Role of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Promoting Female Entrepreneurship in Indonesia
This research aims to examine the role of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in promoting female entrepreneurship in Indonesia. It also seeks to examine the key determinants of women’s involvement in business as entrepreneurs in the country. The research is a descriptive analysis based on secondary data analysis and a review of key literature/case studies on women entrepreneurs in Indonesia. The findings of the research clearly show that number of women entrepreneurs in Indonesia is still few, and they are concentrated mainly in micro and small enterprises. The relatively low number of women entrepreneurs in Indonesia can be said to be attributed to at least four main factors: (i) low level of education and lack of training opportunities, (ii) heavy household chores, (iii) there may be legal, traditions, customs, cultural or religious constraints, and (iv) lack of access to formal credit or financial institutions. This research has however one limitation, As Indonesia does not have national data on women entrepreneurs, so, this study using only data from 2020 on micro and small enterprises by gender of owners may not give a comprehensive picture. However, the research stresses that a wide gap still exists between male and female entrepreneurs in Indonesia
Keywords: MSMEs, MSEs, women entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurship, Indonesia
