Literature Review
Landstron (2010), identified French economist Cantilllon in the 18th century as the first person who
defined entrepreneurship as “self-employment, regardless of the nature or direction, and when the
risk tolerance and the organization of production factors are needed to produce a good or service in
the market” (p.21). Another scholar defined the term ‘entrepreneurship’ as ‘the discovery and
exploitation of business opportunity’ (Gartner, 1990).
Busenitz et al., (2000) offered a definition of entrepreneurial norms as “degree to which a country’s
residents admire entrepreneurial activity and value creative and innovative thinking” and by
specifically incorporating this definition into a female entrepreneurial setting, defined female
entrepreneurial norms as “a country’s mental image or picture of women as viable entrepreneurs
and its views on the means to accomplish this mental image”, meaning the level of acceptance and
admiration of women’s entrepreneurship held by members of a society (p.995). It is assumed that
female entrepreneurs in Guyana and the Caribbean enjoy a favorable mental image in these
societies.
Valliere and Peterson (2009) argued that entrepreneurship is one of the most significant factors in
economic growth and development in different countries around the world, especially in small-scale
industries and are essential to growth. They identified female entrepreneurship is an important
subset of the overall global entrepreneurship phenomenon.
Browne (2001), in a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, and comparative study of how
female entrepreneurship is patterned according to a society's particular configuration of
gendered institutions and ideologies, found that there were “cross-cultural similarities among
women entrepreneurs who share a key set of priorities for their business, including the exercise of
their femininity to render workplace settings more nurturing and effective” (p.339). From her
research it would seem that some women entrepreneurs manage great workplace environments,
having a nurturing female touch here and there. But these female entrepreneurs also face certain
barriers to success which are discussed next.
IDRC (2022), in its study of women’s economic empowerment and women’s business growth in Latin
America and the Caribbean, reported that “the positive connection between women, their economic
empowerment, the growth of economies, and communities' well-being is increasingly recognized
worldwide. However, as global reports by a number of agencies demonstrate, in many contexts
gender-specific barriers limit the full development of women's potential. In most developing
countries, the number of wage jobs is well below demand, and women tend to be under-represented
in wage employment . Under these circumstances, entrepreneurship is a key opportunity for
economic empowerment” (ibid). The present researcher certainly believes it is a key to women’s
economic empowerment in Guyana.
IDB (2022), analyzing firm-level data for over 1,000 firms in 6 Caribbean countries and drawing on
the Compete Caribbean enterprise surveys found and reported evidence indicating that “two-thirds
of [women-led firms] WOFs report access to finance as a major or severe obstacle to their business.
In this respect, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago have the largest gaps between the
proportions of WOFs and other firms with this view (14, 10, and 9 percentage points (pp),
respectively). In most Caribbean countries, more than half of WOFs report that financial costs (i.e.,
interest rates and collateral) were either a major or a very severe obstacle for growth” (p.12). It is to
be noted that the largest gap (14%) was reported for Guyana in that survey evidence.
Awai (2022), arguing that women entrepreneurship can boost Caribbean economic growth, rightly
railed that “However, in today’s business world, women hold only 15% of management positions
and own only 14% of companies. Here in the Caribbean, women MSME owners are educated at very
high levels, but more likely to fail in their business ventures due to lack of funding an adequate
access to resources. Throughout the region, 30% of women-owned businesses are financially
constrained compared to only 25% of male-owned or male-led businesses”. This adds to the
evidence that financial constraints remain a significant barrier to the success of female-owned
businesses in our part of the world.
Acevedo et al. (2022) reported that data from the Caribbean indicated that high collateral
requirements and high interest rates are among the top barriers for women-owned and women-led
businesses seeking finance and that ‘overcoming these hurdles is an important challenge for the
Caribbean, especially as firms seek to regain a foothold in a post-pandemic private sector’. Evidently,
some percentage of small businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and now facing
barriers in seeking finance to recover were female entrepreneurships.
GBTI (2020), analyzing a World Bank study, highlighted the challenge female entrepreneurs face in
finding employees, reporting that “there are approximately 228,000 self-employed women in the
Caribbean region. Of these, a remarkable 90 percent (204,000) have no employees; in other words,
these women are solo entrepreneurs who own and operate their businesses entirely by themselves.
Once again, these figures are in contrast to the numbers on male self-employment: Of the estimated
533,000 self-employed men in the Caribbean region (more than double the number of self-employed
women), 83 percent (445,000) have no employees”. These statistics suggests that female-owned
businesses have a harder time finding employees than male-owned businesses . Another interesting
observation from this report regarding the situation of female entrepreneurship was that “Traditional
gender roles prevail in many Caribbean countries, meaning that women are still expected to focus
their energies on the family and the home rather than the labor market. As a result, when women do
start their own enterprises, these businesses are often closely linked to what is viewed as “women’s
work,” and they are more likely to be home-based, smaller, and less formal than businesses run by
men. This can make them less attractive to lenders, constraining them even further. In fact, across
the Caribbean, women identify access to finance as the single largest obstacle to business” (GBTI,
2022). This subtle perception-barrier is one that has to be changed to encourage more women to
pursue and be successful at entrepreneurship in Guyana and the Caribbean.
Methodology
Research Design
This proposed study of female entrepreneurship in Guyana will employ a qualitative research design.
According to Maxwell (2012), the qualitative research design is compatible with most philosophical
research perspectives and its motive is ‘to obtain a richly detailed comprehension of a particular
issue based on the first-hand experiences of those participating in it’ (p.17). Thus because of its
focus, this designed is deemed best suited to capturing the ‘first-hand experiences’ of female
entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses in Guyana in terms of barriers to success that they are
facing.
Sources of Data
Since the qualitative design described above requires obtaining data from first-hand experiences of
those involved in an issue, the proposed research project will obtain data from primary sources
which will be responses from female entrepreneurs or owners of women-led firms (WOFs) in
Guyana. Preliminarily, the researcher has decided that the Giftland Mall on the East Coast of
Demerara and the Amazonia Mall on the East Bank of Demerara will be the first research field from
which female entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses will be pursued for surveys and
interviews.
Secondary data will also be collected if available from local organizations interested in female
entrepreneurship such as the Small Business Bureau and the Ministry of Business. Online or offline
documents and publications they provide will be analysed for pertinent secondary data. The
research question will be answered by an examination of both secondary and primary data to use in
this study. Other important sources of secondary data that will be analysed will include the Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor (2020-2021) from the GEM Consortium and published reports on female
entrepreneurship in the Caribbean from the Inter-American Development Bank.
Data Collection Methods
The researcher will collect data from primary sources via semi-structured interviews and
questionnaires that will be distributed to participants. These documents will not be lengthy, not
having very many questions, so as not to require too much time to fill out and return to the
researcher. This decision about questionnaire length is intended to increase the response rate as
many persons do not like completing long surveys. Aside from closed-questions, a number of openended questions will be used to allow the entrepreneurs to describe the challenges they face in line
with the objective of the chosen qualitative research design of this study.
Sampling Method
The method of simple random sampling will be employed to select potential participants for this
study. Methodology scholars Saunders et al., (2009) define random sampling as “an approach
whereby each person chosen has the same probability of being chosen as everyone else in that or
another sample taken from the population” (p. 231). For example, randomization can be achieved by
visiting the Mall and checking every odd-numbered unit on a floor or level to determine whether a
female entrepreneur or owner is there that can take the survey. This specific method of sampling or
randomization is called systematic random sampling and will be very useful in finding participants for
this study.
Data Analysis Methods
For the analysis of qualitative data obtained, the researcher will extract common threads or themes
out of the ‘meanings, experiences, and views of participants’ which is how some methodology
scholars describe the thrust of qualitative data analysis (Pope and Mays 1995, p. 42). This is the
inductive method of qualitative data analysis (QDA) which is described as the range of processes and
procedures whereby we move from the qualitative data that have been collected into some form of
explanation, understanding or interpretation of the people and situations we are investigating (Pope
and Mays 1995).
In the case of secondary data identified under sources of data, document analysis techniques will be
used which involve finding, isolating, extracting, and interpreting specific data relevant to the
research questions from official documents and publications obtained. This is in line with how this
method of analysis is used in other descriptive or qualitative studies (Creswell 2014). Relevant to
document analysis also is the advice of methodology scholar Bowen who stated that “documents
should be assessed for their completeness; in other words, how selective or comprehensive their
data is” (Bowen, 2009). Also, of paramount importance when evaluating documents is not to
consider the data as “necessarily precise, accurate, or complete recordings of events that have
occurred” (Bowen, 2009, p. 33). It is not just a process of lining up a collection of excerpts that
convey whatever the researcher desires. The researcher must “maintain a high level of objectivity
and sensitivity in order for the document analysis results to be credible and valid” (Bowen, 2009).
This advice will be followed when reviewing secondary data documents for this study.
Limitations of the Study
This study will be limited to obtaining data from female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses in
Region IV of Guyana, specifically the East Bank and the East Coast. Hence, given this limitation, the
findings of this study may not be generalized as a description of female entrepreneurship throughout
Guyana.
Conclusion
Indeed, the proposed research intends to fully capture the voice of female entrepreneurs in Guyana
regarding the barriers and challenges they face in running women-led businesses in our country’s
economy. It will identify the specific barriers and also the causes behind those barriers and
challenges. It will also recommend actions that female entrepreneurs themselves, banks, the
Government, and others can take to support women-led businesses in Guyana which are important
generators of economic growth. Recommendations will also be given as to how business-related
training and peer learning sessions, offering business coaching and mentoring opportunities,
developing regional business networks for female entrepreneurs, and furnishing key market
information, can help more women-led businesses to achieve success in Guyana.