Entrepreneurship As A Gataway To New Worlds

Challenges and Prospects Faced by Women Entrepreneurs in Pakistan

Methodology

• This lecture was presented by:

Professor Ayesha Zahid from Pakistan.

• The title of the presentation is:

Challenges and prospects faced by women entrepreneurs in Pakistan.

• Area and discipline and why you chose this conference:

About the area and discipline is in an environment in which womenshould know how to handle the situation of a country’s culture which is affecting in a professional and personal way women’s life.
I chose this conference because I thought that would be important to see the perspective or point of view of a woman in business, I think that if she succeeded in Pakistan even when we know that is a country with gender equity issues, me or any woman can do it in anyother part of the world.


• Highlights the most important arguments of the presentation

There are some statistic facts about women and man in Pakistan, for example:

- LITERACY which by definition means: Someone of 15 years and over that can read and write.
The total population of it is 49.9%
Male: 63% / Female: 36%
- School life expectancy:
Total: 7 years
Male: 8 years / Female: 6years
- The women who have the chance of develop their education and grow as professionals are just the 2 o 5% of the population.

So clearly with these two facts we can see that men have more opportunity to study, and as she said just because being in a Muslim country brings you more troubles just for being woman.




• Unclear: what aspect of the presentation was not clear and why?At the beginning she said that “Women have the same rights as the men”, but then she start talking about the inequality between women and men, and how difficult is to live in a Muslim country.
I think everything talking about the structure of the presentation was clear, just the things that I cannot understand about this, is the treatment to women or how hard is to live in a country when you arelike a cero.

Cross Analysis
First of all, I want to emphasizes that she’s is a professional and I’m really amazed with the things she have done in her life to succeed. For example, now she lectures in different universities in Pakistan on research methods, entrepreneurship, brand management, etc. And also she has international publications, and she’s completing her PHD in “The impact ofsocietal factors on the performance of Women Entrepreneurs in Pakistan”.
And about the conference, she started showing us some things of Pakistan, like the geographic strategic position, which helps the country because of the borders with two countries in emerging economy.
Then she talked about some statistics as I mentioned above, about literacy, life expectancy and professional succeed, but also shesaid another things about the life in Pakistan, which I found more interesting, more than the statistics, I really liked hearing all the anecdotes.
She told us that the family support is really important to make a professional career because even if you have money it won’t be enough to go to a university, if your parents (specially the father) don’t want you to do a career, you won’t.
If yousucceed as a professional, you just can develop in some specific environment as social, cultural traditional and religious elements, like a beauty salon, some restaurant, being a teacher of a kinder garden, and just a few in enterprises and as an employee, because as a woman you won’t be able to be the manager or own the enterprise.
She gave us an advice if we want to be part of anything, we don’thave to be shy at all, because in that way you can earn respect, talk to the others with security and show your posture or attitude.
We asked her if in Pakistan had some associations to help women, and she answer yes, there are some organizations helping women development, this because even she had one situation where she didn’t get the job just because is woman, they said to her: “You’re not...