WOMEN AND THE FALSE PROMISE OF MICROENTERPRISE

Since the 1980s, microenterprise development programs have proliferate d in the United Stares, where they are widely praised as strategies fo r economic development and poverty alleviation, especially for low-inc ome women and welfare mothers. Based on research in a highly respected urban center for women, this article argues that microenterprise deve lopment is more detrimental and problematic than it is purported to be . Two reasons ore isolated First, gender constraints mean women tend t o choose small-scale, undercapitalized, curd barely profitable ''pink- collar'' businesses, largely home-based operations based on work women ape already doing as part of their gender-specific role. Second, micr oenterprise training programs reinforce this business segregation by d iscounting the sociocultural conditions women bring with them to busin ess and instead emphasizing the personal growth of individuals. The re sult is that women are, encouraged to maintain their economic vulnerab ility and social peripheralization rather than become part of the main stream business world.