Mentorship for Women Entrepreneurs – A highway to growth

• by Sonal Jaitly, Poulomi Ghosh, Dr. Sheetal Prasad and Mann Soni
• Oct 3, 2023
• 1 min
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MSC and the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) researched women entrepreneurs’ awareness, access, experience, and perceptions of the value derived from mentorship. The report “Mentorship for Women Entrepreneurs—A Highway to Growth” provides essential insights into the need, design, and perceived value of entrepreneurial mentorship for women-led businesses. It offers a glimpse of the current mentorship landscape in India and its skewed geographical and gender focus. The report also offers key recommendations to enhance the nationwide availability of effective mentorship for women entrepreneurs.

World Bank’s recent evidence and practice note on what works to support women-led businesses emphasizes the need to better target support to growth-oriented women entrepreneurs, consider women’s differentiated needs, and provide a package of support to overcome multiple constraints. MSC’s previous study with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) found that women entrepreneurs require support in six critical ecosystem areas to develop successful businesses. One of these critical areas is entrepreneurial mentorship. The explosive growth of the Indian startup ecosystem has increased recognition of mentorship as an effective entrepreneurship development tool.

However, empirical research that examines its impact is yet to be undertaken. This study—Mentorship for Women Entrepreneurs—A Highway to Growth,” attempts to understand women entrepreneurs’ awareness, access, experience, and perceptions of the value derived from mentorship. In the study, we interviewed mentors across industries in India to understand their motivations and mentorship experience. This was complemented by a review of global evidence on the subject and an analysis of the country’s mentorship landscape.

Watch this  video to get the key insights from the report.