Purpose This paper aims to study the impediments and difficulties that prevent Indian women from becoming entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained through a survey involving 15 experts. Based on the feedback provided by the experts, ten relevant barriers in the context of Indian micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were chosen. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data. These ten barriers create obstruction for Indian women as entrepreneurs. These barriers were ranked, and causal relationships among them established using interpretive structural modeling and Matrice d’Impacts croises-multiplication appliqúean classment (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) (ISM–MICMAC) approach. Findings This study identifies, on the basis of extant literature and experts’ opinion, ten barriers to female entrepreneurship. These barriers were ranked, and causal relationships among them established using the ISM–MICMAC approach. On the basis of ranking, women can move forward in MSMEs after removing these obstacles and it will have good results. Research limitations/implications In this research, with literature reviews and experts opinion, ten barriers have been identified for women’s entrepreneurship and have been used to build the model. Practical implications To bring Indian women forward in the field of entrepreneurship, both the society and the government should work together, and efforts should be made to overcome the obstacles coming in the way of entrepreneurs. Social implications Female entrepreneurship in India faces many problems including negative attitude of authorities and society toward women. The society and authorities have no format or model for Indian women to move forward in the entrepreneurship sector. Originality/value This study seeks to identify, on the basis of a thorough review of literature and expert opinion, major barriers to female entrepreneurship in the context of Indian MSMEs.