Women entrepreneurship in Assam: The motivational factors underpinning and the operational problems Bordoloi Anjan Kumar*, Machey Ashwini** *Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Margherita College, Margherita, Assam **Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, M.D.K. Girls’ College, Dibrugarh, Assam Online published on 8 April, 2014. Abstract Entrepreneurship plays an important role in developing and contributing to the economy of a country. It is related to the rapid industrialization. In India, entrepreneurship development has been accepted as a strategy for achieving the twin objectives of promoting entrepreneurship and also speeding up rapid industrialization. Indian women of today have taken many strides towards business ownership. The broad classification of women business owners include women who establish, inherit, or acquire a business; women who start businesses with spouses or business partners but are either at the forefront or behind the scenes; and finally, women who start fast-growing or part-time or slow-growing firms. Although earlier researches on women entrepreneurs have suggested that significant differences existed between female and male entrepreneurs. However, more recent studies have shown that there are far more similarities than differences between women and men entrepreneurs in terms of psychological and demographic characteristics. A series of researches have also shown that the workforce of women-owned businesses tend to be more gender balanced than the workforce of men-owned businesses, although women business owners are more likely to hire women. This study was carried out as the role of women entrepreneurs has gained significance in today's environment. Women, who succeed as entrepreneurs, are risk taking personalities. The women entrepreneurs have their own identity in the world of entrepreneurship as most of them are capable of fully identifying themselves in their new economic role in the society. The study was based on primary information collected from field and the study highlighted the factors that have motivated women entrepreneurs in starting an entrepreneurial career with that of the encountered problems. Top Keywords Rural, Women, Entrepreneurs, Motivational Factors, Problems, Assam. Top |