Trakya Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

Öz

Various roles and tasks have been attributed to women, who make up half of the world's population, throughout history. Women who are an important part of social and economic life; After the industrial revolution, they gradually began to gain economic independence and operate in the labor market. Despite this, most of the participation of women in the labor market in the agricultural production process was not considered to be actually working, agricultural activities were regarded as traditional roles and duties depending on women's gender, and agricultural women's labor was neglected by considering them as mandatory jobs. Although the division of labor brought about by gender-based roles and duties is at different levels in each society; giving birth and raising children, doing housework, being involved in economic life within the limits allowed by their spouses; Physiologically and sociologically, it is adopted as the basic duty of women. Taking an active place in the labor market and gaining sectoral income is generally accepted as the duty of men. However, it is necessary to increase the participation of women in social and economic life in order to ensure rural development, to use resources effectively and efficiently, to ensure the sustainability of local resources, to keep the population in rural areas and to increase the diversity of work for promotion, and to create social living areas in rural areas. It is necessary to know the qualifications and skill levels of the individuals in order to achieve the goals determined in the rural area and to make the plans that will ensure the correct use of the resources transferred to the field. For this reason, this study was carried out to determine the entrepreneurial qualities and entrepreneurial skills of women who have an important workforce potential in rural areas. 106 women living in rural areas were interviewed within the scope of this purpose-based study. A five-point Likert scale was prepared to measure the individual qualities and entrepreneurship skills of women entrepreneurs in rural areas. The decision criteria, which are listed from 1 to 5 in the scale, are scored according to their importance. Parameters were created based on the variables prepared by Koh (1996) in the selection of parameters to be used in determining the entrepreneur's individual qualities. Six sub-categories were created to determine the factors for determining entrepreneurial individual qualities. The entrepreneurship score was determined by taking the average of the entrepreneurial qualifications determined for each woman and the entrepreneurship levels of the rural women were determined. The same method was applied for entrepreneurship skills and the parameters created by Ağızan (2018a) were taken as basis. The multivariate linear regression analysis method was used to determine the relationship between entrepreneurial level and entrepreneur skills. According to the result, the general average of the entrepreneur's individual qualifications score was determined as 3.60, and the social locus of control factor received 3.32 points. The external social locus of control emerges as a result of the inability to take control of one's own life and not attempt to change existing conditions. The main reason for this situation stems from the fatalistic point of view of the women included in the study. In addition, women's unpaid agricultural worker status, lack of economic freedom and current cultural structure; It prevents women from making decisions about their jobs, being able to fight against all predictable risks and adopting innovative ideas and implementing these ideas. The success of entrepreneurship skills in explaining individual qualities was determined as 50.90%. Among the factors representing individual qualities, the most important factor that prevents entrepreneurial activities from being carried out has been determined as the "social locus of control". Social locus of control; reveals the fatalistic nature of women and prevents entrepreneurship from turning into action. Making use of the results, suggestions were made for the activities necessary to dynamism the participation of women in the labor force in rural areas. Working together of the women involved in the project in the activities carried out; This has led them to express that they feel more secure and that collaborative work areas are more beneficial for them. For this reason, an association, foundation or cooperative to be established for women's activities in rural areas will make women feel safe and comfortable and facilitate their participation in economic life.