Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the characteristics of women entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector in Mauritius and to investigate the impact of women entrepreneurship on their own livelihoods and that of their families. Design/methodology/approach – Using survey data on 158 women entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector, the authors analyse whether there has been an improvement in the standard of living of women entrepreneurs as a result of their informal entrepreneurial activities. Findings – Findings reveal that the informal sector has provided a self-employment outlet for unemployed and retrenched women in Mauritius. Even if for a majority, their earnings remain low, their informal activity has indeed helped to contribute to their livelihood and household earnings. Research limitations/implications – Research on informal sector businesses is fraught with limitations, given that these firms operate on the fringes of legality and data are thus a major issue. Hence interviewing owners of informal sector businesses to get relevant data is quite challenging. Practical implications – The results indicate that informal entrepreneurial activities contribute positively to women's livelihoods, hence policy should be aimed at encouraging women agency even if it is in the informal sector. Social implications – The study helps to shed light as to whether entrepreneurship even if it exists in the informal sector helps to improve the living of these women and their families. Originality/value – This study is innovative as it investigates the livelihood of a vulnerable section of the population, in this case, women entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector. The authors find that the informal sector provides women with higher income when they are married and are more formally educated.

PurposeThe paper innovates on the existing literature by assessing the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) tertiary education enrolment and career choice in a small country setting and by extending on Master and Meltzoff (2016) theoretical framework to provide a holistic explanation of the gender disparity through a mix of personal, environmental and behavioural factors. The study first probes into the existence of potential gender disparity in STEM tertiary enrolment in Mauritius. Second, in contrast with existing studies where selective factors are used to measure the gender gap in STEM education, this paper investigates into a combination of personal, environmental and behavioural factors that may influence participation in STEM education and career.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a survey of 209 undergraduates enroled in the main public university and investigates into the existence of a gender gap in STEM tertiary education enrolment and the reasons behind this disparity. Consistent with the theoretical model, the empirical analysis also investigates into the work environment (which cannot be measured from the survey), via semi-structured interviews of 15 women in STEM professions.FindingsThe logit regression results first reveal the existence of a gender disparity in the choice of STEM-related degrees. The probability of a female student to enrol in a STEM degree is lower than that of a male student, after controlling for all the personal, environmental and behavioural factors. The most important set of reasons influencing the student's STEM degree choice are self-efficacy and the student's academic performance in STEM subjects at secondary school level. The findings also demonstrate that young women are relatively more likely to choose STEM degrees than their male counterparts when they are supported by their family, school and teachers. There is further evidence of lower participation of women in STEM professions as well as significant challenges which women in STEM careers face compared to their male colleagues.Originality/valueThis study adopts a holistic framework to assess the factors that hinder women's participation in STEM tertiary education and career in Mauritius.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the female entrepreneurship underperformance hypothesis using a sample of small firms. The paper also attempts to explain why gender matters in entrepreneurship. The paper specifically investigates the differences in turnover of female and male entrepreneurs and also examines the reasons behind this differential performance by accounting for the gender factor. Design/methodology/approach This study uses survey data on 256 male and female entrepreneurs from the Island of Mauritius. The survey allows for the examination of the performance differential across male- and female-owned small businesses. The paper uses ordinary least squares and logistic estimation techniques to investigate the underperformance of female entrepreneurs. Sensitivity analyses are also undertaken to ensure robustness of the results. Findings The study finds evidence that gender matters when comparing the performance of male- and female-owned businesses. The results reveal that access to finance is an important hindrance to the performance of these small firms. Furthermore, the study also reveals that ethnicity plays a major role in influencing firm performance. Originality/value This paper is among the few studies, which investigates the female entrepreneurship underperformance hypothesis in a small developing state context and also attempts to explain the reasons why gender matters. The paper is an important empirical contribution to the literature in an African context.

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the magnitude of the gender wage disparity in the public and private sectors in Mauritius across both mean differentials and overall wage distribution. The paper then decomposed the gender wage differential using the Oaxaca and Blinder (1973) decomposition technique. Design/methodology/approach The study uses cross-sectional data from the Continuous Multi-Purpose Household Budget Survey (CMPHS), from 2006 to 2013. The sample size on average is around 12,000 households surveyed per year. Findings The results reveal that that gender wage differentials are prevalent in both economic sectors; however, the disparity is more pronounced in the private sector. In addition, the differences in wages are larger at the bottom compared to the top end of the wage distribution, suggesting the presence of sticky floors. Lastly, it was observed that the unexplained wage gap (discrimination) is higher in the private sector than in public sector across the years. Originality/value The literature on the gender wage gap in Africa is limited. This paper adds to the existing literature on gender wage differential with an analysis of the gender wage disparity across the public and private sectors in Mauritius.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of the ex-garment workers that have turned to self-employment either in the formal or informal sector in the wake of the termination of the multi-fibre arrangement, which led to job losses. This move has given rise to a new community of entrepreneurs in the Mauritian landscape. Hence, this paper tells a story of women empowerment to disempowerment and finally the struggle for them to get re-empowered. This study also shows that there has been a limit to which self-employment led to empowerment for these women as their incomes are low, and they remain in vulnerable positions. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyses the transformation of a sample of ex-garment workers into new entrepreneurs. The analysis in this paper rests on survey data collected from 92 ex-garment female workers, who are presently self-employed in either the formal or informal sectors, in different parts of Mauritius. Findings – The findings reveal that the self-employed women in the sample, who are also ex-garment female workers, are essentially necessity-driven entrepreneurs. Most of them have only basic primary education and seem to have no other choice than to engage either formally or informally in similar activities, given their prior knowledge and experience in the textile and clothing industries. The authors also find evidence of statistically significant differences across age, marital status and household size between those women in the informal sector compared to those engaged in the formal sector. Research limitations/implications – Resource constraints aside, this study could benefit from a larger sample cutting across many other sub-sectors. So far, the results of this study are only applicable to the specific sample studied. In terms of implications, the study finds that the relevant authorities should come up with targeted policies to help these women and address and alleviate the barriers that they face. Practical implications – This study provides an insight to help explain why a large group of women have gone into self-employment in Mauritius in the past 10 years. The authors find that self-employment has provided an empowerment outlet for these women so that they can financially contribute to their household income. From the policy-making perspective, this implies that it is important for the government to support the activities of these self-employed women with conducive policies. Originality/value – The study helps to advance knowledge on self-employed women in a small vulnerable island economy context. Given that the transition from being employed to unemployed and then the move to self-employment happened in a rather short span of time for these women, the contribution of this study is also to put at the forefront the industrial changes and the individual coping strategies.