Sustainability Through Women Entrepreneurship: Socio-Cultural Barriers and Fintech’s Role

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-575-1_4How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Women Entrepreneurs; Empowerment; Socio-cultural constraints; Fintech

Abstract

This study provides an empirical analysis of the socio-cultural obstacles that hinder the empowerment of women entrepreneurs in Capital region of India -Delhi. While fintech has the potential to offer significant benefits, such as increased financial inclusion and access to capital, women entrepreneurs often face unique challenges in leveraging these technologies due to socio-cultural norms and biases that are deeply embedded in the Indian patriarchy system. Based on a primary survey of 363 women entrepreneurs (unorganized, non-agriculture sector) from the capital region, this study outlines the inter-sectoral and socio-cultural challenges faced by women entrepreneurs across manufacturing, trading, and service sectors. Results show that sociocultural elements, such as low self-worth and confidence, a lack of familial support, a limited involvement in decision-making, a lack of opportunities for skill development, and a lack of financial literacy, have a substantial impact on women’s capacity to effectively utilize Fintech solutions. Consequently, the study focuses on how financial technology (fintech), is transforming financial services and empowering young women entrepreneurs in particular by acting as a catalyst for their increased empowerment. The study recommends leveraging fintech innovations such as mobile banking, digital payment platforms and crowd-funding technology to facilitate greater financial inclusion, access to capital, and improved business operations, especially for women-led enterprises. The study concludes that to bridge this gap, it is crucial to address socio-cultural barriers through community engagement, policy interventions, and tailored educational and skill development programs. Empowering women entrepreneurs in India’s capital through fintech requires a multifaceted approach that not only provides access to digital tools but also fosters an inclusive environment that challenges and changes traditional gender norms, pushing Indian towards attainment of SDG5.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Shivani Mehta
AU  - Mahua Bhattacharjee
AU  - Isha Jaswal
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/06
TI  - Sustainability Through Women Entrepreneurship: Socio-Cultural Barriers and Fintech’s Role
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Dynamics of Environment, Sustainability, and Gender Disparities: A Holistic Dialogue for Inclusive Futures (ICDESGD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 46
EP  - 59
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-575-1_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-575-1_4
ID  - Mehta2026
ER  -