Factors Influencing Women Involvement in Entrepreneurship: the Case of Women Entrepreneurs in Matinyani Sub-county, Kitui County, Kenya
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the involvement of women in
entrepreneurship in Matinyani Sub- County, Kitui County, Kenya. The objectives of the
study were; to determine how socio –cultural factors; how education and training and
how adoption of Information Communication Technology influence involvement of
women in entrepreneurship in Matinyani sub-County. This study applied a descriptive
research which generally describes the characteristics of a particular situation, event or
case. The study targeted 100 women entrepreneurs from Matinyani Sub-County, Kitui
County. The Sub-County is found in Kitui West constituency. In this study a
representative sample of 10% of the women entrepreneurs was selected randomly.
Although a minimum of 30 respondents (Borg and Gall, 1996) is an adequate
representative sample that is sufficient for statistical analysis, this study used a larger
sample size. A structured questionnaire was used in this study. The questionnaires had
open and closed ended items and a rating scale for collection of primary data. A research
authorization permit was obtained from the District Educational Officer-Kitui West, to
allow the study to be conducted in the district. Informed consent for participation was
sought by asking for the respondent’s permission before administering the questionnaire
to the sampled women entrepreneurs in the study. Questionnaires were administered
personally with the help of two research assistants. Data was analyzed using descriptive
statistics that involved frequency distributions, percentages and average values. This
research concluded that Cultural barriers had limited women from achieving their full
potential and that training and education and adoption of ICT were opportunities in
enhancing women entrepreneurship. It recommended training, capacity building, self
motivation and adoption of ICT. The researcher suggested further studies on the role of
devolution on boosting women involvement in entrepreneurship and importance of basic
education and training in enhancing business productivity and all the relevant fields such
as agriculture, basic manufacturing and value addition, service business, and their
position to enhance women entrepreneurship.
Citation
Master Of Arts Degree In Project Planning And Management, University Of Nairobi, 2014Publisher
University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]