Information Needs of Rural Women Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Poverty alleviation through self employment and entrepreneurship had been the major focus of government initiatives three decades. Several steps have been taken to support and promote entrepreneurial ventures but women’s participation has been low.  They find it harder than men to establish, run and succeed in entrepreneurial ventures due to several reasons.  One of the reasons is lack of access to information. A study was carried out to find out the information needs of rural women entrepreneurs and constraints surrounding access to information. The study was carried out in the hilly north Indian state of Uttarakhand. Eighty women entrepreneurs were part of the study and it was found that rural women need both managerial and technical information. Four types of constraints were faced by women while seeking information related to their enterprise.

Keywords: Women entrepreneurs, rural, information need, India.