Developing women entrepreneurship in Maldives / Aminath Mushfiga Ibrahim

Abstract: In Maldives in both social and economic aspects, women play an important role in the day to day lives of them. Nevertheless, not all the work they does is considered as entrepreneurial activities as it is a norm in most of the islands women performing their economic activities in their economic activities, while others does not reflect it as a business hence not demanding anything in return to work that is being done.
Also it has been a traditional in the country, especially in the atolls where the females stay back at home to look after the households chores and children and sending their husbands and fathers to work. Which sets the scenario, which because the wives, mothers and sisters in the household take responsibility of looking after all the other duties of the household is the reason why the men in the house can easily go out for work, which can be considered as the women also socially active in the community. According to the previous studies regarding entrepreneurship the capability and possibilities for female entrepreneurship can be seen very clearly with the critical reviews where in countries globally this is becoming more successful and effective. From relevant resource it is clear that in Maldives also there are potential women who have adequate academic background and required skills. However, there are certain factors that affect the idea of female entrepreneurs, problems and issues faced by women who wants to start ventures.
Furthermore, there are obstacles that women entrepreneurs face during their course of business which need to be addressed seriously for the main purpose of developing this group of entrepreneurs. This research is conducted within Maldives, where the female population who is based in the country will be the focused research population. The research will be both qualitative and quantitative (Mix method) as to obtain similar general answers from the population as well as detailed explanations for certain factors.
In order to achieve the objectives, a primary research is done together with literature review as a framework for the primary research. The research is done with the capital city, Male', where most of the well-established ventures are located. Sample percentage is calculated based on the total number of female population that is located at the capital using the software, Rao soft. Quantitative and qualitative data is obtained, where quantitative data is collected from questionnaires and qualitative data is obtained from group interviews with key persons.
The key concepts that were followed throughout the study are the research objectives built for the study. From the data, it was revealed that the Women in Maldives do have a great passion and internet for entrepreneurship, however there are various challenges and difficulties that they face during the course of their business and at same point they are even forced to stop their work or take a break from their fields.