Back in the nineties, fetching some water in the bucket and catching a bunch of fishes was all that was expected of girls in Bangladesh. When it gained independence, it was a very poor country and the poverty rate was so high, only few families could afford sending their kids to school. The literacy rate of Bangladesh since 1971 is as follows. (Source: UNESCO)

Their literacy rate, as mentioned earlier, was very low as they initiated but ever since they have been giving education as much importance as to the availability of food and are still fighting. However girl’s education still needs improvement. Out of the total female population of 49.35% (World Bank), only 41.4% are recorded to be literate (Central Intelligence Agency 2009), which means 58.6% of the girls are left uneducated and illiterate. With such low literacy rate among the girls, we don’t get to see many women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh and the very few we get to see, face numerous problems in the corporate world.

Education is conducted in Bengali

Bengali is the national language of Bangladesh, therefore the medium of conversation and the language in which education is conducted is Bengali. This sometimes become a major problem, when the women entrepreneurs go out in the corporate world, they do not just face Bengali people but they also face Chinese, Indian and Pakistani – people who have settled their business in Bangladesh. When these women go abroad, their problem only worsens.

Family Restrictions

There are some serious cases where a woman wishes to work but the head of the family – usually the husband – does not allow her to do so due to egotistical reasons.

Women themselves do not want to work

Most of the girls, after graduating, get married and settle down. They don’t continue with their career onwards and frankly speaking, they do so with their own will. Most of the graduate girls, who are not working and are married, when interviewed; “why did you not apply for a job with a bachelor’s degree in hand?”, answered; “we do not get enough time left.”

There is minimal exposure

Even after proving themselves as successful entrepreneurs, some women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh do not flourish much due to lack of exposure. By exposure I mean, only few people are aware of such successful woman entrepreneurs actually existing amid themselves.

Considering all the barriers women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh have to go through, their count and their enthusiasm is appreciable.