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Evaluating the outcomes of microenterprise training for low income women: A case study

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, Aug 2001 by Dumas, Colette

Abstract

This paper presents a case analysis of an entrepreneurship training and education program designed to prepare low-income women to start their own businesses. The purpose is to evaluate initial program outcomes in comparison to program goals. Results indicate that the training: empowered participants to begin to achieve economic self-sufficiency; helped them start to build strong business and life management skills; may have an influence on the growth of locally controlled businesses and has helped create new jobs in the inner-city neighborhoods. Results also indicate the need for changes and improvements in the program, such as: revising the level of time spent developing the business; providing greater support in the form of additional mentoring, networking and workshops; composing classes with greater diversity; and providing greater access to computers and computer training. Implications for practice and research are also included.

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Key Words: Low-income women, microenterprise training, entrepreneurship, program assessment

In 1996, approximately 11,000 people in Massachusetts began the shift from receiving welfare to moving into the workforce (Boston Globe, 1999). The majority of these people are female heads of families with children under age 18. Nearly half of these families have incomes below the poverty line and many more live only slightly above the poverty line, and this is before the loss of government benefits is considered. Without strong traditional employment opportunities, and without a fundamental safety net, the nation's most economically disadvantaged women and their families are at risk of falling into unending poverty.

Federal and state governments have advanced a primary strategy of "Workfare" programs to fill the wage gap previously met by welfare assistance. Yet State and employer-based welfare-to-work programs do not represent a viable solution for all those suddenly without public assistance. Barriers to traditional employment for economically disadvantaged women include: (1) long commuting times and/or lack of access to transportation, (2) a need for work flexibility to accommodate child and family care issues, and (3) educational disparities, gender and racial stereotyping and educational and language barriers that obstruct job effectiveness, promotion and career advancement (NFWBO, 1997; Gould & Parzen, 1990; Gould, 1992; Ford Foundation Report, 2000). In light of these barriers, strategies such as entrepreneurship training are needed to provide these women and their families with viable economic opportunities beyond traditional employment.

According to the 1999 Directory of U.S. Microenterprise Programs (Langer, Orwick & Kays, 1999), there are approximately 341 microenterprise programs in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Of those, 283 are practitioner agencies that provide loans, technical assistance and training services to entrepreneurs. Forty percent of the programs have a client base made up of 50% women or more, and just 4% of all programs serve only women (Langer, Orwick & Kays, 1999).

This article is based on a case study of one of these women-centered programs, the Community Entrepreneurs Program (CEP), offered by the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE), based in Boston, Massachusetts. This is one of fifteen programs in the country serving only women, designed to make the opportunities of new business growth available to underemployed or unemployed women. CEP focuses on women transitioning from welfare to self-sufficiency.

CEP has several key strengths that make its approach innovative. First, in addition to "technical assistance", the program focuses on education, seeking to provide women with the skills to improve their businesses over the course of their lifetimes. Second, the CEP is comprehensive in its programs and services, providing a continuum of education throughout the business life cycle, not just for start-up. Third, CEP provides socio-economically and racially integrated classes to foster learning and networking, particularly for the purpose of helping women transition off welfare to economic self-sufficiency. CEP is part of the welfare-towork strategy that is a unique subset of the evolving practice of microenterprise development. According to Clark, Kays et al. (1999, p. 42) such programs require "documentation and study on (their) own merit(s), especially as the new welfare reform law has made microenterprise even more relevant as an employment generating and anti-poverty strategy."

The purpose of this paper is to document and evaluate the initial outcomes of a pilot training program provided to fifty-five participants of the Community Entrepreneurs Program. Evaluation of this and other programs is important first, because we need to know if such programs fail or succeed in their goals. If yes, why or how do they succeed? Evaluation of this program can also help us answer the following questions: what are the strengths of the program; where does the program need improvement; how do these results compare to those achieved by similar programs in U.S.?

Evaluating the outcomes of microenterprise training for low income women: A case study

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, Aug 2001 by Dumas, Colette

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