Factors Influencing Participation Of Women In Entrepreneurship In Kiambu County: A Case Of Kiambu Municipality

Abstract

This project tackles and reviews the factors that influence participation of women in entrepreneurship in Kenya and in particular Kiambu County. The steps undertaken with regard to initiatives to empower women to participate in social activities are highly scrutinized. Thus the key purpose of this study was to establish the factors influencing women participation in entrepreneurship in Kiambu Municipality of Kiambu County. The study identifies four independent variables namely access to capital, lack of sufficient skill, social cultural factors and competition in entrepreneurship as factors that influence women participation in entrepreneurship. These are discussed in relation to the relevant existing literature. A sample literature review reveals a gap in that there is paucity of study about women entrepreneurship in other countries. The study adopted the descriptive survey design and quantitative and qualitative research methodology. Data was collected using a self administering questionnaire . A sample of thirty respondents were picked using stratified random sampling. Results for both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for the four objectives. Quantities data is keyed in and cleaned in a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) programme. Qualitative data was being analyzed using thematic method by grouping the information provided by the respondents into similar themes. The result findings indicated that access to capital, lack of skills competition in entrepreneurship, and social cultural factors significantly influence participation of women in entrepreneurship .The study has given several recommendations to remove or at least reduce barriers that negatively influence the participation of women in entrepreneurship in Kiambu Municipality which I think will apply to other areas in the Diaspora.