WO EN
IN BUSINESS:
why not?
From the start of time, men have been considered as the
head of families, as leaders in the society and as those
who go out and bring in food for the family. Men, being
physically stronger and assumedly being able to make
more logical decisions, or rather, less emotional decisions. Women, on the other hand, are the care providers
and those who stayed home to cook the meals and tend
to the kids. These perceptions were and to an extent are
still deeply rooted in cultural beliefs.
by Mark Amaza
Personally, I find the belief that women should not be
in business is one that should have died long ago, possibly at the turn of the 19th century. This is because I
am yet to find any evidence that women are less capable
of building and running businesses, whether small or
legendary.
There was a time, not so
long ago, women were
not able to vote until in
the late 19th century that
European countries such
as Sweden, Finland, Britain and some parts of the
United States granted
them those rights. While
here in Nigeria, women were not restricted as
such, they still have had
and are still working hard
to change the perception
that women should be
in the background in the
scheme of things.
The examples of women who have founded enterprises that have grown to
change the world and
business thinking are not
in lacking: Mary Kay Ash,
founder of the now wellknown cosmetics company, Mary Kay, started
her own company after
she watched yet another
man promoted over her
in the workplace. There
is also Anita Roddick
who out of the necessity
of supporting herself and
two daughters in her husband’s absence led her to
create the now iconic The
Body Shop which makes
environmentally-conscious cosmetics.
This scenario also extends to business and entrepreneurship, where fewer women start and run businesses
than men, despite that there are more women than men.
One major reason for this is not just the fact that there
is still a belief that women should stick to their traditional role of being home makers, it is also the fact that
many women have accepted such beliefs, thus, restricting themselves.
Back home in Nigeria, we do not lack female entrepreneurs such as Mrs Florence Seriki, whose Omatek Computers is the first assembler of computers in Nigeria; or
Bose Ayeni, the founder of the fast food chain, Tantalizers; or Ibukun Awosika of Sokoa Chair Centre. There
are also the thousands of women entrepreneurs, big and
small, whom we may never know, but who are doing
great things where they are.
J U N E 2 0 1 4 MeMag |
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