A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. April 2018 / The critical role of entrepreneurial learning in sustainable development has been discussed extensively in recent literature. However, little is known about the effect(s) of entrepreneurial learning on economic sustainability of microenterprises. This research seeks to answer the question of “How entrepreneurial learning facilitates the economic sustainability of microenterprises?” The study draws from social learning theory and intersectionality studies to contribute towards understanding the complexity of entrepreneurial learning and economic sustainability, focusing in particular on women with disabilities. The study contributes to literature on entrepreneurial learning by examining the rarely-researched social conditions of learning characteristic of entrepreneurial environments in emerging economies. Furthermore, unlike previous studies that adopted either a gender-or disability-only approach in explaining the entrepreneurial experiences of women with disabilities, this study considers the combined influence of gender and disability as interlocking social identities. A qualitative case study approach based on four mini-cases was adopted. These mini-cases included 36 semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs with disabilities operating established microenterprises in Uganda. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with seven key informants from two national disability associations in Uganda. These interviews acted as a pilot to obtain advice on how to conduct research in a sensitive and appropriate manner that would not further marginalise women with disabilities. Data from both the key informants and these women were analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings indicate that the intersecting social identities of gender and disability of women entrepreneurs with disabilities have both favourable and unfavourable outcomes for their entrepreneurial learning and economic sustainability. These consequences have a lasting and varying impact on these women’s actions, affecting their tendencies to adapt and ingeniously imitate entrepreneurial behaviours in uncertain and resource-constrained learning environments. Furthermore, for this group, learning influences economic sustainability through the acquisition of entrepreneurial capabilities that nurture ingenious imitation practices such as self-determination, self-restraint, and social embeddedness. By contrast, the capabilities emphasised in social learning theory literature are not generally rooted in individuals’ abilities to acclimatise and overcome their limitations, and only emerge from social interactions under stable learning conditions. Results also suggest that the socio-economic context influences how economic sustainability of an enterprise is conceptualised. Women with disabilities operating microenterprises in resource-constrained contexts perceive economic sustainability as a mutually-inclusive triadic relationship between enterprise growth, sufficient livelihood, and empowerment. The key contribution of this study is that the researcher introduces the metaphor “adaptive observational learning” to explain a new form of entrepreneurial learning that occurs in social settings, particularly for women with disabilities. It involves individuals acquiring new knowledge by observing, adapting, creatively imitating, and replicating the actions of others in a way that is well suited to their abilities, and enables them to overcome their impairment limitations. The study further questions the narrow conceptions of describing economic sustainability solely as financial viability and growth; and argues for the need to include social components when classifying economically sustainable enterprises in impoverished contexts. / MT 2018

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Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 83 pages / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Issues related to women, environment and development constitute a major global concern today. Women's roles as agents of change in the environment has increasingly become the focus of both research and policy concerns. Environmental resource management is directly linked to development, and this makes it crucial to examine the activities of women more closely. Women's role in the management of natural resources assumes a multidimensional nature. Unfortunately, the central and crucial role that women play is often both overlooked and unappreciated, rendering them invisible and greatly diminishing their contribution as both producers and active agents in sustainable development. One of the arguments central to this thesis is that rural women's connections to the physical world can inform feminist theory as well as broader policy frameworks. / Their knowledge and experiences can and should be fundamental in devising programs for sustainable development. Case studies are central to this thesis because they provide specific situations and issues and lend a concrete material reality to the topics under discussion. They point to the multidimensional and multifunctional nature of women's roles in natural resource management in addition to highlighting the diverse constraints that women face. Case studies help identify strategies that could be applied to facilitate sustainable development efforts by presenting us with tangible situations rather than dealing with the abstract. / Clearly, this thesis has not covered the entire scope of issues that need to be addressed in the women, environment and development debate. Nor are the suggested strategies for enhancing women&softsign;s role as environmental resource managers exhaustive. Nonetheless, it is my hope that this thesis serves as a beginning for what constitute some of the key issues when engaging with the women, environment and development debate. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

M.A. / The aim of the study is to implement and evaluate a women empowerment lifeskills programme in the informal settlement in Germiston (Gauteng). South African women live in poverty, deal with violence and due to their status in the past, they have been identified as vulnerable and disempowered target group in social service delivery. The research study is evaluation research often used when evaluating a social programme. The integrated model of programme evaluation (IMPE) of De Vos (1998) is selected and adjusted for the purpose of this study. The research process is initiated with a literature study on the concepts empowerment, participation and other relevant concepts to the study. The research is limited to the Delport informal settlement in Germiston, Gauteng. Data collection took place in the three phases of the research study. Phase one: Needs assessment, utilises key informants and a community forum. Phase two: process evaluation, utilises a semi-structured interview schedule. Phase three: Outcome evaluation, group administered questions are used. The target group of the study is women residing in Delport informal settlement. Results in the study indicated that the SAWEF lifeskills programme is effective in addressing the needs for lifeskills programme of semi-literate in an informal settlement. It is recommended that the SAWEF lifeskills programme should be implemented more extensively and continuously evaluated to determine whether it continues to address the needs of the target group it is intended for, being women. Results and conclusions drawn from this study can not be generalised to the broader population of women in informal settlements. Further research is needed to determine whether SAWEF lifeskills programme used in this study would be effective for women in different levels and in other communities in South Africa. / Prof. J.B.S. Nel

A discourse submitted to the Department of Town and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Development Planning, October 1994 / Women and gender have not been adequately considered in development planning and practise. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / GR 2016

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of Anthropology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Many development organizations now recognize the importance of culturally sensitive project design and implementation. Unfortunately most of these groups continue to disregard the significance of gender. This qualitative research examines a women's cooperative in rural El Salvador which formed in order to find a means of generating income and to improve the general status of women in this region. One purpose of this qualitative research was to investigate what, if any, economic and social benefits the cooperative members received through their involvement. Another purpose was to analyze the models of development employed by the agencies involved in implementing four cooperative projects, as well as the member's attitudes toward those projects. Data presented in this thesis was collected during a fifteen-month period in 1994 and 1995, and a one-month period in 1998. Twenty-six cooperative members were interviewed in 1998. The four projects investigated include cows and nutrition, land and reforestation, artisan crafts and corn mills. These findings indicate that the empowerment model of development, in which self-reliance is maintained and strategic gender needs are met through mobilizing around practical gender needs, is the most successful. Focusing on local knowledge and preserving the agency of the target population are critical to project success. The findings also show that social power is attained by many women in the cooperative as increased self-esteem and involvement lead to gaining a legitimate voice in community affairs. Economic power, however, is only achieved by maintaining a paid leadership position within the cooperative. This research makes recommendations centered on improved access to credit. / Graduation date: 2001

Thesis (M.N.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. / Bibliography: leaves 143-152.

Marginalized rural populations are the main actors in a growing multi-disciplinary effort to conserve some of the most biodiverse and culturally rich regions of the world. Within a context of greater political tensions and environmental worries on a global scale, alternative modes of development are drawing greater attention. Sustainable development, women in development and indigenous land use are all important issues in the rural landscape. This thesis examines these issues in the Felipe Carrillo Puerto (FCP) ejido (communal land-holding) community in Chemax, Yucatan, Mexico, which has been working in collaboration with a national non-governmental organization (NGO), Bioasesores, A.C. Focus is placed on the ‘Women’s Home Gardens Project.’ This new take on an old tradition aims to reduce economic pressures, improve access to nutritious foods, and empower the female group through participatory strategies. The NGO-community relationship, of which there is a growing multitude in Latin America, becomes critical in this endeavor. Through ethnographic data based on interviews with the women and participant observation, it is clear that decisions made by this Yucatec Maya community function within their political environment, economic pressures, and societal norms. The environmental consultants working within the community exercise well-intentioned, participant-based methods that improve upon government actions of the past; however there are several challenges that are not fully addressed. There is a clear potential for these efforts, though there are also problems that call into question the project’s sustainability. In a region that continues to struggle due to external economic pressures, there is a need to ensure that current development efforts in the ejido take both the needs of the people and environmental conservation into account. The rural landscape continues to develop in Mexico, and both NGOs and local communities are actively involved. This research offers a glimpse into the dynamics of one relationship between an NGO and an ejido, and provides suggestions for improvement. / text

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