ABSTRACT
In the past years, the changing role of women in society reflects highly on entrepreneurship. The chapter tries to identify the trend in women entrepreneurship across different countries and regions with a specific emphasis on India. The available literature has been reviewed to highlight the existing gender bias and its contributing factors. A specific initiative has been taken to provide policy recommendations in addressing the issues of gender-based discrimination across different social groups. An overview of male and female participation in the workforce, and entrepreneurship in India, over the last two decades, reflects the gross disparity and discrimination that exists in terms of the lesser agency of women in the labor market. A thorough review of existing literature was conducted to explore gender bias in business. Responsible factors were identified globally and in India. The chapter adopted a psycho-social and socio-political approach to identify barriers in the patriarchal social hierarchy in terms of gender preference, inaccessibility to financial resources, vocational 92training, inadequate legal procedure, lack of agricultural freedom, and financial literacy. This chapter focuses on the changing components responsible for women to claim their rights in business in India. A few real examples of resistance in the narrative of women entrepreneurship were presented. This chapter also provides a set of policy recommendations towards the end. This chapter is based on the secondary data largely assorted from the data sources provided by the World Bank, India Census report, Global Entrepreneurship Index report, Mastercard Index report of Women Entrepreneurs, etc.
