45
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE TRANSITION TOWARDS MARKET ECONOMY
ates problems for 80 per cent of women.
They believe that work in both spheres is
hard to combine, partially or totally incom-
patible. Asked if the two types of work can
be combined, 35.7 per cent of women aged
below 25 answer yes, fully so. Yet this
view is shared by a mere 8.7 per cent of
women aged between 31 and 35, charac-
terized by a high reproducing activeness.
This is among the major reasons for
womens abstaining from entrepreneurship
(See Table 3.5.).
The group of women-entrepreneurs is
not homogeneous from the viewpoint of
motives for starting up a private business
and as regards strategies for its develop-
ment. The first group of women-entrepre-
neurs can be labeled traditionalists. In
self-employment and entrepreneurship they
seek a means of adding up to their family
incomes and a flexible combination of work
and family. The second group comprises
innovators. This type of female entrepre-
neurship is not just a response to economic
coercion, but is motivated by a desire to
achieve an economic success. It is not just
an escape from constraints in formal orga-
nizations, but a striving for creativity. Most
often these are highly qualified women mo-
tivated to create something new, to man-
age their own life and to utilize their knowl-
edge and skills to the full.
The risk of
private business failure is
not neutral in respect to gender. Every sec-
ond male respondent visualizes the ideal
entrepreneur as being a man. Only 10 per
cent of women see the ideal entrepreneur
as a woman (See Table 3.6.) These ideas
mirror traditional stereotypes, according to
which women are performers rather than
innovators; submissive rather than aggres-
sive; emotional rather than rational. These
characteristics result in the formation of
cultural barriers to the success of women
entrepreneurs.
These circumstances increase the risk
of failure for women-entrepreneurs. They
lead to difficulties in improving womens
qualifications and acquiring managerial
skills, because of their family and work
overload, in getting loans because of the
higher expectations of failure. Women to
a lesser degree can rely on social networks
to support their entrepreneurial activity.
That is why, besides general measures to
stabilize small business and self-employ-
ment, measures sensitive to womens spe-
cific problems are also required.
The establishment of a special Fund
for encouraging entrepreneurship among
women is a feasible task. It would finance
projects by granting low-interest loans and
a gratis period of repayment. Special at-
tention can be paid to womens qualifica-
tion and development of managerial skills.
Also important are the consultations for
business start-up, as well as book-keeping,
marketing and technical assistance. Non-
governmental organizations are a major
tool for establishing support social net-
works, avoiding isolation and for an inten-
sive exchange of business information.
Pressed by the deep recession and
strongly committed to paid labour, women
have been making efforts to adapt them-
selves to the new realities through self-
employment and private entrepreneurship,
Table 3.5.
Table 3.6.
Would you like to start your own business? (%)
Yes
It depends
No
Men
31.9
26.6
41.4
Women
18.8
27.1
54.1
Women-entrepreneurs -
traditionalists and
innovators
What should the ideal businessperson be? (in %)
Man
Woman
Doesnt matter
Man
52
1
47
Woman
22
10
69