Administration aims to raise women’s presence in entrepreneurship: VP

TEHRAN –The administration has focused on increasing women’s share of entrepreneurship in the science and technology sector from currently 12 percent to 30 percent, Zahra Behrouz-Azar, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, has said.

“Since graduated women constitute a large percentage of unemployed individuals, we are trying to implement the idea of increasing the share of women in entrepreneurship in cooperation with the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, technology parks and business incubators, as well as the Ministry of Information, and Communication Technology, to minimize the gap and witness the presence of more and more women in businesses,” IRNA quoted Behrouz-Azar as saying.

The official made the remarks on Saturday, December 21, on the sidelines of an exhibition called ‘Women, the pivot of innovation and technology’.

Women hold over 24% share of inventions in Iran

According to Behrouz-Azar, women account for more than 24 percent of inventions in the country, compared to the global average of 17 percent.

In Iran, entrepreneurship officially commenced in 2000. Following that it was defined as a field of study in universities, and the first entrepreneurial major as an interdisciplinary one launched at University of Tehran, she explained.

The official went on to say that the concept of entrepreneurship is interwoven with various fields such as economy, psychology, culture, sociology, and even religion. 

With the conceptual development of entrepreneurial thought, women’s entrepreneurship begins to grow because there is a difference between men and women in terms of performance, motivation, and access to resources.

One of the most important differences between entrepreneurship among women and men is the issue of motivation.

Men’s motivation in entrepreneurship is more concerned with earning a living and increasing wealth, but women all over the world tend to use it to strengthen the family foundation.

The most important goal in women’s entrepreneurship in the current administration is to promote motivation.

Men entrepreneurs can more easily provide resources and capital for their businesses, but this happens less for women. 

Therefore, educated women face funding problems to start their businesses.

The government is well aware of the issue and is looking for solutions to boost access to finance for women entrepreneurs, Behrouz-Azar highlighted.

Women’s economic, social empowerment

Addressing the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference, held in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 19 to 21, Behrouz-Azar stated that the current administration focuses on empowering women in social and economic areas, as well as improving their access to social services and facilities through implementing certain national programs.

“Iran has always focused on programs that empower women, particularly those who are heads of household, economically and socially. Actions taken by the country have always aimed to promote women’s status by observing the principles of the constitution and Islamic teachings,” Mehr news agency quoted Behrouz-Azar as saying.

Referring to Iran’s remarkable achievements in education, health, science, technology, and entrepreneurship, she underscored the prominent role of Iranian women in these fields.

The official further said the seventh National Development Plan has stressed the need to overcome barriers to women’s professional development. Accordingly, the current administration has put supporting women’s entrepreneurship and home business growth on the agenda despite unfair sanctions.

Addressing a roundtable focusing on ‘Advancing women’s economic empowerment through employment, decent work, social protection, and entrepreneurship’, Fakhr al-Sadat Fatemi, an advisor to the deputy vice president for women and family affairs, for her part proposed three ways to advance women’s empowerment in different fields, these ways include training, empowering, acquiring skills, and developing opportunities for women’s participation, as well as providing legal and executive support, Mehr news agency reported.

MT/MG