Agric. sci. dev., Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014. pp.

269-272

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Agriculture Science Developments

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ISSN:
2306-7527
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The Role of Entrepreneurship Education in Economic Empowering of

Rural women Cooperatives of Shiraz City
Farhad Lashgarara *
Department of Agricultural Extension, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Elaheh Ghanaatpisheh
Department of Agricultural Extension, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Gholamreza Dinpanah
Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari
*Corresponding author: f_lashgarara@srbiau.ac.ir

Keywords

Abstract

Entrepreneurship Education
Economic Empowerment
Women Cooperative
Shiraz

The current research is aimed to identify the role of entrepreneurship education in economic empowering of
rural women cooperatives in Shiraz city. The population of this research include the members of the women
cooperatives in Shiraz city (N= 1151). By using proportional stratified sampling 300 people were selected
according to Morgan table. The data of the study is collected by a questionnaire. The findings showed that
there is a positive relationship between the economic empowering and achievement motivation aspects,
venturing, creativeness, self-sufficiency, and internal control in the level of 99 percent. Also the results of
regression analysis indicated that creativeness has determined 0.46 variance of economic empowerment of
rural women cooperatives in Shiraz Township.

1.

Introduction

Mention to and expand of entrepreneurship lead to a positive atmosphere to expand and elevate national resources and a meaningful decrease in
the rate of unemployment. On the other hand with the cooperation of psychologists and socialists to study in this field and the outcome of that,
the importance of entrepreneurship and teaching it, is now very vivid. So in recent two decades, we can see an upward trend to expand
entrepreneurship. One of the most important factors to test the improvement of each country is women and how they involve with the
community, and also they are almost half of our population (49.1%) so we should pay more attention to the power of their creative mind and try
to use them in a proper way. One of the most effective methods that provide necessary background for personal growth and upgrading of mental
and intellectual capabilities of women, and causing them to have active participation in group activities, is acting in cooperatives. Cooperatives
can promote the knowledge and capacities of women and empower them, and have effectively served with teaching the principles of
participatory development, teaching the methods of group decision and developing self-confidence [1] [2].
Studies have shown that we can expand entrepreneurship or at least teach it to others in order to maintain it alive [3]. Solomon et al. (2002) have
thought that entrepreneurship education is totally different from other aspects of education like finding jobs [9].
Vesper (1990) in a research under the name of increasing rate of entrepreneurship activities and the role of education, found that education plays
a very important role in entrepreneurships point of view for each individuals [11].
Postigo (2002) in another paper about entrepreneurship education of university students in Argentina, proved that innovative and creative
courses are the most important course to entrepreneurship education [7].
Howard (2004) in a research including 450 students and came to the conclusion that there is a straight relationship between different skills and
the rate of entrepreneurship of each individual [5].
Hosseini et al. (2009) in a research under the name of Extension and education factors influencing the success of entrepreneurship among rural
women in Northern Iran showed that we need to teach rural women in order to improve their entrepreneurship activities [4].
According to the report of Irans statistic center, the official rate of unemployment shifted to 30.3% in 2010 although it was 9.1% in 1995. On the
other hand, according to the Bureau of Statistics, Population Census and Labor Force this rate of unemployment in Fars state was 21.3% in April
2011, it was the highest rank among all states. Also Shiraz as the capital of the state represents the highest rate of 21.3% among other cities [10].
So given that officials have had less attention to the issue of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education and training of women than men,
and the situation of rural women, that is far worse than their urban counterparts And also have more difficulties, so in addition to the importance
of entrepreneurship education, and the necessity of increasing of empowerment of women especially in rural communities, this research has
necessity. The main purpose of this research as mentioned before is representing the role of entrepreneurship education in economical
empowering of rural women cooperatives in Shiraz city.

2.

Methodology

This is an applied study and non-experimental (descriptive) and is based on the correlation method. The main tool for this study is a
questionnaire that was prepared in four main sections, which its validity is confirmed by a group of experts and in order to assess the reliability
of the questionnaire, 30 questionnaires were obtained through the completion of a preliminary test that is established through calculating
Cronbach Alpha coefficient, as estimated among 0.822 and 0.928 which indicates the high reliability of the tool. The population of this research
includes women's cooperative members in Shiraz city. In this city there are 4 women's cooperatives, their members have a total of 1151 cases.
By using proportional stratified sampling 300 people were selected according to Morgan table, and samples were selected by stratified
proportional random. The dependent variable in this study is the economic empowerment of rural women's cooperative members and the
independent variables are: achievement motivation aspects, venturing, creativeness, self-sufficiency, and internal control.

Farhad Lashgarara *, Elaheh Ghanaatpisheh, Gholamreza Dinpanah

270

Agriculture Science Developments Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014.

3.

Findings

Based on the information gathered revealed that the mean age of members of womens cooperatives is 34.97. 71.3% of the members were
married; 86% of the members were dependents; the majority of rural women (48.3%) had lower secondary school degree. The results show the
average of 9 years for the membership record. The minimum record of membership among the members is 1 year and the maximum record of 20
years is mentioned. Between the classes were held in cooperatives, sewing classes, has the largest number of participants (N = 130) and crafts
classes, has the minimum number of participants (53 cases). To assess the economic empowerment of rural women, the six items were used.
According to Table 1, the findings of the study indicate that in the dimension of economic empowerment, almost half of respondents (49
percent) have evaluated their empowering as high.

Dimensions of
empowerment

Table 1. Distribution rate of economic empowerment of rural women

Empowerment
Frequency
Percent
Valid percent
Cumulative percent

Economic
empowerment

Very low
Low
Moderate
High
Very high
total
Not given
Mode: high Median: high

6
33
107
145
5
296
4

2
11
35.7
48.3
1.7
98.7
1.7

2
11.1
36.1
49
1.7

2
13.2
49.3
98.3
100

The results of prioritizing economic empowerment of rural women show that in the dimension of economic empowerment, "belief in the power
to eliminate poverty and neediness", is the first priority item, and "ability to obtain or increase revenues" is in the last priority.
For assessment of entrepreneurship education, five dimensions of achievement motivation aspects, venturing, creativeness, self-sufficiency, and
internal control were used. According to Table 2, the findings of the study indicate that more than half of the respondents (51.5 percent) have
evaluated the impact of achievement motivation on their empowering as high.

Achievement
Motivation

Table 2. Distribution of Achievement Motivation impact on the economic empowerment of rural women
Dimensions of
Empowerment
Frequency
Percent
Valid
Cumulative percent
entrepreneurs
percent
hip education
Very low
3
1
1
1
Low
39
13
13.2
14.2
Moderate
101
33.7
34.2
48.5
High
152
50.7
51.5
100
total
295
98.3
100
Not given
5
1.7
Mode: high Median: high
According to Table 3, the findings of the study indicate that half of the respondents (50 percent) have evaluated the impact of self-sufficiency on
their empowering as high.
Table 3. Distribution of Self-Sufficiency impact on the economic empowerment of rural women
of entrepreneurship Empowerment
Frequency
Percent
Valid
Cumulative
percent
percent
Very low
3
1
1
1
Low
30
10
10.1
11.1
Moderate
98
32.7
32.9
44
High
149
49.7
50
94
Very high
18
6
6
100
total
298
99.3
100
Not given
2
0.7
Mode: high Median: high
Self-Sufficiency

Dimensions
education

According to Table 4, the findings of the study indicate that more than half of the respondents (53.9 percent) have evaluated the impact of
internal control on their empowering as high.

Internal
Control

Table 4. Distribution of internal control impact on the economic empowerment of rural women
Dimensions of entrepreneurship Empowerment
Frequency
Percent
Valid
Cumulative
education
percent
percent
Very low
3
1
1
1
Low
25
8.3
8.4
9.4
Moderate
109
36.3
36.7
46.1
High
160
53.3
53.9
100
total
297
99
100
Not given
3
1
Mode: high Median: high

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The Role of Entrepreneurship Education in Economic Empowering of Rural women Cooperatives of Shiraz City
Agriculture Science Developments Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014.

According to Table 5, the findings of the study indicate that more than half of the respondents (58.5 percent) have evaluated the impact of
creativeness on their empowering as high.

Creativeness

Table 5. Distribution of creativeness impact on the economic empowerment of rural women

Dimensions
of Empowerment
Frequency
Percent
Valid
Cumulative
entrepreneurship education
percent
percent
Very low
2
0.7
0.7
0.7
Low
15
5
5
5.7
Moderate
81
27
27.1
32.8
High
175
58.3
58.5
91.3
Very high
26
8.7
8.7
100
total
299
99.7
100
Not given
1
0.3
Mode: high Median: high
According to Table 6, the findings of the study indicate that more than half of the respondents (53.4 percent) have evaluated the impact of
venturing on their empowering as high.

Venturing

Table 6. Distribution of venturing impact on the economic empowerment of rural women

Dimensions of entrepreneurship Empowerment
Frequency
Percent
Valid
education
percent
Very low
11
3.7
3.7
Low
36
12
12.1
Moderate
62
20.7
20.8
High
159
53
53.4
Very high
30
10
10.1
total
298
99.3
100
Not given
2
0.7
Mode: high Median: high

Cumulative
percent
3.7
15.8
36.6
89.9
100

Overall findings indicate that more than half of the respondents (60.1 percent) believe that entrepreneurship education has a great role in the
empowerment (Table 7).
Table 7, Distribution of the entrepreneurship education in economic empowerment of rural women

Entrepreneurship
Education

Dimensions of entrepreneurship
education

Empowerment

Frequency

Percent

Very low
Low
Moderate
High
Very high
total
Not given

1
30
83
173
1
288
12

0.3
10
27.7
57.7
0.3
96
4

Valid
percent
0.3
10.4
28.8
60.1
0.3
100

Cumulative
percent
0.3
10.8
39.6
99.7
100

Mode: high Median: high

In continue for prioritizing the importance of entrepreneurship education dimension in the empowerment of rural women, mean statistic were
used.
Findings show that among the five dimensions of entrepreneurial education in priority order, creativeness, venturing, achievement motivation,
internal control and self-sufficiency fall into.
In the inferential statistics part to determine the relationship between variables the Pearson correlation coefficient were used. And in order to
investigate the mass effect of independent variables on the dependent variable, multivariate regression was used.
The findings in Table 8 indicate that in the economic empowerment dimension with any aspect of entrepreneurship education there is a relation
as follows:
- Between creativeness, venturing, achievement motivation, internal control and self-sufficiency and economic empowerment, there is a
significant and positive relationship in the level of 99 percent.
As shown in Table (8) the dimension of creativeness, achievement motivation and venturing in the first to third steps are entered sequence.
This means that creativeness variable have the most influence on the dependent variable (economic empowerment) and this variable have
determined about 46% of economic empowerment variance.
Table 8. Regression analysis of economic empowerment
Steps
R
R Square
1
0.680 a
0.462
2
0.721 b
0.520
3
0.739 c
0.547
a: creativeness
b: creativeness, achievement motivation
c: creativeness, achievement motivation, venturing

Adjusted R Square
0.460
0.517
0.542

Farhad Lashgarara *, Elaheh Ghanaatpisheh, Gholamreza Dinpanah

272

Agriculture Science Developments Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014.

Entered variables into the regression equation are obtained in Table (9). Significant of regression were calculated by F that the dimensions of
creativeness, achievement motivation and venturing are significant at the level of 99% (sig=0.000).
Table 9. Standardized coefficients are not standardized and economic empowerment
Standardized
t
Unstandardized Coefficients
Coefficients
B
Std.Error
Beta
Constant
1.459
1.145
1.274
creativeness
0.289
0.060
0.314
4.819
achievement motivation
0.255
0.054
0.268
4.737
venturing
0.183
0.045
0.250
4.040
Dependent variable: economic empowerment
Variables

Sig

0.204
0.000
0.000
0.000

Based on the value of in Table (9) the regression equation can be written as follows:
Y = 0.314X1 + 0.268X2 + 0.250X3
X1= creativeness
X2= achievement motivation
X3= venturing

4.

Conclusion

Stepwise regression results show that in relation to the impact of entrepreneurship education on economic empowerment, creativeness dimension
with determining factor of R2 =0.460 is the most important influencing variable on the economic empowerment of rural women cooperatives in
Shiraz city so this variable have determined about 46% of economic empowerment variance. Overall dimensions of creativeness, achievement
motivation and venturing, in total are explained about 54% of the dependent variables (economic empowerment).
Datta & Gailey (2012), Sidhu & Kaur (2006), Soroushmehr et al.(2011), Islam (2011), Ataei & Zamani Miandashti (2011), Hosseiniyan (2009),
Jaafari Mehtash (2007), Saei Arasi and Valipuor (2010) and Kimiyaii (2012) have found similar results in their study. Therefore, as for the
results of other research and the results obtained from this research and In order to further empowering of rural women cooperatives in Shiraz
township, the following suggestions are offered:
-

With proper training, increase their belief in their ability to create jobs opportunity in order to achieve an adequate income, provide
strategies to increase revenue, taking over the responsibilities and handling the life, and with this way, provide required fields for
increased their economic empowerment.
With assigning some credit and facilities for creative and entrepreneurs women, provide required fields for performing their creative
initiatives by organizing courses in order to increase their creativity, and improving in the quantity and quality of cooperatives services
in addition to decreasing costs, to prevent the waste of resources and increasing efficiency and productivity of cooperatives and
capabilities of their members.
Since the achievement motivation in the cooperatives is one of the affecting factors on empowerment; and on the other hand, material
incentives have the most role for membership in cooperatives so it offers that from dative of more facilities to the cooperative branch,
with helping individuals to gaining more income and creating material incentives, provide causing the increase of members
participation in cooperatives and achieving to their goals.
Since having the confidence and belief in hard working and effort is one the key factors in enhancing their internal controls; therefore,
it is recommended to hold classes in order to improve the above-mentioned, to provide the improvement ofindividuals internal
controls.

References
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