GENDER CULTURE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Understanding the role of social, cultural, and economic factors in entrepreneurship is essential for understanding how to promote culture and entrepreneurial behavior. The first explanation comes from sociology. According to this viewpoint, women are less entrepreneurial than men due to gender stereotypes and roles that move them away from attitudes of domain or achievement, placing them in roles near housework, childcare, and their elders (Eagly, 1987). According to other researchers, how men are positioned in society today, through certain patterns, ideologies, and speeches, reinforces their dominant position in the labor market and pushes women to the margins (Connell, 1990). Second, and closely related to the preceding, comprehending the national
Culture is critical in understanding how each country values and rewards entrepreneurial behavior. In this sense, lower rates of female entrepreneurship are expected in countries where social roles are closer to competitiveness, ambition, and achievement, i.e. where the roles attributed to the male group are highlighted (McGrath, Macmillan & Scheinberg, 1992, Shane, 1992, 1991).
Max Weber recognized the impact of culture on economic growth and entrepreneurship at the turn of the century. According to Marx Weber, Protestantism fostered a culture that valued individualism, achievement motivation, entrepreneurial vocations, rationality, asceticism, and self-reliance. Thus, it has been demonstrated that the Protestant ethic was a fundamental driving force behind the spirit of entrepreneurship, modern capitalism, and the growth of the economy.
Western economic systems (Kayed and Hassan, 2011).
People enter entrepreneurship for a variety of reasons and intentions. The economic reforms implemented by various governments in developing countries beginning in the 1980s, which resulted in job losses and income reductions, pushed many people to become entrepreneurs in developing countries. According to Eijdenberg and Masurel (2013), people in developing countries are more motivated by poverty and a lack of employment to become self-sufficient, whereas in developed countries, entrepreneurial activities emerge from a desire to seize an opportunity and innovation to start a business. Environmental factors, combined with high rates of poverty and unemployment, contribute to a high rate of entrepreneurial activity in developing countries. Gender and cultural beliefs have persisted. to hamper development and growth of women entrepreneurs in developing nation. In their work, Halkias, Nwajiuba, Harkiolakis, and Caracatsanis (2011) asserted that gender and cultural beliefs frequently impede women’s economic capacity as entrepreneurs, negatively impacting enterprise development, productivity, competitiveness, and economic growth. The purpose of this study is to address the challenge of gender and cultural beliefs by examining how they stifle the growth of women entrepreneurs in developing countries and making recommendations on how to overcome the issues.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Gender matters, according to a consistent empirical result emerging from the literature on female entrepreneurship. Women, in particular, have a lower likelihood of becoming entrepreneurs than their male counterparts. Because African nations are predominantly patriarchal, the extent to which women can freely engage in entrepreneurship activities will be largely determined by the existing cultural environment. Given the various cultural and structural challenges and obstacles that women face, one might conclude that women are typically discouraged from pursuing business development. First, early socialization practices emphasize women’s primary roles as mothers and wives, influencing girls’ overall expectations for future labor-force participation and career choices. Second, African culture is primarily viewed as a barrier. It is detrimental to development because it perpetuates culturally sanctioned biases against women while providing justification for men. As a result, women are less likely to participate in business activities.
1.3 Research Questions
The following are some of the questions that this research will attempt to answer:
I What is the prevalence of gender culture and the development of entrepreneurship?
ii) What factors contribute to the development of gender culture and entrepreneurship?
iii) What are the effects of gender culture and entrepreneurship development on Nigeria’s economy?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The primary goal of this research was to look into the impact of gender culture and entrepreneurship development on the Nigerian economy. However, the specific goals were as follows:
I to investigate the prevalence of gender culture and the development of entrepreneurship
ii) to identify the factors influencing gender culture and entrepreneurship development
iii) to investigate the effects of gender culture and entrepreneurship development on Nigeria’s economy.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study’s significance was to investigate the impact of gender culture and entrepreneurship development on the Nigerian economy. This would demonstrate whether gender culture has a positive or negative impact on the Nigerian economy and, hopefully, suggest positive measures to improve our economy.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study will only include small and micro entrepreneurs from two local government areas in Lagos state, regardless of age or gender.
1.7 Limitation of the study
Except for a financial constraint that forced the researcher to print two hundred questionnaires rather than the proposed three hundred, the researcher faced few challenges.
1.8 Definitions of Terms
During the course of this research, the following terms were used:
Culture is defined as a nation’s, people’s, or other social group’s customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements.
Entrepreneurship development: the process by which a country improves its people’s economic, political, and social well-being.
Gender is the condition of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones)