Factors influencing Attitudes of Women Students to Business Ownership: Lessons and Experiences from the University of Botswana

This paper discusses factors influencing Botswana women students’ attitudes to business ownership and barriers thereto. It addresses the gap in existing literature on women’s entrepreneurship in developing countries which predominantly report on entrepreneurship by uneducated, poor rural women in the informal sectors. Data was obtained in December, 2010 and July 2011 from a survey of seventy six University of Botswana women students and two focus group discussions with ten of these women in December 2011 and April 2012. A majority (78.9 per cent) of the respondents hold positive attitude towards business ownership and consider it a rewarding economic option. Not surprisingly, their sociocultural status in accessing land and “shortage of money” were listed as major impediments to business start-up (84 per cent). In conclusion, building of awareness among women through education, training, and the media about business ownership as an economic option is suggested.

Key Words: Women’s entrepreneurship, students’ attitudes, “push” and “pull” factors

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