"By investing in gender inclusion, businesses can generate opportunities for women while also furthering their business objectives. In recognition of the opportunities outlined above, the Shell Foundation and Value for Women embark on a partnership in 2016 designed to pilot a holistic framework for gender inclusion in enterprise operations, using a "bottom-up", business-first approach, aimed at testing the impact of gender inclusion on business performance. The approach first hones in on business challenges, and then designs practical, measurable solutions with a gender lens."

"This paper is aimed to support DCED member projects to integrate gender considerations more fully into private sector development (PSD) measurement systems. It takes a first step at bridging the knowledge gap by: 1. Reviewing definitions of women’s economic empowerment, 2. Identifying current measures for women’s economic empowerment in WED, and 3. Offering practical ways forward for measuring household level change in women’s economic empowerment."

"Today India, and the world, finds itself in the unenvious position of enduring two major economic recessions in a span of 10-12 years, unprecedented in modern history. In the aftermath of COVID-19, which has hit the small enterprise sector the hardest, where a majority of women-led ventures are recorded, it has become imperative to actively find avenues to encourage sustainable growth. This report delves deep into the various factors and circumstances inhibiting the growth of women-led enterprises, and further explores how women entrepreneurship can be encouraged while also being a force of change. Through various articles mentioned in this collection, which are based on original research studies conducted in this area during the pandemic, we seek to provide a snapshot of the existing obstacles, but also the way forward in promoting women entrepreneurship, which can be a major contributor in the socio-economic recovery of India."

"Globally, the literature on public sector experiences with GRP is limited. This report aims to contribute to the current knowledge base on how governments can better support women entrepreneurs and WLBs who seek to sell to the government. Most of the examples and case studies in this report come specifically from Chile, the Dominican Republic, and the City of Buenos Aires, which have developed GRP programs and are at different stages of implementation."

"In collaboration with Google, this report presents four opportunities for unlocking the potential of female entrepreneurship in India: 1) Level the playing field for the high-impact, employment-creating entrepreneurs; 2) Enable ambitious “solopreneurs” and small business owners to scale and become high-impact entrepreneurs; 3) Encourage more women to start enterprises; 4) Build, strengthen and scale productive rural “agripreneurs.”

"Now in its third year, the annual Mastercard Index of Women in Entrepreneurs (MIWE) continues to provide invaluable insights into the progress and achievemens of women in business. Despite many challenges, female entrepreneurs are opening successful businesses faster than ever before, and MIWE brings to the forefront the broad set of variables propelling this dynamism, globally."

"We initiated this study to identify demand-led macro unlocks that can drive growth for urban women (primarily the homepreneur segment), taking the lens of mass entrepreneurship. The intent was to present opportunities to ecosystem stakeholders, such that innovation, interventions, policies and business models can emerge that can lead to a conducive environment creating a path to bringing more women into the labour force in India."

"Syngenta Foundation India (SFI), established in 2005, is an independent not-for-profit organisation. SFI’s mission is to have small and marginal farmers participate in agriculture development by improving their access to better seeds and other inputs, technology, information, credit and market access. In this context, SFI launched its Agri-Entrepreneur (AE) Program in 2014. Under the program a rural youth is trained as an entrepreneur who provides last mile services to a group of 150-200 farmers. Currently there are 1763 AEs under the program who are supporting over 2, 00,000 farmers across India.

Of the total AEs, 265 are women AEs who are currently active across 5 project locations, i.e; Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The objective of the study was to understand the performance of women AEs and create an enabling environment to improve income and increase participation. The study methodology is based on the integration of quantitative and qualitative research methods."

"Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) is implementing the project ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women’ on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in partnership with the Indian Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE), to promote aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs in India. Under the name of ‘Her&Now’, the project also implements a media campaign to tell the stories of successful women entrepreneurs and to foster a positive mindset change in society. In this framework, GIZ has conducted this study to: establish the current profile of and barriers facing women entrepreneurs; analyse promising sectors and regions across India for women-owned/led businesses; ascertain potential sectors that would generate income and employment for for women entrepreneurs; and provide recommendations for policymakers and implementing partner interventions on women entrepreneurship."

"While the rise of the internet and online hiring practices can increase access to job opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups, an upsurge in the number of applications can lead managers to intentionally or unintentionally rely more heavily on demographic-based stereotypes. This type of discrimination is a challenge globally, and to counter these tendencies new and innovative tools are needed to reduce bias. We look specifically at the challenge of reducing gender bias in Indian hiring. Using data on hiring for full-time professional jobs in India from Shortlist, a hiring firm that is a leader in using bias-mitigating tools, we consider the validity of the global literature on gender discrimination in the Indian context.rm that is a leader in using bias-mitigating tools, we consider the validity of the global literature on gender discrimination in the Indian context."