Express freely, but if you are masculine! Exploring the link between gender and emotional labour in entrepreneurship in India

Abstract

Women empowerment has been a matter of great importance by almost all governments and state agencies. There are a number of initiatives taken to bring women to the mainstream economy. Policies for women’s empowerment are formulated at the national, state, and local (Panchayat) level in India. These policies are in the areas of, health, education, economic opportunities, gender-based violence, and political participation. Two main bodies to advance gender equality in India are, The Ministry of Women and Child Development and the National Commission for Women. These bodies function on nationaland state-level legal and social policies to advance gender equality. Upadhyay, R. (2010) The Asia Foundation report. There are various initiatives taken by corporate business houses to address the issue of women empowerment, one such initiative is by Tata Power which has a dedicated program called ‘Power Her Up’. It is committed to this cause through various initiatives such as education, supporting the SHGs, vocational training etc. Similar initiatives are taken in the area of women entrepreneurship. ‘Startup India’ plan is one such initiative by the government of India to raise the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India to a whole new level. As per the plan, the various bank branches should ensure that, funding is given to at least one Dalit or Adivasi entrepreneur and at least one woman entrepreneur. The specific mention of supporting women entrepreneurs through this program will help the businesswomen and will certainly provide them an edge over their male counterparts. Specific government schemes launched to encourage women and provide reservations to start their own ventures are Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and Swaran Jayanti Sekhari Rozgar Yojana. Mahila Vikas Nidhi by (SIDBI) Small Industries Development Bank of India is to fund women in rural area to start their entrepreneurship easily in fields like spinning, weaving, knitting, embroidery products etc. In spite of these initiatives women find it difficult to get in and grow as successful entrepreneurs. Out of the many two major issues faced by the Startup ecosystem and the business community alike are gender gap and lack of institutional funding. The gender gap exists because of cultural biases and pronounced male domination in the society. In my further readings I felt this issue needs further exploration especially in the Indian context. In India the existing social structure and stereotyping of male figure in the field of entrepreneurship makes it extremely tough for women to open a company. Studies have shown that entrepreneurship as a profession is portrayed as a masculine oriented and the characteristics defining an entrepreneur are similar to those of masculinity; as a result of which men dominate as entrepreneurial role models (Ahl, 2006; Marlow, Henry, & Carter, 2009). Considering the gender bias prevalent in entrepreneurship, this study tries to explore the experience of non-masculine entrepreneurs in their journey of entrepreneurship. Mismatch between one’s own gender orientation and that of the profession being pursued, may become stressful resulting in significant emotional labour. This study examines the gender mismatch that leads to an experience of emotional labour in the context of entrepreneurship. The study also sheds light on the broader literature on gender in entrepreneurship, where the terms sex and gender are used interchangeably. However, it is important to understand that both the terms gender and sex have different meaning. Data for the study was collected from entrepreneurs from different incubation centres in the state of Gujarat and Kerala. Survey method was used to collect data using measurement instruments on gender and emotional labour each. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study confirm that entrepreneurship is considered as a masculine profession, where entrepreneurs with masculine orientation were able to express themselves more freely. These entrepreneurs choose genuine emotional labour as their strategy while interacting with others. On the contrary it was assumed that non-masculine entrepreneurs would not be able to express themselves freely and hence would adapt faking and suppressing emotional labour strategy, but the results of the study could not support this hypothesis. In spite of this finding it can still be believed that these entrepreneurs would be adopting such strategies, but may not be significant enough comparatively, to stand out as their dominant strategy. Thus non masculine entrepreneurs like feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated would experience more stress in their entrepreneurial journey as compared to masculine entrepreneurs.The findings has implication for framing policies in entrepreneurship, where instead of looking at issues from a male female perspective, focus should be put on the norms and rules framed around the profession which inhibit certain kind of people to get into the profession based on gender bias for instance. Framing norms or rules around the profession which values both masculinity and femininity would make the profession more open and fulfilling.