Entrepreneurship as Social Change: Examining the Perspective of Women Beauty Parlor Owners in Dhaka regarding Social Inclusion and Empowerment for their Ethnic Workers

Abstract

This paper tries to understand why a large proportion of ethnic women are employed in beauty parlors of Dhaka by examining the perspective of women beauty parlor owners in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh). The study entails in-depth interviews with prominent women beauty parlor owners in Dhaka (only Dhaka is considered in the study as most high-end parlors are situated in Dhaka) to understand their entrepreneurship and their motivation for creating employment for ethnic women. The interviews indicate that the owners perceive their entrepreneurship as a social change activity that positively impacts the lives of their women workers regardless of ethnicity. According to the respondents, the motivation for creating employment for ethnic women workers is driven by the need to empower them; social inclusion plays no role in generating employment for ethnic women workers. The findings also show that women beauty parlor owners are countering patriarchal structuring by employing ethnic women workers.