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1. Introduction
The first publicly available internet service was launched by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) on 15 August 1995 in India. Since then, a variety of internet applications such as social media, e-commerce, m-commerce, search engines, artificial intelligence, data analytics and the internet of things (IoT) have come into existence. This growth can be accredited to the internet revolution using mobile apps as the majority of the internet is accessed through mobile phones (M-commerce, 2017). India was the second-largest online world market in 2019 (Statista, 2020). Thus, Information and communication technology (ICT) has entered deeply into our personal and professional lives.
In this paper, the researcher aims to study the behavior of women entrepreneurs in the age of digitization. Women entrepreneurship has been extensively studied since the 1980s. The studies are reportedly associated with women empowerment, glass-ceiling, work-life balance, leadership and contribution to the economy (Ferguson and Durup, 1997). While studying the characteristics of the female and male entrepreneurs, researchers concluded that the women are more similar to their male counterparts than they are different in terms of vision, risk-taking capability, innovativeness, goal setting and leadership (Carlsrud and Olm, 1986; Buttner, 1993). The term “distinguished entrepreneur” was coined by Elias G. Carayannis and McDonald R. Stewart (2013), which means a person who is an innovator, initiator, risk-taker, has a vision organizes and reorganizes social and economic mechanisms, among other things, regardless of gender.
The basic reason is the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in maintaining the work-life balance. ICT is an enabling technology that can trigger fundamental improvements in entrepreneurial capabilities and help women entrepreneurs in maintaining work-life balance. For nearly every market area, the use of ICT fuels entrepreneurship, from farming to computing and government services. According to the Sixth Economic Census released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, women constitute around 14% of the total entrepreneur base in India i.e. 8.05 million out of the total 58.5 million entrepreneurs. If we study the women entrepreneurs in India, the basic tendency is that entrepreneurship or business is considered a second option while with family or kids, doing a job is the first option. Women have huge entrepreneurial and leadership potential, especially in the field of technology which is still an untapped...