Entrepreneurial Gender Factor in Self-employment Success in Kitui County, Kenya

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is about transforming ideas into economic opportunities decisively and it is considered as a driver of economic growth, development and sustainability. It is in record that economic progress has been significantly advanced by pragmatic and resilient individuals who have enterprising and innovative skills. Entrepreneurship is apparently contributing significantly to global, regional and local acceleration in growth and development. Entrepreneurship in Kenya is hinged on the potent role it plays in business start up and take off for self-employment, job creation and earnings. This study established influence of enterprising gender factor on self-employment success in Kitui County in consideration of cultural background, education level, age and marital status of women and men. The study used mixed research design approach with total respondents for the study being two hundred and forty-seven. Questionnaires and semi structured interviews were used to collect data. Findings from the study were presented in figures and tables. The findings demonstrated that cultural background, education level, age and marital status have influence on the success of self-employed businesses in Kitui County. Results from inferential statistics demonstrated that the combined effect of cultural background, education level, age and marital status had significant effect in explaining changes in entrepreneurial success of self-employment