Abstract:
Difference between males and females, which is genetic, has become a part of society
from the time immemorial. Based on the above biological difference, there exists a
historical differentiation of sexes in the job market. The majority (67.9%) of Sri Lankan
labour force is female (Central Bank, 2008). Among them majority is unemployed and if
they are able to secure employment, it would be a solution for poverty alleviation.
A research reveals that the returns of micro enterprises conducted by males are higher
than that of the females (Zvelglick and Rodgers, 1999). It is further indicated that the
profitability of the female owned micro enterprises is low and slow (de Mel, Mckenize
and Woodruff, 2008). Therefore, main objective of this research is to identify the nature of
female owned micro enterprises. The other objectives are to study the problems and
profitability of micro enterprises and the social and economic environment of females who
are involved in micro enterprises.
In the methodological part, both the primary and the secondary data were used for this
research. 50 female owned micro enterprises and 50 male owned micro enterprises were
randomly selected for the sample and they were interviewed using a questionnaire. Central
Bank reports, relevant books, magazines and internet were used to collect the secondary
data.
The findings indicate that the nature of micro- enterprises depends on gender in the Sri
-Lankan society. Lower profits were recorded among female owned micro enterprises,
which is a result of women selecting high competitive micro enterprises. Further the close
proximity of competitors were a factor in low profits. This led to limit their customer
numbers and the size of the market. In addition to that basic problem women are not able
to engage in their business continually throughout the day as they had to be housewifes.
