The work is dedicated to the study of the challenges faced by women in Georgia when starting an entrepreneurial activity. The research was conducted using the STAR method interviews with focus groups. For the research process, a questionnaire was developed based on a test to determine/assess the potential of starting an entrepreneurship.
Gender inequality in employment, education and income distribution still exists in Georgia. Not all groups in society have equal access to employment or entrepreneurial opportunities. The majority of the population in Georgia formally shares the idea of gender equality. At the same time, a certain part of the population shares the idea of the traditional distribution of gender roles.
Empowering women for entrepreneurial career growth, in turn, serves several sustainable development goals:
• Gender equality (#5)
• Decent work and economic growth (#8)
• Industry, innovation and infrastructure (#9).
In modern economic science, entrepreneurship is considered one of the important ways of developing and increasing the competitiveness of countries, because entrepreneurs create jobs, work on innovations, and it increases GDP. Accordingly, entrepreneurship ensures sustainable development of the economy.
It was found that women's entrepreneurial activity contributes not only to family income, but also plays an important role in economic development and social welfare. The impact of women's entrepreneurship on economic development varies from country to country, as the level of development and infrastructure of these countries differ. The productivity of women's entrepreneurship and their economic contribution depends on the country's level of development and cultural norms. In most regions of the world, local ethics and cultural values strongly define the role of women, which prevents women from pursuing entrepreneurship far from their home areas around the world.
Despite the fact that entrepreneurship creates jobs, ensures the achievement of sustainable development goals, the economic activity rate of the labor force in Georgia is about 20% lower among women compared to men. Based on the above, a research question was formulated: what kind of hindering factors exist for women entrepreneurs in Georgia to start entrepreneurial activities?
The purpose of the study is to examine the challenges faced by women on starting an entrepreneurial activity in Georgia, which will help society to identify the difficulties that prevent women from choosing an entrepreneurial activity and advancing their entrepreneurial career.
In order to achieve the mentioned goal, the following tasks were defined:
• To review of modern advanced scientific literature on entrepreneurial problems to establish the theoretical-methodological base of the research;
• To develop a tool for qualitative research and conducting a focus group interview using STAR method;
• To process the results of the research in order to identify the difficulties of choosing entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial career for women.
As a result of the research, the difficulties that prevent women from choosing entrepreneurial activities and advancing their entrepreneurial career have been revealed. In particular, the following individual factors affecting business start-up were identified: the desire to gain independence; compared to men, women-entrepreneurs are more risky and emotional, more effective during negotiations; women face more technical and logistical problems. Among the situational factors, a gender stereotype was identified, according to which women are not considered as the leaders and entrepreneurs in modern society. Research reviled that women have less access to business start-up finance, less financial security and less support from family and friends when starting a business than men.
The results of the survey revealed the following factors influencing the business idea: women's lower efficiency in terms of identifying opportunities for starting a business; discrimination in the labor market, which forces them to start entrepreneurship; lack of awareness regarding the legal issues of starting a business; less knowledge of product packaging and export procedures; more risk and less security for women's businesses. Due to the limited number of participants in the focus group and the specificity of the qualitative research, the research results are not representative, as they could not cover all regions of Georgia and all business sectors. Accordingly, it was planned to conduct research with the involvement of a larger number of women entrepreneurs.

References:

• kanoni genderuli tanastsorobis shesakheb (2015). [Law on Gender Equality, 2015.] in Georgian https://matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/91624?publication=10 last seen 29.04.23/
• mdgradi ganvitarebis miznebis erovnuli dokumenti (2015). [National document of sustainable development goals, 2015.] in Georgian
• sakartvelos ganatlebisa da metsnierebis ertiani strategia 2022-2030 tsts. [Unified strategy of education and science of Georgia 2022-2030.] in Georgian
• sakartvelos ekonomikisa da mdgradi ganvitarebis saministro (2023). sakartvelos mtsire da shida metsarmeobis ganvitarebis 2021-2025 tslebis strategia; 2022 tslis samokmedo gegma tsliuri angarishi. [Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (2023). 2021-2025 strategy for the development of small and domestic entrepreneurship of Georgia. 2022 Action Plan Annual Report.] in Georgian https://www.economy.ge/?page=ecopolitic&s=45 (last seen29.04.23/
• Geostat (2022). kali da katsi sakartveloshi. [Woman and man in Georgia.] in Georgian https://www.geostat.ge/media/2022.pdf last seen 29.04.23/
• Bergner S., Felfe J. (2022). STAR. Startup Check: Testing the potential for starting a business and self-employment. Publisher: Hogrefe. pp. 341
• Elam A. B., Hughes K. D., Guerrero M., Hill S., Nawangpalupi C., & del Mar Fuentes M. (2021). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. 2020/2021 - Women’s Entrepreneurship Report. GERA: London. pp.146
• GEM 2018-2019 (2020). Women’s Entrepreneurship Report. pp.108
• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2014), Global Report (2015). https://www.gemconsortium.org/report/gem-2014-global-report; last seen 10.03.23)
• Hofstede G. (1998). Attitudes, Values and Organizational Culture: Disentangling the Concepts. Organization Studies, 19(3), pp. 477-493;
• Kollmann T., Stöckmann C., Hensellek S., & Kensbock J. (2016). European Startup Monitor 2016. Universität Duisburg-Essen: Duisburg, Germany. pp.112;
• Lekashvili E. ( 2022). „The Challenges of Georgia’s Economic Policy in Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 9 in the COVID-19 Pandemic Period“. 6th FEB International Scientific Conference: Challenges in Economics and Business in the Post-COVID Times. Editor Zladko Nedelko. Slovenia. University of Maribor, pp.21-33. https://doi.org/10.18690/um.epf.5.2022.3ISBN 978-961-286-600-6;
• Lekashvili E., & Jamagidze L. (2023). „Structural Transformation and Export Performance in Georgia: Is There a Need for the New Industrial Policy?“ STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MARKETING IN DIGITAL WORLD 2022. Publishing Complex UNWE. Editorial Board Prof. Dr. Hristo Katrandjiev and et.al). pp.4-14. https://doi.org/10.37075/SPM.2022.1;
• Natsvlishvili I. (2017). Gender Inequality and Women’s Entrepreneurship-Challenges and Opportunities (Case of Georgia). Country experiences in Economic Development, Management and Entrepreneurship. Proceedings of the 17th Eurasia Business and Economics Society Conference. Volume 5. Springer International Publishing, pp. 491-505.
• Sáez-Martínez F., González-Moreno Á., & Hogan T. (2014). The Role of the University in Eco-Entrepreneurship: Evidence from the Eurobarometer Survey on Attitudes of European Entrepreneurs towards Eco-Innovation. Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 13(10), pp.2541.
• Sajjad M., Kaleem N., Irfan Chani M., Ahmed M. (2020). Worldwide Role of Women Entrepreneurs in Economic Development. Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Emerald Publishing Limited, Volume 14 Issue 2. pp. 150-160. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/APJIE-06-2019-0041/full/html#sec012 (last seen 21.05.23).
• Shneor R., Metin Camgöz S., Bayhan Karapinar P. (2013). The Interaction between Culture and Sex in the Formation of Entrepreneurial Intentions. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 25(9-10), pp. 781-803.
• Van Stel A., Carree M., Thurik R. (2020). The Effect of Entrepreneurial Activity on National
World Bank. Doing Business 2020: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency. The World Bank: NY, US.
• WKO Wirtschaftskammer Österreich Georgien Wirtschaftsbericht (2021). WKO: Wien. http://www.wko.at; (last seen 29.04.23);
• FreshBooks, https://www.embroker.com/blog/entrepreneur-statistics/ (last seen 29.04.23)

Keywords: Women's entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial potential, gender inequality, sustainable development goals, STAR method of research.
JEL Codes: J16, L20, L26,