Entrepreneurial Barriers Faced by Disabled in India

Abstract

India has witnessed high economic growth rates in the past two decades and there has been a remarkable increase in the per capita income. But unfortunately many sections of the Indian population still remain economically deprived. Disabled persons though constitute a small part of the Indian population but their relative numbers are growing. Disabled lag behind in terms of education and employment which results in poverty. For equitable distribution of wealth and prosperity among all sections of population inclusive growth is necessary. The challenge is therefore not only to achieve higher economic growth rates but also to focus on economic inclusion so that all sections of the society are able to take advantage of opportunities. Promoting entrepreneurship among the disabled is a way to achieve faster and better economic integration. This paper highlights the barriers faced by entrepreneurs with disabilities. Also the paper tries to find out if these barriers are different than those faced by other entrepreneurs. Finally this paper highlights what steps can be taken to prevail over the various types of barriers being faced by disabled entrepreneurs.

Handicaps and new opportunity businesses: what do we (not) know about disabled entrepreneurs?

“…In the absence of a consensual definition of disabled entrepreneurs, the present study assumed that this term describes disabled individuals who have decided to become an entrepreneur at some point in their life. They are resilient, tenacious people with attitudes that strengthen their work skills and ensure disabled entrepreneurs can overcome barriers at various levels during the course of their career (Bagheri and Abbariki, 2017;Jasniak et al, 2018;Mohammed and Jamil, 2015;Shaheen, 2016). Disabled entrepreneurs' active role needs to be emphasized in the development of their business activities and consequent contributions to society.…”

“…The barriers they face are quite diverse, including personal, economic and social obstacles (Csillag et al, 2019). These entrepreneurs also encounter more barriers when seeking government funding and support (Mohammed and Jamil, 2015).…”

“…These individuals can also become entrepreneurs after having detected a flaw in the provision of goods or services, turning negative experiences into business opportunities in a classic case of opportunity entrepreneurship (Angulo-Guerrero et al, 2017;Fuentelsaz et al, 2015). Regardless of why they have become entrepreneurs, disabled persons may face various barriers and/or difficulties along the way (Dhar and Farzana, 2017) in various areas such as society, economy, politics (Csillag et al, 2019), government policies and financial support (Mohammed and Jamil, 2015).…”

Disability entrepreneurship research: Critical reflection through the lens of individual‐opportunity nexus

“…The number of interviewees tends to be on a smaller size or, in other words, lower than 30 (Caldwell et al, 2019; Csillag et al, 2019; Hsieh et al, 2019), reflecting the possible difficulty of access to suitable participants. Another 20 studies use quantitative surveys, and some contain a mix of PWDs/EWDs with non‐disabled counterparts for comparison (Beisland et al, 2016; Mohammed & Jamil, 2015). Lastly, five articles are based on literature review, though there is only one SLR which is also the most recent (Mota et al, 2020).…”

Long and winding road?

“…Scholars in the field urge clearly focussed, theoretically sound and high-quality empirical research to refine the present picture and support future policy development (Parker Harris et al, 2014a). Finally, entrepreneurs are usually pictured as strong, brave and most of all "able" individuals, who overcome challenges and succeeda picture of entrepreneurship that does not fit the general image of PWD (Cooney, 2008;Mohammed and Jamil, 2015;Saxena and Pandya, 2018).…”