The primary objective of this study was to investigate the challenges that urban Zimbabwean
women entrepreneurs face. The study was motivated by the theoretical findings that women
have always been discriminated against politically, economically, socioâculturally, legally,
educationally and at work. Scholars of gender studies assert that despite the fact that over the
last decades women had attained educational levels comparable to those of men, women still
remained in relatively low paying jobs (Wirth, 2001:49; Carter & Silva, 2010:19, 20â1). Due to
frustrations and challenges faced in the workplace, some women in both developed and
developing countries had left formal employment to start their own businesses. According to
Coulter (2000:114), even in business where women had opted to be, they continued to face
challenges.
A review of literature further indicated that the historical background of women in developed
countries differed from that of women in developing countries because of differences in
environmental factors (Adler & Israeli quoted by Woldie & Ardesua, 2004:79). However, the
challenges that women faced were similar except that in developed countries more gains had
been registered in improving womenâs lives compared to developing countries.
Theoretical findings about Zimbabwe showed that historically, women were excluded from
actively participating in politics and in decision making. Economically, women were denied
ownership of resources such as land and were thus dependent on men who were regarded as
bread winners. Socioâculturally, activities were arranged according to gender; thus, there were
activities strictly done by men and others reserved for women. Legally, women were regarded
as minors and for that reason women could not enter into any contractual obligations in their
own right. In regards to education, girls were encouraged to take up subjects that were not
strategically linked to the mainstream economy, while boys were channeled towards subjects
that would enable them to occupy meaningful and strategic positions in the workplace.
However, it was worth noting that the Government of Zimbabwe, just like governments in
other countries had instituted legal amendments to redress discrimination on the basis of sex and positive developments had been achieved. These developments had enabled women to
start their own businesses.
According to Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Zimbabwe, 2010), in Zimbabwe,
there are 20 665 registered urban women entrepreneurs. In the light of the statement by
Coulter (2000:114) that in business women continued to face challenges, it was fundamental
that the challenges faced by urban Zimbabwean women entrepreneurs be identified, hence the
need for this study. Identification of these challenges would enable the government of
Zimbabwe and other stakeholders to devise specific policies and strategies to minimise the
impact of these challenges on women owned businesses. This would enable women
entrepreneurs to operate viable and sustainable businesses. An empirical study was therefore
conducted to investigate what the challenges women entrepreneurs faced were.
This study was a combination of quantitative research design and descriptive research in which
the simple random sampling technique was used to draw the sample. The sample comprised
580 registered women entrepreneurs drawn from the Small and Medium Enterprises sector in
the four major cities of Zimbabwe, namely, Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Masvingo. The survey
method was adopted as the data gathering method where a self constructed and self
administered questionnaire was used as the data gathering instrument. A pilot study was
conducted before the questionnaires were distributed for the main study. Reliability testing of
the questionnaire showed a Cronbachâs Alpha value of 0.802 for all Likert questions based on
the background of women of Zimbabwe and business challenges. These results indicated that
the questionnaire was reliable as a data collecting instrument.
Data collected was transformed for statistical analysis through the use of Excel software. After
data processing, the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis.
Statistical techniques used in this study included frequencies, percentages, cross tabulations
and Pearson chiâsquare tests, descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Relating to respondentsâ demographic profile, empirical results showed that 50.4 percent of the
respondents in this study are married compared to 24.5 percent single and 25.1 percent
separated, divorced or widowed. Results further indicated that 83.8 percent of the respondents
have children and 73.2 percent have dependent children. The average number of children is
2.26 and the average number of dependent children is 1.50. The average age of respondents in
this study was 38.0 years. Results further indicated that respondents in this study are highly
qualified, with 51.5 percent having tertiary education. The dominant religion in this study was
Christianity.
Most of the respondents owned businesses in the services sector compared to âotherâ
businesses (67.2 percent and 32.8 percent respectively). Results indicated that 54.7 percent of
the respondents had been in business for 5 years and below. Results also showed that 37.2
percent of the respondents had relevant startâup experience. In terms of startâup capital,
women entrepreneurs in this study used internal more than external sources of finance (79.2
percent and 20.8 percent respectively). Findings also indicated that women entrepreneurs were
predominantly sole proprietors compared to those in partnership.
The following empirical findings were indicated regarding womenâs background. Firstly, women
can now actively participate in politics and decision making processes in spite of the fact that
women have more confidence in male than female political leaders. Secondly, economically,
women can own property in their own right and the majority of women are no longer
financially dependent on men. Thirdly, socioâculturally, women are more confident than they
were historically and can now challenge men on religious issues. Fourthly, women can now
engage in activities that were previously done by men only, such as being formally employed.
Men can also perform duties that were previously done by women only. Fifthly, legally, men
and women are equal before the law. Sixthly, after 18 years of age, women can make any legal
decisions without consulting male members of the family. Seventhly, some men do not accept
women as their equals. Eighthly, some men still abuse their wives because they have paid
lobola (bride price) for them. Ninthly, despite their legal rights, married women predominantly still have to consult their husbands before making any business decisions. Tenthly, regarding
education, girls are now given equal educational opportunities by their parents and at school
girls are free to study subjects and embark on courses of their choices. However, there are still
some cultures and religions that expect girls to leave school young to marry.
Finally, at work, both in the private and public sectors, there are equal job opportunities for
both men and women. There are also fair promotional opportunities for both men and women
in the public and private sectors. Men and women doing the same jobs are remunerated at the
same levels and there is equal taxation for both men and women. There are no jobs exclusively
reserved for women both in the government and private sectors. However, there are more
educated men than women in the job market.
According to empirical results, women started their businesses due to opportunity (pull) and
necessity (push) factors. Findings also showed that some women have left formal employment
to start their own businesses due to work related factors such as the âglass ceilingâ that blocked
their access to top executive ranks; gender role stereo typing, negative societal influences and
pay differentials, lack of acceptance by men, sexual harassment, balancing home and family
responsibilities, and stress.
The following empirical results were revealed about the market environment: First, customers
no longer look down upon women owned businesses. Second, male workers now respect
women who have employed them. Third, suppliers now offer both men and women
entrepreneurs the same credit terms. Fourth, bank officials in Zimbabwe give women the same
treatment as men when applying for loans. Fifth, women entrepreneurs can easily access
established private business networks. Sixth, male auditors have developed a positive attitude
towards women running businesses. Finally, some men entrepreneurs have accepted women
entrepreneurs as equal business partners.
The study also revealed some challenges that women entrepreneurs still have to contend with
in the market environment. Women still have a problem of lack of collateral. Another challenge that women entrepreneurs face is that of becoming members of formal business organisations.
Women also find it difficult to access government networks. According to empirical findings on
the macro environment, women now have equal chances of getting business tenders as men.
On the socioâcultural front women indicated that their religions allowed them to run their own
businesses. There are now support services to enable women to operate their own businesses.
Respondents also indicated that they registered their businesses without legal problems and
that women can now own property in their own names. Women entrepreneurs also confirmed
that amended laws have brought equality between men and women entrepreneurs.
However, empirical results also indicated that at economic level, women still find it difficult to
enter male dominated sectors like construction. Socioâculturally, most women entrepreneurs
indicated that they still face the challenges of balancing home and business responsibilities.
Despite the availability of support services, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has also exacerbated their
workload. Married women still have to request their husbands to coâsign before they can get
any loans.
Conclusively, empirical findings indicate that most of the cases of discrimination highlighted in
the problem statement in Chapter 1 Section 1.4, and in the historical background of
Zimbabwean business women, have been reduced and in some cases eliminated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-08152012-153112 |
| Date | 15 August 2012 |
| Creators | Nani, Gwendoline Vusumuzi |
| Contributors | Prof A van A Smit |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-08152012-153112/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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