THE ROLE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: A CASE STUDY IN THE CITY OF BARISHAL, BANGLADESH

This present work aims to explore the role of women entrepreneurship in women empowerment in the city of Barishal of Bangladesh. The study analyzes how women entrepreneurship effect on women empowerment in the society. A person-administered to semi-structured questionnaire survey method was conducted initially, followed by a face to face interview in April 2015 in Barisal city, Bangladesh. A total of 160 respondents (80 non-enterprise housewives women and 80 for enterprise housewives women) were interviewed for primary data. The results of this study revealed that entrepreneurship has a significant effect on increasing women's decision-making ability in their families. Further, the research also discovered that the businesswomen have more control over resources, ownership of assets, social mobility, engage in politics, role play in decision making on household and family health issues than non-enterprise women (housewives). In contrast, non-enterprise women have less knowledge and awareness of climate change, disaster management, and women's rights than businesswomen. The study findings suggest that easy access to the payable loan at general terms and conditions would play a vital role in a successful business. Future research is recommended to conduct a study in the Northwestern part of Bangladesh, where the impact of the household women's income is significant for social-economic development.