is slowing the growth of my business because it is not once or twice that I go for these funerals during the season for funerals.”
Also, the role of women in the family as wives, mothers, and care takers of the family as created by culture poses as a challenge to women entrepreneurs. Aside the responsibility of household chores, women are to take care of children, the elderly, and the sick in families. As a result, women entrepreneurs have limited time to concentrate on business. In some cases, women have to temporarily discontinue business to handle family responsibilities. This results in the loss of business capital or customers. In support of the foregoing discussion, the response of two respondents are depicted below:
“I have much responsibilities at home and it affects my business paaaa. My husband, my children and others are all on me. Also, though I run my own business, I still engage
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in farm work. So my business gets disrupted especially during rainy seasons because there is usually much farm work to do. So today you are out selling, tomorrow you are not. How will the business grow? But since you are a woman you have no power to say that you would leave the work and rather come out to attend to your business.” – R3
“There was a time my mother fell ill. I had to go take care of her in Accra for more than three months because I am her only female child. I locked my shop. As a result, I lost my capital. […]I struggled to revive my business.” – R10
Over two-thirds of the respondents mention the limitation on the movement of women as described earlier, as a cultural factor affecting the ventures of women entrepreneurs.
The ability to travel to other areas for business purposes depends on another person
(husbands, in most cases). And when permission is not granted, plans with respect to the journey must change. This is in accordance with culture. This, as the respondents indicate sometimes affects the replenishment of stock in their businesses. Also, it affects the time they close from work since they are not expected to stay outside the home at certain “odd hours”, of which some businesses such as beer bars thrive better during these hours.
R4 therefore laments: “Women are deemed inferior to men and our culture demands we the married ones always seek permission form our husbands before taking any step.
For instance, these already-made clothes you see hanging belong to me. I go to Kumasi to pick them. But sometimes my husband denies me the go ahead to travel when I really need to. This all is affecting my business. Again, in our culture, the needs and wants of
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the men is what is considered as priority and we the women have no right and no say in decision making. So we need to abide.”
Moreover, the community expects women to engage in small and less risky businesses.
Certain business sectors are exclusively for men. This probably is a deliberate effort to limit the financial progress of women since it is perceived that financially successful women are disrespectful. As a result, women find it difficult to engage in vibrant business sectors that yield much profit like men do. It is observed that gold mining and gold-trading is the current brisk business ongoing in the district. Alas, no woman is involved in this business because of the idea that that kind of business is not for women.
Out of curiosity, the research enquires why women are not in the gold-trading business, in response, R4 believes:
“Abaaaaaa, that one is a man’s business.”
Nonetheless, the negative attitude exhibited towards industrious women is worrying.
Women who are perceived to be too industrious are tagged as irresponsible women who have substituted their homes for business. The local cliché is that “she has married the business”. This is probably because schedules of business do not permit them to fully concentrate on their homes. They are then considered as being too money conscious to the detriment of their homes. Apparently, some men do not wish to have such spouses.
Hence, most women entrepreneurs are only just seeking ‘daily bread’ from their business. This attitude in limiting them in terms of business expansion and growth, as well as preventing new entrants into the entrepreneurial space since they want to focus on their families so to gain a good name. To climax the negative disposition towards women entrepreneurship, the story of R2 is presented:
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“They don’t like industrious women here ooo. After I married, I wanted to learn how to sew. I told my husband. He agreed and bought me a sewing machine. But my father in-law kicked against it and said their family do not accept women who search for money. So he sold it. I felt he was not in support because his son bought the sewing machine. So I travelled to Kumasi to work and bought my own sewing machine from the money I made. My father-in-law still kicked against it. So I decided to change a business by stubbornly starting to sell little little provisions. He still had a problem with me. He used to say that my husband sells in the market and I as a woman have also neglected the house by selling in the market. But I turned a deaf ear to his complaints.”
5.1.6 Analysing the Contributions of Women Entrepreneurs to Society
The study discovers the contributions of women entrepreneurs to society. The contributions given include helping the needy, tax contributions, and reduction in social vices. Some respondents mention more than one contribution. Therefore, each contribution mentioned is tabulated against the sample size.
Table 5.1.6.1 Contributions of women entrepreneurship
Contribution Percentage Helping the needy 50% Tax 35% Reduction of social vices 25% Role modelling 20% Developmental infrastructure 10% Employment 10% Variety 5% Source: Field Data, 2017
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Seemingly, the desire to help the needy is key to most women entrepreneurs in the study area as half of the respondents state it as their contributions to society. This is done thorough lending or dashing out items to people in need. This is an indication that charity is a virtue in the Nabdam culture. Aside, helping the needy, some respondents deem the payment of tax to the district assembly through market tolls as a contribution to society. They believe that the tax contributions contributed to not just the developmental issues of the district only, but Ghana as a whole. However, through entrepreneurship, women are able to provide the needs of their children, thereby reducing the social vices they could have engaged in. Aside keeping their children from social vices, some respondents believe the help they offer to the needy also help reduce social vices. Since one could easily borrow an item, it reduces the burden to gain cash to purchase items which could push one into a social vice. Again, the idea of role modelling is important in society. As such, some women entrepreneurs indicate they have become role models to others, especially younger generations. They specify that through them, other women would realize the essence of women in self-employment and emulate. This will help in poverty alleviation in the society. The contribution towards infrastructure in the community is also named. Situating the business in the township of the community help beautify the community as one-tenth of the respondents state. This beautification is part of infrastructural development of the community. Most importantly, a tenth of the respondents remark that their contribution to society lies in the provision of employment. As a result, some other people now have a source of livelihood. Only a respondent makes it known that her business is helping offer variety to customers because without it, customers would have limited sellers to
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choose from. Comments from the in-depth interview are shown below to support the foregoing discourse:
“Though my business might not have helped the community in any big way, it has helped individuals. For instance, I usually give my provisions out on credit to people who are really in need of it. And when I used to sell “yor ke gari” (gari and beans), a lot of people were benefiting from it by eating for free. Also, at least, I have been able to train my children with the money I make from this business. Perhaps they would have been criminals if I were not able to take care of them. Which would have been detrimental to society. But now they are responsible individuals and that has been my little contribution to the society.” – R2
“My business has helped the community to have variety to choose from. Also it has helped to beautify this community in terms of development.”- R9
“I have employed people in this community who would have otherwise been idle. Now, they are also able to feed themselves and their families. I also pay toll to the district assembly which I believe goes to government coffers for developmental projects, even if not in this community, elsewhere.” –R11
“I am able to help others that I feel need help. Some buy on credit from me. I feel this is help to the society because if I had insisted on cash, it could have pushed the person into a social vice in order to be able to afford. And even at church, the last time there were raising funds for a building. I was able to contribute. All because I have a trade.”
- R12
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The contributions majority of the respondents indicate seem to border on human development. To the women entrepreneurs, human existence is paramount. This portrays a human orientation in the district where people are rewarded for being kind, caring and unselfish.
5.1.7 Women Entrepreneurs Benefit too
The act of entrepreneurship is beneficial to women. All respondents in the study area indicate entrepreneurship has been of great help to them.
Table 5.1.7.1 Benefits Gained from Entrepreneurship
Benefit Percentage Ability to provide basic needs 80% Opportunity to be own boss 30% Opportunity to socialize 5% Source: Field Data, 2017
Largely, entrepreneurship has made it possible for women entrepreneurs to provide basic needs such as food, clothing, better health care and education for themselves and their children. Almost all of the respondents highlight this, indicating that the ability to provide basic needs is the most important gain these women desire from entrepreneurship. This explains why necessity-driven entrepreneurs dominate the women entrepreneurship arena in the district. Perhaps, the focus on the ability to provide basic needs through entrepreneurship is as a result of the lack of high need for achievement among women as constructed by culture. Hence,
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R2 states: “As for me this my business has helped me oooo. It is through it that my children have been able to go to school. We also feed, wear, and bath through it.”
Similarly, R1 indicates: “It has been helpful. Why am I saying this? If my child goes hungry, he could end up in social vices which are detrimental to society. This business has helped us in our feeding. What is more than feeding? That alone, I am grateful to
God.”
Also, the opportunity entrepreneurship offers to individuals to be their own boss is identified by the respondents as a benefit. Resultantly, these women no longer have to travel to other parts of the country, especially Kumasi to work for others. This means that developments in women entrepreneurship could help reduce rural-urban migration, a phenomenon government is battling with, and promote local development.
“My children have become better in terms of feeding and schooling. And I work for myself. I need not go to Kumasi to work for someone again. Wherever I go, I can use this trade to work to help myself.” – R13
Lastly, a respondent is happy to state that her involvement in entrepreneurship gives her the opportunity to socialize with others thereby promoting social cohesion and reducing conflicts. She says:
“[…]. And also, it has improved my social life. Because I operate a business and not always at home, I get to meet new people to socialize with which was not the same at home.” – R4
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5.2 Discussion of Findings
This section discusses the findings of the study with existing literature.
5.2.1 Culture Acts as a ‘Push’ Motivational Factor to Women Entrepreneurship
The culture of the Nabdam district is found to largely force women to be entrepreneurial. The study finds the culture to be one motivational factor to women entrepreneurship. To begin with, the inability of women to gain inheritance and own landed properties, increases the poverty levels of women. This creates the need for financial liberation, leading to the choice of entrepreneurship as a means of reducing these poverty levels. This inability of women to gain inheritance and own landed properties is an indication of gender inequality in the district. Hence, gender inequality coerces women into entrepreneurship. This finding is similar to that of Aidis et al.,
(2007) and Baughn et al., (2006) who find that gender inequality pushes women into entrepreneurship. Also, the fear of widowhood rites is a key motivational factor to women entrepreneurship. As observed by the respondents, women who are financially cable and can demonstrate the ability of taking care of themselves and their children are usually not forced to practice some traditions relating to widowhood. To attain financial ability and hence escape this tradition, some women opt for entrepreneurship.
Moreover, the lack or low levels of formal education among most women above the age of 25 in the district, which is a result of the lack of value placed on educating the female child in the past, led most of the respondents into entrepreneurship. In the past, culturally, formal education for the female child was deemed unnecessary and the male child was given preference. The respondents therefore feel that since they lack the
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necessary skills for employment in the formal/government sector, the last resort is self- employment, mimicking marginality thesis (Adom, 2014). The discourse of women venturing into entrepreneurship as a result of lack/low levels of education reverberates the findings of Adom (2015) who finds lack of education as a key motivation to women entrepreneurship.
Hence, the culture of the people in the Nabdam district breed more necessity-driven than opportunity-driven women entrepreneurs, making the women entrepreneurship arena dominated by necessity-driven entrepreneurs. This resonates with the findings of
Malach et al. (2010) that necessity-driven entrepreneurship is predominant among women; especially those in poor countries depicting the role of inequality and exclusion of women in entrepreneurship.
The foregoing cultural issues identified as being push motivational factors to women entrepreneurship in the district tend to depict a high degree of power distance (Hofstede,
1984) and the traditional value dimension of culture (Inglehart, 1997; Inglehart &
Baker, 2000; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005). It can therefore be said that cultures with relatively high power distance breed more entrepreneurs, of which most are necessity- driven entrepreneurs, than cultures with low degrees of power distance. This disconfirms the findings of Busenitz and Lau (1996) who suggest that entrepreneurship thrives in cultures where less value is placed on power distance.
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5.2.2 Culture as a Determinant of the Size and Sector of Business of Women
Entrepreneurs
Culture plays a key role in the size and sector of business women operate as per the findings of this study. Women entrepreneurs in the study area largely operate small businesses in low value-value adding sectors such as retailing and services. This holds an Akan (an ethnic group in Ghana) proverb: “women sell garden eggs and not gunpowder” to be true per Adom (2015 p19). Culturally, women are expected to show modesty in most areas of life: business inclusive. This has had an impact on the size of business women operate as they tend to feel more comfortable operating small businesses in sectors that are less profitable and demand little or no value addition to end-products.
Also, traditionally, some sectors of businesses are carved for women and are hence female dominated. Again, the general impression of entrepreneurship being a career path for men than women, tend to make women have less faith in their ability to succeed in such a field. To minimize risk, they tend to start and operate small firms in less risky sectors. Carter and Marlow (2007) and Hallward-Dremier, (2013) note that women- owned enterprises are concentrated in congested and low-value adding sectors such as services and trading, which this study iterates, attributing the cause to culture rather than lack of ability. Also, Brush, (2006) and Evers & Walters, (2000) also mention that women usually operate in more traditional sectors such as services. Therefore it can be concluded that the cause of the dominance of women in micro, small and traditional sectors like retailing and services is more of cultural than factors such as difficulty in gaining finance and lack of skills. Hence, the findings of Akehurst et al., (2012) which
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attribute the female dominance in less value adding and small sectors to difficulty in gaining finance and lack of skills is disconfirmed.
5.2.3 Culture as a Limitation to Women Entrepreneurs’ Growth and Expansion
The study discovers that culture largely limit the growth and expansion women-owned businesses. This echoes the findings of GEM (2015) and FEI (2015) who posit that culture creates additional barriers for women entrepreneurs, making it difficult for them to run businesses. For instance, the culture of the study area places much respect and value for the dead. This has resulted in the spending of relatively many days in funeral performance: it takes three and four days for men and women respectively. Due to this strong value, people in the community are expected to engage fully in the performance of these funeral rites, making most women entrepreneurs usually absent from their business premises attending to these social obligations to the detriment of business. The expectant involvement of all and sundry depicts social cohesion in the community.
Also, the limitation on the movement of women, especially the married, is detrimental to women entrepreneurship. This limits their ability to engage in business in other communities, affect their stock replenishment rate, and exposes them to limited social networks. This finding highlights USAID (2010) who reveal that the lack of mobility of women entrepreneurs restricts them from running businesses at desired places as well as limit their direct interaction with customers. Similarly, Sullivan and Arthur
(2006) maintain that women have less freedom in their mobility and this negatively affects their engagement in business.
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Additionally, the position and role of women as wives, mothers, and care takers in the family is detrimental to women entrepreneurship. As a result of these duties, women entrepreneurs have limited time to concentrate on business. This is an iteration of the findings of USAID (2010), De Vita et al., (2014) as well as Cesaroni and Sentuti (2014) who report that women, especially in developing countries play the role of family caregivers as defined by traditional values and norms, and this necessitates the integration of business with domestic activities, which most women are unable to handle. Moreover, the negative attitude towards industrious women is a challenge to the growth and expansion of women-owned enterprises. Industrious women are tagged with irresponsibility and are considered to substitute family responsibilities for money seeking ventures. This negative tag is causing most women entrepreneurs to aim less at business growth and expansion. This therefore confirms the findings of Woldie and
Adesua (2000) who reveal that women entrepreneurs face additional barriers to success arising from negative social attitudes towards them.
However, strong family ties is found to be key in the success of women entrepreneurs.
This is in line with the findings of Waldinger et al., (1990) and Zamberi (2011) who find that strong family ties is instrumental in the success of women entrepreneurs.
Through strong family ties, which is evident in the value for the extended family system, women entrepreneurs gain free or cheaper human resource from family members of which Belwal, et al., (2012) state that the employees of women-owned enterprises are usually unskilled relatives. It also resonances the discoveries of UNIDO
(2010) that family support is one of the most vital factors impacting women in business, whether for financial or network support, or as unpaid manpower. This reduces the operational cost of these women-owned ventures. Additionally, strong family ties
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enable some women entrepreneurs to have lesser responsibilities in terms of household chores at home since they live with other women as a unified family. This gives them some ample time to concentrate on business. It must however be stated that the availability of this help depends on how well one related with the other members of the family.
5.2.4 Contributions of Women Entrepreneurs to Society Mainly Focus on Human
Development
Women entrepreneurs contribute significantly to societies. Their contributions in the study area tend to focus more on the human development. This however could be due to the humane orientation in the area. The contributions of women entrepreneurs cover; helping the needy, reducing social vices, serving as role models, tax contribution, provision of employment, providing infrastructural development, as well as providing variety for customers to choose from. Majority of the women entrepreneurs are more concerned about help to the needy by lending items to people who cannot readily afford and giving out items for free. This they believe results in reduction in social vices since it lessens the burdens of people to have ready cash before they are able to access some necessities of life. Also, by virtue of entrepreneurship, most women have been able to give better life and education to their children. This prevents them from engaging in social vices which are detrimental to society. This is in tune with the revelation of Dzisi
(2008) that the engagement of women in entrepreneurship has positive social ramifications on the social environment within which they find themselves.
The women entrepreneurs also believe they serve as role models to others. This they hold as a contribution to society because when more women get into the entrepreneurial
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arena, the poverty levels of society will lessen. Also, women entrepreneurs in the study area contribute to the revenue of the country through taxes. As a result of the informal nature of most of their businesses, taxes are paid by way of ‘market tolls’. This they believe contribute to the developmental issues of the district and the country as a whole.
Additionally, the ventures of women provide employment for themselves as well as others. This resonates with the discoveries of Buame et al., (2013), Singh & Bewal,
(2008), De Vita et al., (2014) and Welsh et al.,(2016), who state that women entrepreneurs contribute significantly to poverty reduction and job creation. Lastly, through the creation of enterprises by women, consumers have variety of products or shops to choose or buy from.
5.2.5 Spousal Support is Necessary for Women Entrepreneurs
Spousal support is discovered to be a necessary tool in the success of women entrepreneurs. This acmes the results of Mordi et al., (2010) and Verheul, et al., (2006) that family/spousal support for women entrepreneurs is instrumental in their success as it reduces financial burden and emotional breakdowns among women. For this study, the decision of women to tread the entrepreneurial pathway is dependent on spouses.
This makes spousal support vital because once a spouse is not in support of a woman’s entrepreneurial intentions, she must disband that intention in accordance with culture.
Also, the fact that the movement of women in the study area is determined by their spouses means that the lack of spousal support could lead to business discontinuance or poor performance.
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5.3.6 Entrepreneurship is Perceived as a Preserve for the Uneducated in the
District
In the study area, majority of the women entrepreneurs either have no or low levels of formal education. Hardly are women who have relatively higher levels of education such as senior high school certificate and above engage in entrepreneurship. This presupposes that entrepreneurship is meant for uneducated women. Within the ethnic group of the district, educated people are expected to be employed in government sector. Hence, entrepreneurship and therefore self-employment is perceived as a resort for the uneducated who have no means to formal employment. It therefore means that higher levels of education among the female populace in the district is likely to cause a decline in female entrepreneurship as suggested also by Tambunan (2009). This is however contrary to the findings of Delmar and Davidsson (2004) who propose that higher rates of education leads to higher rates of entrepreneurship.
5.4.7 Majority Women Entrepreneurs are Ignorant of Business Registration/
Formalization
Majority of the women entrepreneurs are ignorant of business registration and hence, formalization. This could however be as a result of the no/low levels of education among them. Generally, the women entrepreneurs express that they have no idea they are to register their ventures with the registrar general’s department in order to formalize it. They think the payment of market fees is an indication of the registration and formalization of their businesses. This ignorance is more of a result of lack of education than gender. The outcome may hinder the formalisation of the informal economy agenda by the government of Ghana.
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5.4.8 Women Entrepreneurship Have the Capacity of Reducing Rural-Urban
Migration
Importantly, the study finds that women entrepreneurship has the key to reducing rural- urban migration in the district. The women entrepreneurs state that through the engagement in business they are able to provide their basic necessities and have stopped travelling to the southern part of the country to seek employment. The norm has been that women travel to the southern part of Ghana to work as head porters (popularly known as “kayayo or kayaye in Ga language) especially during the dry seasons (when there are no farming activities). It is relevant to state that rural-urban migration which promotes Kayayo is a menace facing the Ghanaian government. Hence, the development of women entrepreneurship, especially in rural areas is likely to have a positive impact in curbing this peril.
5.3 Summary of Chapter
This chapter analysed data in accordance with the themes that were derived from the data. These themes are: understanding culture; the community’s perspective, motive of women entrepreneurs, gender stereotypes and women entrepreneurship, cultural practices and women entrepreneurship, contributions of women entrepreneurs to society, and benefits of entrepreneurship to women. It also analysed data on the profile of respondents which presented their characteristics in order to understand the research issue from their perspective. Findings of the study emerged after data analysis. These findings were then discussed in relation to existing literature.
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CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSISON & RECOMMENDATIONS
6.0 Introduction
This chapter presents a summary of the research findings, conclusions of the study, recommendations (for policy makers, opinion leaders and other stakeholders) as well as proposed future directions on this research topic.
6.1 Summary of the Study
The study explored the role of culture in women entrepreneurship in the Nabdam district in the Upper East Region of Ghana. It specifically sought to determine the role of culture in the enterprise start-up intention/behaviour of women, identify the cultural practices that have effects on women entrepreneurship, as well as understand the contributions of women entrepreneurs to society. In this regard, literature was reviewed regarding the concept and meaning of entrepreneurship, the contributions of entrepreneurship to society, women entrepreneurship, motives of women entrepreneurs, gender gap in entrepreneurship, nature of women owned-businesses, challenges of women entrepreneurs, culture, culture and entrepreneurship, among others. Also, the stereotype threat theory was used to give meaning to the entrepreneurial world of women in the Nabdam district. Further, an overview of the
Nabdam district and women entrepreneurship in the Nabdam district was given.
The study adopted a qualitative research approach using a single case study design.
Data were collected from some women entrepreneurs through in-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. Interview sessions were audio recorded and
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transcribed through translation since all the respondents responded in Nabit (the language of the Nabdam ethnic group). Subsequently, the transcribed data was analysed thematically. The findings of the study as derived from the analysis of data were then presented and discussed in relation to existing literature.
6.2 Conclusion of the Study
In line with the main objective of the study which is to find out the role of culture in women entrepreneurship, the following findings emerged:
Firstly, the study reveals that culture pushes women into entrepreneurship through the fear of some cultural practices and the desire to escape them, lack of value for girl-child education in the past, and the gender unevenness that has increased the poverty levels of women within the study area. Also, culture determines the size and sectors of business women engaged in; in this case small size businesses in low value-adding sectors such as retailing and service business. Due to gender stereotypes, inadequate recognition for women and their work, among others, women tend to be oriented towards and feel more comfortable operating smaller enterprises and in less risky or challenging sectors. In relation to the effects of culture on women entrepreneurship, the study ascertains that the culture of the Nabdams largely limit the growth and expansion of women-owned enterprises. The predominant social cohesion, limitation on the movement of women, role of women in families, and the negative gender stereotypes relating to entrepreneurship, among others are found as factors that pose barriers and restrictions to women and their businesses. However, strong family ties is found as key to success of women entrepreneurs.
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Further, the contributions of women entrepreneurs mainly focus on human development. Though women entrepreneurs contribute to tax contributions, employment and infrastructural development of the community, contributions such as helping the needy, serving as role models, and reducing social vices, which border on human development are paramount and of importance to them. Hence, the betterment of the lives of the people in the community is of utmost importance to women entrepreneurs. Moreover, spousal support is discovered to be necessary in the triumph of women entrepreneurs. Not only do women entrepreneurs need spousal support at the inception of business, they need it throughout the lifespan of the business. The lack of it could lead to business discontinuance as well as business stagnation.
Again, the women entrepreneurship arena in the district is perceived as a reserve for the uneducated. This is due to the norm of educated women seeking only formal employment and ignoring self-employment. It is important to add that majority of the women entrepreneurs operate informal businesses. They however indicate they are unaware that business registration for formalization purposes differ from paying market tolls and going under health screening by sanitation officers. This ignorance, perhaps, is as a result of the lack or low levels of formal education among these women entrepreneurs. Lastly, the study finds that women entrepreneurship has the potential of reducing rural-urban migration in the district. Women entrepreneurs who engaged in this practice in the past have discontinued since they now run their own businesses.
The findings of this study as presented above is an indication that the study has achieved its main objective. It aimed to find out the role culture plays in women entrepreneurship.
Hence, the study has been successful in achieving its objectives.
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Nonetheless, based on the findings, the research concludes that the culture of the
Nabdams is not favourable for the progress of women entrepreneurs. Though it creates a desire which they sought to satisfy through entrepreneurship, it works against the growth and expansion of their enterprises. This means that the culture breeds more necessity-driven women entrepreneurs who face limitations as a result of that same culture. Hence, the “female business under-performance” thesis could be a result of culture rather than inability of women. Women-owned businesses are generally underperforming as a result of cultural barriers and not because women entrepreneurs lack business and managerial skills or the strength and intelligence to run their own enterprises.
6.3 Recommendations
On the basis of the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made:
Firstly, there is the need for an integrated approach for fostering female entrepreneurship that does not relegate the predominant cultural structures and gender unevenness due to culture. Whenever policy makers are rolling out programs to stimulate entrepreneurship, especially in rural areas and hence the Nabdam district, attention should be paid to the specific cultural issues affecting women or women entrepreneurs. Hence, programs should be implemented to tackle such issues. For instance, in relation to the rural enterprise program by the Ghana government, special programs or models could be established for only women and these programs could target making women break the status quo of operating in less profitable and low-value adding sectors by offering training in more challenging sectors in order to equip them for that.
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Secondly, women entrepreneurs in the district need education on the importance of business registration and hence formalization since Ghana is looking forward to formalize its informal sector. This education could enlighten them on the need for and the processes involved in business registration.
Thirdly, the opinion leaders in the various communities of the district need to promote a cultural orientation that is favourable to women entrepreneurship. The discrimination and gender stereotypes that affect the work of women in the communities should be minimized if not abolished, in order to promote women entrepreneurship. This is because women entrepreneurship appears to be the key to societal development.
Lastly, more educated women within the district need an entrepreneurial orientation in order to understand that entrepreneurship is not only an endeavour for the uneducated women. The district needs this intervention because in about a decade to come, more women are likely to gain higher education and this could lead to fewer women becoming entrepreneurs. This is likely to affect the constant efforts by government to promote entrepreneurship.
6.4 Future Research Directions
The study recommends that researchers who intend studying this research area in future could extend the scope of the study by including other districts especially within the same region. Also, a study could be conducted to ascertain how the Ghanaian national culture affect entrepreneurship. Again, a research could be conducted on culture and entrepreneurship in general which would include both male and female entrepreneurs
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in the district. This will provide insights into the effects of culture on general entrepreneurship. Lastly, a comparative study could be done to ascertain the differential effects of culture on male and female entrepreneurs since studies have revealed that male and female-owned ventures face different constraints of which culture is one.
6.5 Chapter Summary
This chapter summarized the study by stating the aim of the study and how it was carried out. It went further to conclude the study by indicating the findings of the study and whether the key research question was answered. Recommendations were also made for policy makers and opinion leaders especially. Lastly, the chapter made suggestions in relation to future research.
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APPENDIX I: INTERVIEW GUIDE
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA BUSINESS SCHOOL
MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN MARKETING
QUESTIONNAIRE:
Dear Respondent,
This questionnaire is designed to assist the researcher to explore “culture and women entrepreneurship in the Nabdam district”. This exercise is essentially academic and as part of the requirements for the award of an Mphil degree in Marketing. Your response is of utmost importance and your contributions would be treated with the maximum confidentiality.
In the case of any queries or comments regarding this study, kindly contact me on
0540848984 or e-mail at [email protected]
Thank you
SECTION A: PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS
1. What is the name of your business?
2. What is your age?
24-28 [ ] 29-33 [ ] 34-38 [ ] 39-43 [ ] 44-48 [ ] 49-53 [ ] 54-59 [ ]
3. Are you married?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
4. Were you married at the time of starting this business?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
5. What is your Educational level?
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No formal education [ ] Basic [ ] Secondary [ ] Tertiary [ ]
6. How long has the business been in operation?
1-5 [ ] 6-10 [ ] 11-15 [ ] 16-20 [ ] 31-35 [ ] above 35 [ ]
7. Which sector does your business operate in?
Retailing [ ] Wholesaling [ ] Manufacturing [ ] Services [ ]
8. Have you registered your business?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
9. If not registered why?
10. Do you have employees?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
11. If no, whom do you work with?
12. Do you pay those you work with?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
SECTION B: CULTURE AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
1. In your opinion, what is culture?
2. What is the nature of your culture? Is it discriminatory against any gender?
3. If yes, how?
4. Are there gender stereotypes in this community that are related to women and
entrepreneurship?
5. If yes, how are they affecting you and your business?
6. What motivated you to start your own business?
7. Did you face challenges from your family and the society in starting your
business because of your gender?
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8. What are some of the cultural practices within your community that influenced
your intention to start your business?
9. Are there cultural practices in this community that are promoting the growth of
your business?
10. If yes, how do they?
11. Are there cultural practices in this community that are limiting the growth of
your business?
12. If yes, how do they?
13. What contributions have your business made to society so far?
14. Have you benefited from entrepreneurship in any ways?
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APPENDIX II: CROSS CASE ANALYSIS TABLE
ANALYSING THE FINDINGS ACROSS CASES
R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Culture acts as a ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ push motivational factor to Women Entrepreneurshi p Strong family ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ties aid the progress of women entrepreneurs Generally, ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ culture limits the growth and expansion of women-owned enterprises Women ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ entrepreneurship is a preserve of uneducated women Contributions of ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ women entrepreneurs to society mainly focus on human development Spousal support ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ is necessary for women entrepreneurs Majority women ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ entrepreneurs are ignorant of business registration/ formalization Women ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ entrepreneurship have the capacity of reducing rural- urban migration
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