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From the days when entrepreneurship was seen as a proposition meant either for those who were already well off and so could afford to get into 'business' or for those who could not find jobs or were not so well educated, we have come a long way. Over the last decade, thanks to the success stories of Infosys, Satyam, Spectramind, Indiaworld and several others, there has been a major transformation in the profile of 'entrepreneurs', the approach to 'entrepreneurship' and the resultant mindset towards entrepreneurship. Yet, when compared with the proportion of men, women entrepreneurs in the IT industry are a miniscule number. If we were to analyze the proportion of women employees in IT organizations, there has been a healthy growth which on an average stands at 20-25%-which was less than 10% a decade ago. The expanding business, exposure to opportunities, access to the right education and 'the right fit' IT industry offers to women, have made this possible. However, these factors have not helped in women taking on the mantle of entrepreneurship in the IT Industry as a noticeable trend. Despite the fact that  freelancing as an independent consultant has been in vogue more due to the convenience of the individuals and companies concerned, the ecosystem required to succeed as a woman entrepreneur is absent in the country.

How about the entrepreneurial women we find in some other sectors, why do they take the entrepreneurial route? Most of these ventures fall into one of these categories-traditional and 'safe' zones familiar to women like catering or assisting husbands in their shops/business; professional expertise based which is self-run like running a dispensary as a doctor, providing tuitions to students, or providing legal/tax guidance; women focused business such as fashion and cosmetics; artistic business such as media. IT Industry does not lend itself to most of these characteristics and despite the fact that the industry itself is growing at an amazing rate of 35% plus annually, the number of women entrepreneurs continues to remain an insignificant number. What then are the key challenges which inhibit women from becoming IT entrepreneurs?

The first challenge lies in the definition of entrepreneurship itself. Entrepreneurship involves the ability to identify the right opportunities, risk taking and access to capital/market. Largely women like to 'play it safe' and do not 'network' amongst business circles as much as men do. Setting up the business, raising capital, going and seeking customers, doing 'deals' as the opportunities come along and creating conviction among the male dominated stakeholders regarding their seriousness about their venture- when it comes to financing, are not easy matters. Further, if a woman is married and has a family to take care of, it brings additional limitations especially into the entrepreneurial venture. An entrepreneur has to breathe and live his/her dream 24x7, physically and mentally, and is required to be available to attend to the call of the business whether from the customer, the employees or the market forces. This calls for the ability to put up with tremendous amount of pressure and stress which do not come easy to most women when they also do not have an effective support system from the family or society to become 'the daredevil entrepreneurs'.

Despite the above stated challenges, we are beginning to see women in the entrepreneurial zone lately which is a positive trend. While the success of  Kiran Mazumdar Shaw with Biocon is well known, few other women have come forward to set up entrepreneurial ventures around the support system required for the IT Industry in areas such as recruitment, training and counseling. How do we get more women to become entrepreneurs in the IT Industry? The first step has to be taken by women themselves. Especially women who have had experience working in the industry are ideally suited to identify the opportunities where they could set up a venture of their own, based on their expertise and understanding of the market. Women have the natural flair for creativity, and the motivation and perseverance to make things happen. Should a woman decide to be an entrepreneur, these characteristics will help her immensely. However, as an entrepreneur, one needs to get the germ of the business idea oneself and be self-motivated all the time.

Next, the companies they are associated with and the industry as a whole should be supportive of entrepreneurial initiatives and come forward to nurture them especially at the start-up stage. The government and the industry should come up with mechanisms to draw more women into IT entrepreneurship through innovative policies. Venture funding agencies could take a leaf out of their books to come up with policies and trigger mechanisms relevant to the Indian context. 

Lastly, our education system does precious little to support entrepreneurship. Except for recent initiatives of the IITs and a few other leading institutions which have set up incubation centers, youngsters have very little exposure and encouragement to venture out on their own. Recognizing the importance of entrepreneurship in their economy, countries like the UK catch people when they are young and most universities in the UK have started offering entrepreneurship as an elective for undergraduate programs, be it Chemistry, Arts or Engineering. This is a fantastic way to engrain the tenets of entrepreneurship early in life and let the seed to germinate and flower in due course. Our education system should also actively participate in encouraging entrepreneurship, and given the goal of India to continue to dominate in the global IT space for a long time to come, this is the time not only for educating more women to become IT professionals but to tap the huge untapped potential of women to become entrepreneurs so they contribute towards more wealth creation as well as more opportunities for job creation for the country.  Given the right policy framework and the right eco system, Indian women are known to overcome all barriers; can IT entrepreneurship be any different?

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