Economic Opportunities For Women Research Articles

Exploring Financial Inclusion among Women Entrepreneurs: A Survey in Hazaribagh District, Jharkhand

Financial inclusion is a critical aspect of economic empowerment, particularly for marginalized segments such as women entrepreneurs. This research investigates the landscape of financial inclusion among women entrepreneurs in Hazaribagh District, Jharkhand, aiming to identify challenges and opportunities for enhancing their financial participation. Through a comprehensive survey-based approach, this study explores various dimensions of financial inclusion, including access to financial services, utilization patterns, and perceptions among women entrepreneurs in the region. In Hazaribagh District, Jharkhand, where entrenched gender norms often limit women's economic opportunities, understanding the status of financial inclusion among women entrepreneurs becomes imperative. Previous studies suggest significant disparities in access to finance, hindering the growth of women-led businesses. This study seeks to address this gap by conducting a survey to assess the extent of financial inclusion among women entrepreneurs in Hazaribagh District. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect data from a sample of women entrepreneurs operating across various sectors in Hazaribagh District. The questionnaire encompassed sections on demographic details, access to financial services, borrowing and saving behaviors, financial literacy, and perceptions of financial institutions. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select respondents, ensuring representation from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Data collection occurred over a specific timeframe, and responses underwent analysis using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Analysis of the survey data revealed significant insights into the status of financial inclusion among women entrepreneurs in Hazaribagh District. Specifically, 72% of respondents reported limited access to formal financial services, citing factors such as distance to banking institutions and lack of awareness as primary barriers. Moreover, 58% of women entrepreneurs relied on informal sources of credit, indicating a substantial gap in formal financial engagement. Despite these challenges, 85% of respondents expressed a willingness to engage with formal financial institutions if provided with suitable products and services tailored to their needs. The discussion underscores the importance of targeted interventions to enhance financial inclusion among women entrepreneurs in Hazaribagh District. Strategies such as mobile banking initiatives, financial literacy workshops, and microfinance programs emerge as potential avenues for addressing existing gaps and empowering women economically. Furthermore, collaborative efforts involving government agencies, financial institutions, and non-profit organizations are essential for creating an enabling environment conducive to women's entrepreneurship development. This research delivers valuable insights into the state of financial inclusion among women entrepreneurs in Hazaribagh District, Jharkhand. By pinpointing barriers and opportunities, it provides a foundation for evidence-based policy interventions aimed at advancing women's economic empowerment. The findings underscore the significance of holistic approaches that tackle not only access to finance but also socio-cultural factors shaping women's entrepreneurial endeavors. Moving forward, sustained efforts are warranted to foster an inclusive financial ecosystem that empowers women entrepreneurs to thrive and contribute to the socio-economic fabric of the region. In conclusion, this study underscores the urgency of addressing the financial inclusion gap among women entrepreneurs in Hazaribagh District and offers actionable recommendations for policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders committed to promoting gender equality and inclusive economic growth.

Variation in Household Violence and Maternal Autonomy in Rural and Urban Areas: Their Effect on Child Health in Cameroon

This study examines the variations in household violence and maternal autonomy in rural and urban areas and their effect on child health in Cameroon. Using data from Cameron Demographic Health Survey (CDHS, 2018), a mixed-method approach (Ordinary Lease Square Regression and the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method) was used for the analysis. The study found that household violence had an insignificant negative effect on child health while maternal autonomy exhibited a very significant positive effect on child health globally, in rural and in urban areas in Cameroon. Also, the rates of household violence and maternal autonomy are significantly higher in urban areas than in rural areas in Cameroon. Policy recommendations includes raising awareness, providing educational and economic opportunities for women, improving health care services and strengthening legal framework to combat violence while strengthening maternal autonomy through educational and economic initiatives which improves their own and child health in both rural and urban settings in Cameroon.

Gender and global production network: De-feminization of the Indonesian apparel industry

This paper aims to measure the involvement of women in the global apparel industry. This article also examines the declining role of women in the apparel industry in Indonesia, even though exports have increased. This article also aims to analyze the phenomenon of the decline of women in the Indonesian apparel industry in the last fifteen years by using survey data for medium and large enterprises conducted by Statistics Indonesia. This study uses the Fixed Effect Model's regression analysis method for panel data. The results show that the apparel industry in Indonesia in the past fifteen years has shown a downward trend, which has led to the phenomenon of de-feminization. The phenomenon of de-feminization is a term used to describe the process of the exclusion of women from specific jobs or roles in society. The results also show that this phenomenon can have a significant impact on women's economic opportunities as well as their ability to participate in the community. According to the rising number of skilled workers and rising fixed capital employed in this industry, the phenomenon of de-feminization is a result of greater mechanization and an increase in skilled workers. Indonesia has a high female workforce, so this research has practical implications; female workers need to be maximally absorbed by industry to avoid high unemployment rates based on the theory of de-feminization in developing countries.

GENDER INEQUALITY OF WOMEN IN EDUCATION OR WHY WOMEN ARE UNDERREPRESENTED IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS?

The article is devoted to one of the main and topical problems of gender studies, namely, gender inequality of women in education when occupying senior management positions. The following categories are understood by the researchers as management positions in higher education institutions: rector, vice-rectors, president, head or director, who acts within the limits of their powers. Despite the fact that education is one of the most feminized branches of Ukrainian society, the heads of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine according to the Soviet tradition were (with a rare exception to the rule) men. The author analyzes gender differences in the distribution of power in the best higher education institutions of Ukraine according to the consolidated rating. Special attention is paid to the state of gender equality in leadership positions at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University. The author believes that one of the main tasks of gender is to find out the factors that prevent women from being active and being elected to leadership positions in institutions of higher education. The author believes that one of the main tasks of gender is to find out the factors that prevent women from being active and being elected to leadership positions in institutions of higher education. The article analyzes the scientific literature, in which the following factors are divided into «availability of offers» and «availability of demand»: «availability of offers» includes the potential readiness of women to occupy management positions in higher education institutions; «availability of demand» includes prejudices of educators regarding the leadership of women in the educational sphere, and in institutions of higher education in particular. The author examines the Gender Equality Index of the World Economic Forum, which contains four dimensions related to the subject of the study: economic opportunities for women in leadership positions; the level of women’s education and its quality; the state of women’s health and the possibility of its recovery; the degree of representation of women in leadership positions in the country. The article proposes ways to solve the situation regarding gender inequality of women in leadership positions in higher education institutions of Ukraine. As a way to improve the state of gender inequality of women in leadership positions in higher education institutions of Ukraine, it is proposed to conduct trainings or shortened courses on gender studies for students, teachers, scientists, senior managers of higher education institutions, which will help women believe in themselves, and the management of higher education institutions recognize the possibility of women’s leadership. In the future, it is planned to continue the development of this topic thanks to the analysis of the state of gender equality of women in the management positions of higher education institutions in the European educational environment and its comparison with the Ukrainian one, as well as the search for positive experience and ways to overcome the existing situation.

What are the causal conditions that lead to high or low environmental performance? A worldwide assessment

This study focuses on causal conditions that lead to high or low environmental performance (EPI) using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis for 156 countries in 2018. Data for the EPI, economic growth, labor share of GDP, political freedom, the role of women, press freedom, corruption, and urbanization were used. Research findings allow us to conclude that no individual causal condition meets the necessary condition (thresholds) for high or low EPI. Five sufficient configurations for high EPI were found: (i) high GDP per capita is sufficient for high EPI; (ii) highly urbanized countries where corruption is absent; (iii) urbanized countries that protect individual rights and liberties and women's economic opportunities; (iv) high labor share of GDP coupled with the protection of individual freedom and women's economic rights; and (v) countries with high individual and press freedom where corruption is absent. Four sufficient configurations for low EPI were found: (vi) lack of protection of women's economic rights; (vii) lack of press freedom; (viii) low GDP per capita and high corruption rates, and urbanization as a peripheral condition; and (ix) low GDP per capita and high corruption rates and labor as a peripheral condition. Policymakers must acknowledge that there are many paths to improve environmental performance, contingent on the country's initial environmental development level.

Women’s Development Towards Inclusive Growth: A Study of Selected South Asian Women

Economic growth incorporating women's participation opens many economic opportunities for women which not only upgrade women's status in society but also make growth more inclusive. Improved condition and position of women in society play an important role in developing women along with enhancing their economic role. Besides explaining the significant role of women in an economy. This paper also throws some light on the need for good governance to enhance their economic role. In this context to evaluate the effect of the development of women on inclusive growth panel data models named the Fixed-Effect and Random-Effect Models have been used. Moreover, the models of White, Rogers, and Driscoll-Kraay estimators are also applied for robustness considering the three selected South Asian countries for the period between 2000-2021. The study finds that developing women play an influential role in inclusive growth and this relationship becomes more significant in the presence of good governance. Thus, it has been recommended that there should be a special focus on government policies towards women’s education, health, and political representation to make economic growth more inclusive by enhancing their economic role through their development.

Exports to Improve Women's Economic Opportunities in Morocco

Exports to Improve Women's Economic Opportunities in Morocco

Organizational, economic or cultural? Firm-side barriers to employing women in Saudi Arabia

All-male firms are common around the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, where local norms often favor gender segregation. The integration of women into these previously all-male firms is an important driver of growth in economic opportunity for women. However, the determinants of firm integration decisions are complex and engage a broad set of issues including leadership priorities and beliefs, physical workspace constraints, organizational structure, regulatory compliance, and labor costs. We systematically analyze the results of a survey of firm owners and hiring managers in Saudi Arabia on the barriers to integrating women into the workplace. We show that personal opinions and manager demographics are of core importance: the features that are best able to identify firms that employ women are the respondent’s perceptions of women’s personal qualities, the cultural appropriateness of professional tasks, and the respondent’s own demographic characteristics. Other tangible costs or operational constraints to female hiring are second-order in a statistical sense. Firms that employ women are much more likely to view female employees favorably, and this seems to be the result of experience with women in the workplace rather than a manager’s broad attitude toward employing women.

Globalization and Disability Addiction in Working Populations: Unlocking the Global Correlates to Disability Addiction Calls for the Healthicization of Society.

Addiction behavior and the resulting short-term or long-term disabilities continue to increase globally, especially during the current COVID pandemic. We analyze how national measures of 38 global indices correlate with national addiction-related disability rates resulting from four primary addictive substances: alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and food. We utilized a canonical correspondence analysis to explore the relationships between 38 political, economic, and cultural characteristics and years of life lived with a short-term or long-term health loss in 78 countries. The model selection approach reduced 38 global indices to 13 explanatory variables (final model: F13 = 5·64, p < 0.001 after 1000 permutations). Results show that the following factors are correlated with increased addiction disabilities stemming from obesity, alcohol, drug, and tobacco use: political stability; voice and accountability; control of corruption; economic freedom; women economic opportunity; Human Development Index; individuality; masculinity; long-term orientation; indulgence; uncertainty avoidance; personal contact; and religious diversity. Health care policy makers should consider that national culture, political attributes, and economic characteristics can influence national disability rates resulting from addictions.

Gender Differentials in Entrepreneurship: Insights from a Multi-method Study

Gender inequality is an obstacle to inclusive growth, and literature reveals shortcomings in the basic entrepreneurial assumption of equal access to resources, support and economic opportunities for women. International bodies have emphasised the need to examine gender differentials at various levels like, country, organisational and individual levels. Our study is a novel attempt in this direction and aims to build a comprehensive understanding of gender differentials in entrepreneurship using multi-method research design. We analyse and integrate findings from the macro-level using national level datasets (NSSO and Economic Census) and the micro-level using surveys (primary data and GEM India data). Our results note a gender equality lacuna, calling for the need to include meaningful sex-disaggregated data in national surveys, the entrepreneurial intentions of women, behavioural traits impacting women entrepreneurs, the importance of entrepreneurship education, fear of failure, self-confidence and the need for role models. We propose a model of macro and micro factors impacting women entrepreneurship in developing countries.

Proactive and reactive responses to pregnancies resulting from sexual exploitation and abuse: an ecological model based on Haitian survivors’ experiences

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the lived experience of seeking justice and reparations related to conceiving a peacekeeper-fathered child.Design/methodology/approachBased on 18 semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted across Haiti in 2017, the authors mapped the experiences of Haitian mothers of peacekeeper-fathered children onto the ecological framework, proposing prevention/response strategies at the micro, meso and macro levels.FindingsThe findings mainly focus on reporting and access to support. Reporting was sometimes discouraged by the peacekeeper fathers due to the fear of being reprimanded. Among women who did report, some were told that nothing could be done, as the peacekeeper returned to his home country. Disclosure fatigue was common among participants who formally reported their pregnancies/peacekeeper-fathered children, particularly when promises of employment or child support failed to materialize. Overall, there was widespread distrust and disillusionment with the UN’s reporting and support system.Originality/valueTo improve the UN’s sexual abuse and exploitation prevention/response system at the micro level, the authors propose addressing personal knowledge/attitudes/beliefs through scenario-based and contextually relevant peacekeeper training and addressing the sexual/reproductive health needs of women and girls in proximity to peacekeeping bases. At the meso level, the UN should improve trust in reporting. Efforts to do so should include mandatory third-party deoxyribonucleic acid testing and banking, streamlined reporting mechanisms and removing the practice of automatically repatriating implicated peacekeepers. At the macro level, the authors recommend investments to improve educational and economic opportunities for women and girls, as well as revamping policies that contribute to impunity and absolve peacekeepers and troop-contributing countries of their responsibilities to provide child support.

Structural, everyday, and symbolic violence and the heightened vulnerability to HIV of women who use drugs in Tanzania

Women who use drugs shoulder a disproportionate burden of the HIV epidemic in Tanzania. The mechanisms through which violence contributes to their excessively high rates of HIV have not been explored. In this paper, we use concepts of everyday, symbolic, and structural violence to critically examine the relationship between violence and heightened HIV vulnerability of women who use drugs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We conducted cross-sectional surveys with 200 women who use drugs and follow-up, in-depth interviews with 30 survey participants who identified as living with HIV between November 2018 and March 2019. We drew from grounded theory methods to analyze qualitative data and complemented qualitative findings with survey results. Structural violence perpetuated constraints on women's economic opportunities and reduced their agency in sexual encounters manifesting in their disproportionately high rates of HIV. Nearly all women in our study engaged in sex work to meet basic needs and to support their drug use. Their involvement in overlapping drug use and sex work scenes exposed them to physical and sexual violence. Despite the pervasiveness of structural and everyday violence, some women reenacted agency by adopting strategies to maintain control and safety, and to exercise harm reduction. A multi-pronged, structural harm reduction strategy is critical to reducing violence experienced by women who use drugs and their ability to protect themselves from HIV.

Global Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Global Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Empowering woman through legal reforms-evidence from Saudi Arabian context

PurposeThis current paper aims to review the literature for two main reasons. First, to outline the propositions of women empowerment in manifesto of “Vision 2030”and how these implementations have added to woman’s success in different facets of the economy. Second, to review the current reforms made to empower woman under Saudi law published in 08/2019 when the Council of Ministers presented numerous revisions to civil and labour laws that increase women’s rights and discourse concerns of travel, employment and finance.Design/methodology/approachThe investigation is found on both an analysis of the secondary literature including records and information pertaining to the current economic alterations and improvements influencing women.FindingsDespite the various limitations in Saudi Arabia, many Saudi women are joining the workforce. Nowadays, Saudi female are selecting new professions which were previously unexplored. Study revealed that Saudi females in different organizational framework are equally competent as male in higher ranks, if not slightly higher (Al-Shamrani, 2015). Within this context, Saudi Arabia was labelled as one of the economies with the most progress towards gender equality since 2017 in the World Bank’s Women, Business and The Law 2020 report; the report attributed this advancement to the increases in freedom of movement and economic opportunities for women as a result of the aforementioned reforms.Originality/valueThis paper has reflected on the success of measures by government to empower woman in the thirst to fulfill “Vision 2030” in Saudi Arabian context.

Women, town councils, and the organisation of work in Bilbao and Antwerp: a north-south comparison (1400–1560)

AbstractIn this article, I compare women's work opportunities in Bilbao, in northern Castile, and Antwerp, in the Low Countries, from 1400 to 1560. I argue that the different organisation of work in the two towns had a great influence on women's economic opportunities. Whereas women in Antwerp often worked alongside other members of their household because of the town's dominant craft guilds, Bilbao's informal trades were open to women on their own, independent of their husband or another male relative. As a result, women in Bilbao are more visible in the sources and were able to exert more influence on the town council.

Does school learning shape gender ideology? Academic performance and adolescents’ attitudes toward gender practices

Despite research linking education to values, our understanding of the effects of academic learning on gender attitudes is still limited. Using sibling data collected over time, we investigate how learning in school, measured by achievement test scores, affects adolescents' views on gender issues both with and without direct implications for women's economic mobility. With fixed-effects models accounting for unobserved heterogeneity between high and low achievers, we show that the relationship between academic achievement and gender ideology is not spurious, but learning does not enlighten adolescents on all gender-related beliefs, either. Rather, school learning socializes both boys and girls into more liberal views on issues clearly related to women's economic opportunities. For views concerning dating practices or boy-girl interactions, which are irrelevant to the meritocracy-based mainstream values, academic performance has less consistent effects, with higher achievement scores sometimes associated with more conservative views among boys. Our results generally support the socialization and reproduction model of the role of school learning, although self-interest also explains high and low achievers' different attitudes on dating and other personal-realm gender practices.

A gender analysis of Covid-19’s impact on the Hungarian Labor Market

Ending of all forms of inequality both within and across nations is a central objective in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2005. The aim of SDG 5 is achieved gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030. Whereas SDG 10.2 has the aim to empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective sex or other demographic characteristics. After a century of impressive progress in women’s political and economic empowerment at the global level, overall economic opportunities for women still lag behind men. Empirical evidence indicates that women are more disadvantaged than men in labour markets across the world in terms of unemployment rates, labour force participation, employment vulnerability as well as segregation in jobs and economic sectors. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted men and women in the labour market different using Hungary as a case study. Based on a gender analysis of monthly labour market data before and during the first year of the pandemic (2015-2020), the study finds that females were more adversely affected in terms of labour market outcomes such as employment rates and unemployment rates. For instance, in all age brackets males had higher employment rates than males. Also, the employment rates for females during the first year of the pandemic was lower than the previous year.

Gendered division of labour and “sympathy” in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality, Ghana

Abstract Understanding the gender relations and dynamics in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is crucial for formalization interventions and gender-sensitive on-site policies in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, there is very little research on how gender influences women's economic opportunities and power relations at ASM sites in Ghana. Drawing from a qualitative research in the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality, Ghana, this paper examines the local gender dynamics and division of labour in ASM. Findings show that while men were mainly engaged in the extraction – digging, shoveling and loading of women's head pans with mineral ore – and processing work at the colluvial mining sites, women were basically working as labourers for the men. The women were directly involved in three main activities – provision of water on mineralised sand, transportation of gold ore and forewomen role – where they received lower remuneration for their labour. In relation to women's access to “dig and wash” work and hard rock mining sites, there was an element of “gendered sympathy” which involved some power dimensions in ASM. In this paper, the empirical analysis of gendered division of labour in ASM provides the basis to understand the gendered organization of ASM and its management structure.

Gendered Laws and Women in the Workforce

This paper offers for the first time a global picture of gender discrimination by the law as it affects women's economic opportunity and charts the evolution of legal inequalities over five decades. Using the World Bank's newly constructed Women, Business and the Law database, we document large and persistent gender inequalities, especially with regard to pay and treatment of parenthood. We find positive correlations between more equal laws pertaining to women in the workforce and more equal labor market outcomes, such as higher female labor force participation and a smaller wage gap between men and women. (JEL D63, J16, J31, J71, J78, K31, K38)

How women have fared in the labour market with China's rise as a global economic power

AbstractUnder a centrally planned system, China made significant achievements in gender equality. Half a century later, China has joined the ranks of upper‐middle‐income countries, and decades of rapid growth have accompanied major structural changes in the economy. We assess the evolution of women's economic opportunities during the period, focusing on labour force participation, occupational segregation, leadership in business, and the gender wage gap, as well as informal sector employment and migration. We undertake a review of existing research and conduct new empirical analysis using a combination of data sources, including four waves of Chinese population census data through 2010, and province‐level migration data. We focus especially on migrant women, a group typically excluded from similar studies. Although investments in human capital have advanced prospects for better‐paid jobs for women, we find that rapid economic growth has not alleviated discrimination against women rooted in cultural and social norms and that the implementation of existing laws designed to protect and support women needs to improve.