The lived experiences of ethnic minority Indian women entrepreneurs in Singapore: Motivation, barriers, challenges and support system

Subramaniam, Prema

Abstract

Women entrepreneurs have grown significantly and they play a vital role and contribute significantly to the development and growth of the economy. With globalisation, there have been movements of people across countries. This has led to immigration and the growth of ethnic populations in societies and ethnic businesses in countries. Singapore has a multi-racial and multi-cultural population of Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians. Many of the ethnic Indian women entrepreneurs have started and are running their own successful business.

This phenomenology study was conducted with a purposive sample of fourteen ethnic minority Indian women entrepreneurs from the service industry in Singapore. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured protocol. The objective of the study was to explore the motivation of ethnic minority Indian women entrepreneurs for starting their businesses, the barriers and challenges that they face, and the support system which sustains and grows their business.

The data was analysed using thematic analysis and the findings revealed that the participants were pulled towards entrepreneurship by their passion, the autonomy, and the flexibility to spend more time with their family. The participants overcame barriers of stereotyping, lack of capital, self-doubt, and fear of failure before starting their business. However, when running their businesses, they faced challenges of work-family conflict, lack of finance to run the business, lack of business knowledge, accounting, information technology, and lack of mentors to guide them. Nevertheless, the participants were resilient and persevered to sustain and grow their businesses due to the strong support from their families, the community, their network of friends, and a good base of customers and suppliers.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge on ethnic women entrepreneurship. Findings show that the ethnic minority Indian women entrepreneurs’ motivation changed due to past history, their physiological state and the environment. Education, role models, and the knowledge of business skills were found to be vital for the development and growth of business. Targeted policies and programs are required to grow and enhance the business of ethnic minority Indian women entrepreneurs in Singapore. Banks and Finance Companies could provide microfinancing and short-term loans and associations are encouraged to conduct networking sessions, workshops and training programs in digitalisation, accounting and business for the ethnic minority Indian women entrepreneurs.

Citation

Subramaniam, P. The lived experiences of ethnic minority Indian women entrepreneurs in Singapore: Motivation, barriers, challenges and support system. (Thesis). Edinburgh Napier University

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jan 8, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 8, 2025
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17869/enu.2024.4045595
• Keywords: ethnic minority women entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, Indian women, lived experiences
• Award Date: Nov 29, 2024