Human capital and business growth among Muslim women entrepreneurs in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Human capital (HC) is regarded as an essential resource in predicting the growth of any business venture, which encompasses the continued existence of women owned or led business entities. Researching on the capability of HC of Muslim women entrepreneurs (MWEs)has since become a topic for discussion as Muslim women face inimitable challenges than the non-MWEs. This study aims to look at the impact of HC on business growth of MWEs in the Eastern region of Sri Lanka (EPSL). HC was measured using the dimensions of business education, business experience and business skills. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 280 MWEs who are engaged with their district chamber of commerce in the Eastern province using simple random sampling technique. Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS and SPSS 23.0 was used as the data analysis technique. The structural model showed that business experience and business skills had significant and positive relationships with business growth of MWEs, whereas business education did not significantly influence their business growth. In most of the families in the conservative Muslim community, females are often not permitted go out themselves alone and mix with their counterparts alone. Further, many families even do not allow their female children to pursue higher education and prefer them to go for early marriage instead. This situation can be observed in Sri Lankan Muslim families especially in the Eastern Province where the majority come from rural areas. MWEs, trade chambers and decision-making authorities may use this finding to gain insights and to develop strategies on HC to facilitate business growth of Sri Lankan MWEs.