Linking Education and Economics: An Analysis of Policies in Indonesia and Singapore for Female Entrepreneurs

Author(s):

MaryAnn Maslak(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

WERA Focal Meeting

Format:

Paper

Session Information

WERA SES 01 D, The Global Knowledge Market and Education

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-08

13:15-14:45

Room:

307. [Main]

Chair:

Lori Diane Hill

Contribution

Entrepreneurship is a process whereby individuals determine favorable chances for product and/or service ideas, and transform those chances into viable products or services that have the potential to earn a profit (Brush & Cooper, 2012; Venkataraman, 1997). Female entrepreneurship represents a "...powerful force in the economy" (Buttner & Moore, 1997, p. 34) and an engine of economic growth because it plays a leading role in generating productive work, achieving gender equality, and reducing poverty (Allen, Langowitz & Minnitti, 2007).

Adult education provides a path to develop knowledge related to and skills used in entrepreneurships. Women enroll in part- and full-time programs in secondary and vocational schools, and colleges and universities to study business in general and entrepreneurship in particular. Non-formal educational programs provide basic literacy and numeracy skills that are needed to open and operate small businesses for women without a primary school education.

Economic policies offer the frameworks within which plans for entrepreneurships occur (Acs, Autio & Szerb, 2014; Henrekson & Stenkula, 2010). What is the relationship between country-level policies that support economic development in a country, and the formal and non-formal educational policies that structure the credentials to excel in economic initiatives? To what extent are they aligned, and support the woman who seeks financial independence for herself and her family?

This paper investigates the relationship between education and business for female entrepreneurship in Indonesia and Singapore by offering a critical feminist analysis of country-level policies that are related to entrepreneurship and women in the two countries. Indonesia was selected because it holds the interesting distinction of a secular country with a large Muslim population; Singapore was selected because of its unusual standing as a country in which women do not typically hold entrepreneurial positions.

The paper begins by offering a brief review of the concepts of the formal economy. The formal sector includes all taxed, registered and regulated entrepreneurships. This sector maintains an organized system of employment with standardized relationships between the employer and the employee. Next, the paper offers an overview of the definitions of both formal and non-formal education, and the types of programs that both systems typically offer. Third, the paper takes an interdisciplinary approach drawing from education and business to probe the reasons for and rationality of policies for female entrepreneurs, as well as the political, cultural, legal and institutional restraints of them in the two countries.

This paper utilizes a multi-theoretical framework to examine policies that relate to women's entrepreneurships. The framework draws on liberal feminism, general human capital theory (which pertains to the acquisition of both knowledge and skills), and specific human capital (which refers to their practical application in the real world of work) (Fleinming & Nelson, 2007; Gadotti, 2011).

Method

Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2000; Fairclough, 2012; Janks, 2015) is based on a critical theory of language which views the use of language as a form of social practice. In this use, social practices are couched in an historical context, and are "…the means by which existing social relations are reproduced or contested and different interests are served" (Janks, 2015, p. 1). Analysis of the perspectives of the policy makers, and the ways in which the texts are positioned within various levels of government, including business and education, contributes to our understandings of the policies and their purposes for work. Fairclough's (2000) model for CDA consists three inter-related processes of analysis that are related to discourse. Fairclough notes that the three dimensions are: the object of analysis (including visual texts); the processes by which the object, in this case, the policy, is produced and received by others; and the socio-historical conditions which govern the processes of policy making and writing, such as the settings of the national governing administrators who discuss, formulate and approve policies. Text analysis for description, processing analysis for interpretation, and social analysis for explanation are conducted for each document, then comparisons of documents are made.

Expected Outcomes

Specifically, this paper reveals the (unexpected) ways in which country-level business and educational policies relate to networks of both policy makers and their intended recipients, the entrepreneurs, while supporting the developing economy of female entrepreneurs who work in Indonesia and Singapore. Concepts of network externalities in the form of formal institutional nexuses between policy makers contribute to our understandings of policy making, albeit from a different perspective. Concepts of network externalities within each country (e.g., domestic associations related to educational programs) demonstrate a different, yet important social support system for female entrepreneurs in the formal sector. Generally speaking, this interdisciplinary study yields important results for multiple disciplines, including education, business and the social sciences. It provides essential reading for academics whose research grapples with the complexities of research in the academic disciplines of business, sociology, education, and feminist studies. It aids development agency professionals and policy makers, such as those at USAID, the World Bank, UNICEF and UNESCO, whose research reports require theoretical grounding from scholarly studies that support plans and practical program suggestions policies and reports. It aids the business school student to more fully understand entrepreneurship from international perspectives. It assists the education student to grapple with ways that educational policy relates to the lives of working women. It provides case studies for the student of international studies to particularize study in specific regions of the world. It offers the feminist studies student an examination of a field in which women hold a prominent role.

References

Acs, Z. J., Autio, E., & Szerb, L. (2014). National systems of entrepreneurship: Measurement issues and policy implications. Research Policy, 43, 476-494. Allen, E., Langowitz, N., & Minniti, M. (2007).  The 2006 global entrepreneurship monitor special topic report: Women in entrepreneurship. Babson Park, MA: Center for Women Leadership, Babson College. Brush, C. G. & Cooper, S. Y. (2012). Introduction. Female entrepreurship and economic development: An international perspective. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 24(1-2), 1-6. Buttner, E. H., & Moore, D. (1997).  Women's organizational exodus to  entrepreneurship: Self-reported motivations and correlates with success. Journal of Small Business Management, 35(1), 34-47. Fairclough, N. (2012).  How do social welfare and support systems influence the attitudes of female entrepreneurs towards risk and options? In D. Hughes, & J. E. Jennings (Eds.), Global women’s entrepreneurship research: Diverse settings, questions and approaches (pp. 95-113). Cheltenham/Northampton, UK: Edward Elger. Fairclough, N. (2000). Discourse, social theory, and social research: The discourse of welfare reform. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4(2), 163-195. Fleinming, M., & Nelson, B. M. (2007).  Mission possible: Transforming women and building communities. Adult Learning, 18(3), 20-24. Gadotti, M. (2011).  Adult education as a human right: The Latin American context and the ecopedagogic perspective. International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift Für Erziehungswissenschaft, 57(1), 9-25. doi:. doi:10.1007/s11159-011-9205-0. Henrekson, M. & Stenkula, M. (2010). Entrepreneurship and public policy. In Z. J. Acs & D. B. Audretsch (Eds.), Handpaper of entrepreneurship research (pp. 595-637). New York, NY: Springer. Janks, H. (2014). Critical Discourse Analysis as a research tool. file:///Users/maslakm/Desktop/IE%20&%20Business%20Book/Janks%20criticaldiscourse.pdf accessed on January 25, 2015. Marshall, C. (1997). Dismantling and reconstructing policy analysis. in C. Marshall (Ed.). Feminist critical policy analysis 1: A perspective from primary and secondary schooling, 1-39. Venkataraman, S. (1997). The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research: An editor’s perspective. In Advances in entrepreneurship, firm emergence, and growth, In J. Katz and R. Brockhaus (Eds.), 3, 119–138. Bingley, UK: Emerald Insight. _____. (2012). Global education monitoring (GEM) report. Paris: UNESCO.

Author Information

MaryAnn Maslak (presenting / submitting)

St. John's University

Queens

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