Gender Differences in Business Related Experience amongst Smmes Owners in King Williams Town, South Africa: A Comparative Analysis

Herring Shava,Ellen Chenesai Rungani

doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p2687

Herring Shava, Ellen Chenesai Rungani

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p2687

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Abstract

This paper aimed at examining whether or not the level of business related experience conceptualised as managerial, industry and prior-business ownership experience differs across gender amongst SMME owners in King Williams Town, South Africa. Questionnaires were self-administered to 109 respondents (56 male and 53 female-owned SMMEs). Data obtained was statistically analysed by making use of the Chi-Square test to determine whether or not a significant association could be found between gender and the level of business related experience in the selected area of study. The findings revealed that a statistically significant association can be found between gender and the level of management experience as well as in the level of prior-business ownership experience. However, the study’s findings further revealed that no statistically significant association could be found between gender and the level of industry experience. On the basis of the findings, it is proposed that private and public firms should therefore set targets for women in senior roles as this would help female employees to acquire managerial and industry experience considered crucial in case they decide to operate their own Small, Medium and/or Micro Enterprises. Further, it is recommend that the business community, government and the community at large should encourage female business owners to work hand in hand with international networks such as the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs (FCEM) that have the potential for transferring knowledge and business related experience between different continents. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p2687

Highlights

Individuals with profound managerial, prior business ownership and industry experience can contribute different significant expertise in various business functional areas, more importantly in decision-making
The results reveal that male SMME owners represented by 75% outrank female SMME owners in prior business ownership experience represented by 61.76%
In order to increase the number of female managers, increasing the number of female entrepreneurs with managerial experience as well as industry experience in case they consider self-employment in the near future, requires a combined effort from the public sector, private sector and the general stakeholders

Summary

Introduction

Individuals with profound managerial, prior business ownership and industry experience can contribute different significant expertise in various business functional areas, more importantly in decision-making. The OECD (2008, p.29) reveals statistics from around the globe that explicitly portrays countries’ poor utilisation of human capital in both the public and private sectors. This is largely explained by the fact that in OECD nations, women constitute 40-50% of the labour force. Women in top management do not exceed 8% despite contributing nearly half of the labour force. This negatively affects creativity and innovativeness of SMMEs resulting in poor economic performance of the sector.

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