Secondary education proves to be a significant determinant of female labour

participation rate in Mauritius. Our results also reveal that married women in
Mauritius are less likely to enter the labour force. In fact marital status is one
of the most important factors averting them from work.

setting up of an export-processing zone has proved an effective catalyst in driving

employment, especially for women

Trade benefits Mauritius as it enhances growth which in turn reduces poverty as

well as gender inequality. Women are more vulnerable to poverty mainly due to
inequalities in income, resources, property, education and employment. This has
thus led to the feminisation of poverty.

Gender mainstreaming is now receiving new impetus. In August 2005, the

government of Mauritius,

in collaboration with the UNDP and the International Labour Organisation, started a
three-year

programme

titled

Capacity

Building

for

Gender

Equality

and

Empowerment of Women. The programme aimed at an environment that will ensure

the development of policies, legislation, financial and economic mechanisms in
Mauritius to promote gender equality in social, economic and political spheres as
well as to empower women. Achievements in gender have so far included a
substantial increase in the representation of women in parliament. Of the
candidates nominated by each major group in the current parliament following the
July 2005 general elections, 16 were women and 12 of these candidates were
elected (11 directly and 1 woman through the best loser system). This raised the
representation of women in parliament from 5.7 per cent, or 4 women, in the
outgoing parliament, to 17.1 per cent in the new legislature.

Social expectations can prevent women entrepreneurs from evolving as they are
expected to fulfil their duties as wife and mother and engage in domestic work
which takes a lot of their time (Tambunan, 2011). Therefore lack of time, cultural
beliefs, a non cooperative partner and gender biases could also be barriers to
women entrepreneurship (Rehman & Roomi, 2012). For women to effectively
contribute to the economic development there needs to be cultural changes so
that women can manage their responsibilities at home, at work and in the
community

The government of Mauritius, in an attempt to promote the SME sector has set
up a lot of agencies which provide services to entrepreneurs. Among these is the
National Women Entrepreneur Council (NWEC) set up in 1999 under the aegis of
the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare to

promote entrepreneurship among Mauritian women and to empower women

entrepreneurs

Yet, despite the facilities provided, all is not positive for women entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately prevailing gender stereotypes and poverty are some of the
obstacles which prevent complete women emancipation. Indeed, a Mauritian
woman entrepreneur has explained how when she started her business, she had
to fight for her rights and to cope with societys prejudice with regards to the
traditional roles of women in society (Hamuth, 2012).

Another challenge for women includes dealing with patriarchal values prevalent
in the Mauritian society. Although women are contributing economically to the
household by working, they are still expected to do most of the household
chores as well as look after the family. Therefore, to successfully manage both
the personal and professional sphere, women entrepreneurs also need good
time management and organizational skills (Rehman & Roomi, 2012).

In 2012, Mauritius ranked 70th out of 146 countries according to the Gender
Inequality Index of the UN. The index reflects inequality in achievements between
women and men in reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market
(statsmauritius, 2013). In 2012, the active Mauritian population (aged 16 years and
above) stood at 593,100 with 368,400 men and 224,700 women. The active women
represented 44.3% of the female population aged 16 years and above compared to
75.7% for men. During the period 2002 to 2012, male activity rate was consistently
higher than female activity rate. However, the gap was narrowing over time as the
activity rate for men has been constantly decreasing over the years while that of
females has been generally increasing