Investigating the Challenges of Work-Life Balance Faced by Women Entrepreneurs in India: An Analysis of Societal, Structural, and Economic

Women entrepreneurs in India are essential to India's economic and social development. They, however, face several obstacles and challenging work lives while trying to balance their professional and personal lives. There are also significant cultural and structural inequities and economic barriers. Society often assigns caregiving roles to women, restricting their future entrepreneurship aspirations. Economic disparities, such as wage gaps and discriminatory practices, compound the obstacles. This chapter offers a comprehensive analysis of these multidimensional challenges based on a review of recent studies, practical case examples, and policy insights. It also stresses actionable strategies, including better policy frameworks, technological interventions, and community development systems, to help women entrepreneurs overcome these barriers. This chapter focuses on practical solutions focusing on the scarce discourse on gender equity in entrepreneurship and to make contributions to discourse with actionable insight for stakeholders.