Factors influencing women participation in entrepreneurial activities in Kasikeu division Makueni county
Abstract
The purpose of the research was to investigate the factors influencing women
participation in entrepreneurial activities in Kasikeu Division Makueni County. This was
necessitated by the fact that Women entrepreneurs and their businesses is a rapidly
growing segment of the business population in Kenya creating a variety of new ventures
and contributing to the development of a range of services and products. Nevertheless,
the share of women entrepreneurship in Kenya is still significantly low when comparing
women‘s participation rate to that of their men counterparts. The study therefore was
guided by the following research objectives: To establish the influence of entrepreneurial
skills on women participation in entrepreneurial activities; establish the influence of
access to finance on women participation in entrepreneurial activities; establish the
influence of demographic characteristics on women participation in entrepreneurial
activities; and determine the influence of social characteristics on women participation in
entrepreneurial activities in Kasikeu division Makueni County. It was based on the theory
of planned Behavior. It adopted census method in studying the 58 businesses registered
under women in Kasikeu Division Makueni County .Questionnaires were the data
collection instruments. To establish reliability of research instruments, the
Cronbach‘s coefficient alpha model was used whose figure stood at .712 showing
reliability, while to establish validity of the instruments, the supervisor from Nairobi
University examined the content of the instruments. Data was analyzed using
descriptive statistics, regression and correlation and presented in tables. The results show
that entrepreneurial skills, access to finance, demographic characteristics and social
factors, had a significant influence on women participation in entrepreneurial activities
in Kasikeu division Makueni County. The study therefore recommends that: women
entrepreneurs should engage in informal entrepreneurial education to help them get the
prerequisite skills to effectively participate in entrepreneurial activities. The County
Government of Makueni through the Department of Commerce should initiate the
training programs and facilitate its implementation. Further, women entrepreneurs should
be made aware of the banks and microfinance institutions‘ lending policies and
opportunities for SMEs to allow the women take full advantage of loans. They should be
sensitized on current lax lending policies to help them get rid of the negative perception
about banks and microfinance institutions. Women entrepreneurs should continually
effectively do good and profitable businesses to dispel any doubt on their competence
based on their gender, age, experience and education. As noted earlier, they should take
any opportunity to get additional entrepreneurial training. Women entrepreneurs should
continue to seek the available support from their families and friends. They should further
themselves encourage other upcoming women entrepreneurs to actively participate in
entrepreneurial activities.
Citation
Department of Extramural Studies,Publisher
University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]