Title: Women and entrepreneurship: an alluring or luring option

Authors: Jyoti Devi Mahadeo; Indravidoushi Chandraprema Dusoye; Ashitah Aujayeb-Rogbeer

Addresses: Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius ' Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius ' Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius

Abstract: Female entrepreneurship has caught greater attention in the last years in light of tangible evidence of the significance of innovative business formation for economic growth (Mordi et al., 2010). The objectives of the study are two-fold: 1) to identify the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs; 2) to determine the gap (if any) that exists between their male counterparts. The disparities spotted were in terms of the nature, sector and propensity of growth of businesses which male and female entrepreneurs opted for. The challenges behind the need to start a small business is different for male and female entrepreneurs, these constitute the reasons why they differ. One important theme which was common to both genders was family and was articulated as being higher than the self by both men and women. It can be concluded that in Mauritius, the gap between male and female entrepreneurs remain the fundamental issue within the entrepreneurship domain to be tackled with by the authorities. On the other hand, the facilities provided by governmental and private institutions are similar, but in the subtle reality women are treated in another way.

Keywords: female entrepreneurship; women entrepreneurs; gender gap; challenges; Mauritius.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2015.069701

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2015 Vol.25 No.3, pp.351 - 374

Received: 24 Dec 2013
Accepted: 12 Oct 2014
Published online: 29 May 2015 *

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