An assessment of gender differences in the operational efficiency of businesses run by persons with disabilities

Abstract

Purpose – Progress accomplished by the disabled entrepreneurs on the fronts of profits, turnover, return on investment (ROI), employees engaged, capital employed and diversification shall be studied and prevalence of gender differences in such progress shall be assessed. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed research is descriptive in nature, based on primary data, collected by personally administering a well-structured interview schedule to 201 disabled entrepreneurs in Puducherry selected using a snowball sampling technique. Data collected has been analyzed using SPSS 21, using the tools of mean, one-way ANOVA, factorial ANOVA and chi-square (x2 ) analysis. Findings – The prevalence rate of entrepreneurship among female disabled is very low. Female disabled entrepreneurs manage higher turnover than their male counterparts and manage insignificantly higher progress in terms of capital employed, while male disabled entrepreneurs have managed insignificantly higher progress in terms of profits, diversification and ROI. Illiterate disabled, both men and women, struggle to manage decent turnover while the better educated manage better turnover. Research limitations/implications – This paper has highlighted the low prevalence rate of entrepreneurship among women disabled though the fewer women disabled entrepreneurs are performing better than their male counterparts in operating their business. Originality/value – The findings of this paper may be taken as base for formulation of effective government policies in empowering disabled persons in general and women disabled in particular