Introduction
Despite the fact that the number of female entrepreneurs is growing, data shows that they grow at a slower rate than male entrepreneurs due to the difficulties and challenges they face. There have always been several obstacles and challenges in founding and growing enterprises, whether in urban or rural settings. On the other hand, the resources and contexts available for entrepreneurship can help to mitigate some of the barriers and challenges; in other words, the right geographical location and easy access to resources can help to foster entrepreneurship development, which is the foundation for regional development. Additionally, urban and rural women entrepreneurs play essential roles in the economic growth, particularly in developing and underprivileged countries. The World Bank claims that investing more in female entrepreneurship will result in a nation's development. The reasons are women's empowerment in society (whether urban or rural) eliminates inequality and poverty, and women are the first hope for family development and country development in underdeveloped countries. Female entrepreneurs' success in these societies benefits not only the economy but also the social and cultural structure. Nonetheless, women entrepreneurs confront numerous challenges, just like other groups of entrepreneurs.
Methodology
The study's statistical population is made up of women aged 15 to 65 who live in Marivan City and its surrounding villages. According to the statistical population of 65081 women between the ages of 15 and 65 in Marivan, 189 samples were chosen using Cochran's formula. In addition, 9 villages were chosen from a total of 93 villages in Marivan County based on their distance from the city: 3 villages within 0-5 km of the city (close), 3 villages within 5-10 km of the city (medium), and 3 villages at a distance of 10-15 km from the city (far). According to the statistical population (827), there are 113 questionnaires distributed in the villages indicated. For statistical analysis of the research, the one-sample t-test and ANOVA have used in SPSS 22 software, and for spatial analysis of the research ArcGIS software was used.
Discussion and conclusion
According to the research findings in the economic and political dimensions, women entrepreneurship growth in the both study area's settlements, namely rural areas and Marivan City, are not at the required level. The reasons are the lack of private investment in the region to build enterprises, the lack of banks and institutions offering loans and financial credits in rural regions, the existence of extreme poverty in the region, particularly in rural areas, lack risk-taking, lack of government assistance, lack of action in villages or municipalities to build and promote women's entrepreneurship, lack of public sector cooperation in investing in new firms, and so on. It should be mentioned that the status are considerably better in urban regions than rural ones. These findings are congruent with Sivanesan's 2014 study comparing rural and urban female entrepreneurship in India, as well as Robinson et al. (2004) and Rasekhi et al (2018). Marivan City has a better social and infrastructural status than rural areas in both social and infrastructural terms. Lack of participation of women in business organizations, unions, and guilds, lack of educational fields related to entrepreneurship in rural areas, lack of social security for women in the marketplace, lack of cooperation of rural managers with women, lack of a class or organization of women entrepreneurs, lack of appropriate technology infrastructure in rural areas are some of the reasons for this. These findings are in line with a 2011 study by Angela Davis comparing the priorities of urban and rural entrepreneurs' service demands, as well as studies by Asitik (2015) and Anthopoulou (2016). (2010). Both towns are in good shape in terms of individual dimensions, but when comparing the averages of the two, Marivan is in a better position than rural areas (cities with an average of 3.96 and villages with an average of 3.04). Individual qualities and backgrounds of entrepreneurship in the inhabitants of the research area, such as readiness to confront challenges and difficulties, not escaping unpleasant situations, people's level of responsibility, self-reliance, and acceptability, could be the cause for this. These findings are in line with those of a 2013 study in Kentucky by Hyunjeong Joo, which compared rural and urban entrepreneurs. There is a substantial difference in the mean of the desired dimensions, according to the analysis of the variance test. In addition, according to the post hoc test, the city of Marivan has the biggest differences from other groups, i.e. rural groups, in all of the analyzed characteristics. The city of Marivan has a better situation in the field of female entrepreneurship development than the rural areas analyzed, according to the findings of a spatial analysis of research in ArcGIS software. Due to the fact that the rural areas studied had an unfavorable situation in this regard, we have measured these areas by distance from the city. According to GIS maps, the villages near the city of Marivan, especially Bileh and Tazehabad, are in a more favorable situation than other rural areas. The reason for this can be considered the proximity of these villages to the city of Marivan.
Type of Study:
Research |
Subject:
Special Received: 2022/06/18 | Accepted: 2022/05/31