Women’s Entrepreneurial Contribution in Addressing the Climate Change: Intentions and Drivers for Social and Environmentally Sustainable Enterprises

Background: In the current global socioeconomic environment, two parallel growths have been taking place in the last half-century: 1) immense opportunity for growth and innovation at the intersection of social inclusion and economic opportunities, and 2) climate crisis mainly due to increased carbon emission from the industrial revolution and growth. Women have been the marginalized groups and are expected to face a significant burden since they represent a percentage of the population highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood. The urgent action to mitigate climate change calls on social workers to address it innovatively. A supportive environment for women and promoting environmental sustainability among women entrepreneurs can create a roadmap for sustainable economic prosperity and pathways to gender equality, which are two of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. Women are increasingly entering the enterprising sectors. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, India, women constitute 14% of the total enterprises (58.5 million), and a great majority of them favor social impact in their enterprises. Less is known about the intentions, barriers, and resiliency of women social entrepreneurs involved in environmentally sustainable businesses. This study proposes to understand women’s involvement in social enterprise with a sustainable cause and provide valuable insights into their lived experiences.

Methodology: This study used secondary mixed-methods data on women social entrepreneurs collected by a community partner organization in India. It included N=32 surveys about social factors related to juggling personal and professional lives and factors influencing social impact in their enterprise. The follow-up interviews involved n=12 women from the sample and were asked, what are your lived experiences in your journey to create a sustainable enterprise? We used a sequential mixed methods approach to data analysis using an interpretive phenomenological approach (IPA).

Results: Our study had 88 % of women entrepreneurs within the age group of 25 to 44. Most (65.2%) were married, and 70% lived in metropolitan areas or cities. The majority (88.34%) reported they started their business using bootstrapping method [χ 2 (2) =6.622291, p<0.05]. The participants reported time, lack of support, knowledge, and money as factors holding them back from their success [χ 2 (8) =8.363636, p =0.3987787]. When asked what keeps them motivated, one participant stated, “What keeps me going and are the people who believe in the initiative and believe in me.” Another participant shared that in her work line, progress takes time since it is related to the environment, but she keeps the main goal and passion in mind, “To never really lose sight of what we want to do is important to keep in mind. As I said, we are like amateur environmentalists who really care about the environment.”

Conclusion: The next few decades are critical in fighting climate change. Understanding, empowering, and building the capacity of women through shared knowledge from research and practice will be critical for social workers in promoting a green and sustainable future in the decades to come.