Policies and Institutional Supports for Women Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh: Achievements and Challenges

Abstract

Women’s entrepreneurship is important for women’s position in society, and for economic development of a country. Many scholars pointed out that women faces diverse challenges in doing business in a patriarchal society like Bangladesh. Women are now involved in economic activities than in the past, women constitute around 10 percent of the country's total business entrepreneurs. The present study is an effort to find out the factors which act as pull and push factors to engage women in entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh. In this study mixed method approach has been chosen. To attain the objective of the research researchers relied solely on the secondary sources. The study revealed that Government agencies provide policy, legal and financial support with active support from non-State actors. On the contrary, they do not get proper support from all relevant institutions because of corruption and lack of information. It is suggested that combined initiatives of Government and non- government institutions will be successful in meeting the needs of business women in Bangladesh.