Contemporary Russian women: entrepreneuring for survival

Abstract

In Russia dismal economic conditions, unemployment rates of 70 to 80 percent, and divorce impel women towards entrepreneuring. How do women in a nation converting from a planned economy to a demand economy acquire requisite attributes and skills to grow businesses? Tremendous obstacles such as accounting, banking, legal, taxation, registration as well as the Mafia inhibit an entrepreneur's progress. This research explores how and why in a transitional economy Russian women today are using small business creation to adapt to an evolving market economy. On-site field research based on a mixed method phenomenological design was conducted from July to December 1998 in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia. The dominant qualitative element sought to hear the voices of Russian women entrepreneurs. Interviews were conducted in-person, in-depth, and audiotaped with 13 information-rich women enterprise owners. The quantitative portion of distributing surveys to 200 women entrepreneurs in the Novgorod region netted a return rate of 37 percent. The interviews, surveys, and field observations were triangulated to reflect contemporary female entrepreneurial experiences during Russia's historic transition. The findings revealed that women average 38 years of age, 65 percent are college educated, 65 percent are married with two children, 50 percent own 100 percent of their businesses, 79 percent are engaged in service or retail industries, 61 percent reported a role model, and women currently average four years in business. Overall this study revealed that small and mid-sized enterprises do empower women by: 1. contributing to family expenses, 2. feeling more self-confident, 3. discovering a degree of optimism, 4. changing their outlooks and expectations of society, 5. knowing that the business can passed on to children, and 6. recognizing positive changes in their community status, family position, leadership roles, mentoring responsibilities, and personal economics. Desperate to put milk and bread on the table for their children, women entrepreneurs are defying communist norms, instead of doing what they are told to do, they are replacing this antiquated thought with doing what must be done.