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Gender-equality is a sensitive and crucial aspect of socio-economic development in India. It has been found that structural barriers to employment and entrepreneurship for women not only contribute to their economic marginalization but also restrict the economic growth of India severely. Indian society has traditionally been aligned with patriarchal principles, which now manifest through traditions, culture, norms, and behavior and prevent women from gaining agency and ascending to positions of power. This paper has analyzed the gendered structural restrictions to entrepreneurship in India and determined that gender-bias against women at the part of investors and venture capitalists, unequal social expectations for child-rearing and housework, the lack of public and workplace safety as well as the manufactured confidence gap deter female entrepreneurship in India. Even though some progress has been made in promoting entrepreneurship amongst women, especially in the informal sector, this progress is caste and class exclusionary and leaves women from low-income and socially disadvantaged communities behind. Lastly, this paper has provided policy recommendations to improve existing inequalities through awareness campaigns, regulations, linkage to the formal economy, and reservation of seats in academic institutions.
M. L. Dewan (Fri,) studied this question.