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On the streets of Ranchi, women driving pink autos with women passengers can be seen zipping across, showcasing a sense of freedom and contentment for both the drivers and the passengers. These female drivers are part of a new breed of women with immense zeal and determination who have been able to overcome the challenges posed by family and society. To be able to defeat such hurdles requires courage for not giving up, it requires grit. Grit is a personality trait within individuals who demonstrate passion and perseverance towards a long-term goal. Grit, therefore, fuels strength with self-regulation and involves directed effort, persistence and often delayed gratification. The case is an attempt to exemplify as to how changes in society can be brought about by individuals if they have the will and determination to succeed in their endeavour. The case is based on primary data, sourced through semi-structured interviews with the self-employed women taking up the occupation of auto-driving.

Given the potential of start-ups in wealth creation in an economy, universities can play a leading role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our article focuses on the need to provide a strong impetus for establishing business incubation centres at universities for progressive creation of innovation start-ups. The study reviews the current status of business incubators affiliated with universities in India. It also explores the variables such as location, affiliation and ease of doing business which help facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship. An ontological perspective of objectivism whereby universities are seen to play a role in not just generation of knowledge but also in the development of an ecosystem where the knowledge is transferred to initiate new ventures is considered for the study. Based on the entire population of universities in India; 937 universities were considered for the study through the websites, and an analysis of the coherent and incoherent activities of these incubation centres was performed to check for the presence of entrepreneurship-related activities. Also, the ease of doing business rankings were mapped to assess whether they played a role in stimulating the setup of incubators.

Women empowerment and its importance have often been at the centre of debate especially in India. This concept is slowly moving beyond the theory and notions of discussions and manifesting even at the level of village clusters with adequate interventions from the policymakers. Despite the socio-cultural restrictions, the conspicuous role played by women at the household and community levels remains undeniable. This case study, through the concept of community kitchens, ideally captures the scenario in which Didis have become empowered and are able to add value to their family and community. Through a qualitative analysis it was found that the major themes associated with empowerment are community, decisions, family and values thus showcasing the economic and social implications. Research Questions/Objectives Can the concept of women empowerment be de-urbanized? Do women through formalized initiatives feel empowered and experience heightened self-esteem? Can the setting up of micro-entrepreneurial ventures at the village level provide an impetus to alter the existing social structures and power inequalities? Links to Theory: Women Empowerment, group approach and power, self-esteem Phenomenon Studied and Case Context: The Didis of the community kitchen were members registered as self-help groups with the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society. These community kitchens or Ajeevika Didi kitchens were essentially started and implemented during the COVID pandemic period in a five-phase manner for a period of 3 months from April to June 2020. There were around 450 women who got associated in running these community kitchens. The discourses by these Didis on their association with the micro-entrepreneurial venture and their feelings of empowerment are portrayed in the case. Findings: Semi-structured interviews for the sample respondents were conducted and then auto-coded themes, namely, community, decisions, family and values were obtained using the NVivo software. The sentiment analysis of the transcribed interview conversations revealed more of positive sentiments that were centred around the belief that such micro-entrepreneurial opportunities can largely improve their lives and ease out the inequalities that are experienced by them on the power and control fronts. On an overall basis it was observed that when the financial and psychological aspirations were met, fulfilment and satisfaction were the primary outcomes for the study participants. Discussions: The present case is aimed for discussion in the entrepreneurship classes of management, especially related to social entrepreneurship, women empowerment and contribution of women to the economy and society. The case highlights that woman’s contribution towards the society and family could be impacted through a woman’s own sense of self-worth and self-esteem. This case highlights further that micro-enterprises that are community level are both a social and economic phenomenon, manifesting benefits for the individual as well as the society.

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The weavers’ community of Jharkhand provides a unique context for exploring the experience of social identity among a group of individuals. The study considers how micro-level entrepreneurs form their social identity through their craft, examining the processes and emotions by which these entrepreneurs express and act towards the given situation of crises. The qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews conducted with 58 weavers households to understand their identity signals and associated feelings of pride and self-esteem as well as their future prospects. The study makes a significant contribution in the areas of social identity and psychology and gives important insights to the policymakers to come up with interventions that could meet the pressing needs of the community.

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