Publication: 27.01.2021
The Civil Initiatives Support Center and American Corners in Kazakhstan joint project aims to empower young girls in vocational colleges by teaching them the basics of entrepreneurship, sales and marketing.
Globally, women’s entrepreneurship contributes to stability, community well-being and provides economic opportunities for vulnerable groups. According to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, by 2025, global GDP could be increased by $ 12 trillion by advancing women’s equality. Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and also provide society with new solutions to managerial, organizational and business problems, as well as to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. According to Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Research: Diversity Settings, Questions and Approaches, women are 1.17 times more likely than men to start social enterprises and 1.23 times more likely to start green businesses. Simply put, empowered women can change society.
In addition, self-employment is considered to be one of the stable sources of women’s financial sustainability. In Kazakhstan, on average, over 41.5% of the country’s SMEs are headed by women. At the same time, in regions such as Kostanay and Karaganda, the share of SMEs run by a woman reaches 48%. If we take into account only individual enterprises, then women account for half: out of 1,086.5 thousand entrepreneurs, 542.9 thousand are women.
At the same time, graduates who have just graduated from college often lack the practical skills of starting and running a business. This is especially true for programs like sewing and design. For graduates of such professional programs, entrepreneurship is not always possible because the curriculum of these programs does not include business courses. As a result, there is an urgent need to inform and motivate young female students that starting a business is a viable option for them to earn money. By providing these young women with the necessary skills, practices and success stories, the project will help promote economic independence and sustainable development among women.