The under/over series puts a spotlight on gender equity in data for social impact, and aims to raise awareness of successful ways for women and gender-diverse individuals to be represented in data and to themselves harness the power of data to drive social impact. Saipriya Salla, Program Associate, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, highlights the important role of gender-disaggregated data in driving evidence-based interventions for women entrepreneurs in India.
Tell us about your work on gender and the role of data collection, analysis, and action. What significant findings have emerged from your work and what impact or outcomes have you observed?
My work at the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs is focused on building a stronger ecosystem for entrepreneurs in India and the broader South Asian region through strategic collaborations with the members of the organization as well as convenings, research, and advocacy. Over the past few years in our work, the urgency and importance of incorporating a gender lens to understand what challenges women entrepreneurs face has become very apparent and we are working to help bridge these gaps at a systemic level. But to make real change, access to gender-disaggregated data (both academic and practitioner-friendly) becomes pivotal to ensure any interventions are evidence-driven to the greatest extent possible.
The issue briefs that I’ve co-authored highlight the status quo of women entrepreneurship in India and the significant challenges that women entrepreneurs face, most notably the financial gap. According to the IFC, this gap is nearly $320 billion in developing countries, and what’s more, they estimate that 70 percent of women-owned small and medium enterprises have inadequate or no access to financial services. It is also widely documented that the female labor force participation rate in India is among the lowest in the world.
As we grapple with these numbers and qualitative evidence that women entrepreneurs continue to face disproportionate obstacles to success, the role of data collection and analysis becomes all the more critical to paving the way for the evidence-based change we are seeking.
To make real change, access to gender-disaggregated data (both academic and practitioner-friendly) becomes pivotal to ensure any interventions are evidence-driven to the greatest extent possible.
Saipriya Salla Program Associate Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)
When did you first recognize a gender challenge that could be addressed through data? Was there a personal motivation to delve into this area of research?
Data plays a strong role in building a narrative toward driving change. More often than not, it is not just the mere numbers but how it is presented to the stakeholders involved in decision-making that makes the real difference. For example, when the statistics on the female labor force participation rates were released, the numbers shocked me since in my silo as an educated, urban-dwelling woman in India, my friends and I were the exceptions and not the norm. Seeing this data was a major shift and inspired me to get my hands on as much sex-disaggregated data related to entrepreneurship as possible to begin understanding the extent of the gaps in the ecosystem.
What are some of the challenges of doing this work? Which were anticipated, and which unexpected?
There is not enough (and in some cases, none at all) data! To date, there is a lack of extensive detailed survey data on women’s entrepreneurship (covering different stages of entrepreneurs across all geographies) in the country to help provide a baseline for stakeholders to build relevant support programs and initiatives.
More often than not we fall into the trap of presenting too much data in the belief that it helps in making our case stronger. Based on the frameworks from the Gender 101 course, I now know it’s more important to keep the stakeholder in mind and analyze and present data accordingly.
Saipriya Salla Program Associate Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)
How did data.org’s Gender 101 course influence your perspective on your work, and what were the most significant insights you gained from the course?
The Gender 101 course helped build a framework for how to understand gender and data, along with concrete action steps that one could incorporate into existing program interventions at their organizations.
Plus, the access to valuable resources — both through the course as well as those shared by the cohort participants — was truly helpful.
One of the main insights for me was how to contextualize the data. More often than not we fall in the trap of presenting too much data in the belief that it helps in making our case stronger. Based on the frameworks from the Gender 101 course, I now know it’s more important to keep the stakeholder in mind and analyze and present data accordingly. I also better understand that data is not necessarily always objective — it depends on how it’s collected, who analyzes it, who presents it, and who it is presented to.
How do you plan to apply the knowledge and insights gained from the course to your specific work involving gender and data?
My initial steps will be to simply engage with as much data as is available to comprehend the status quo of the ecosystem. What are existing support systems for women-led businesses looking like? What are the major systemic gaps? What are the opportunities that could catalyze the growth of existing businesses? Next, I would help bring to the forefront the role strategic collaboration can play in supporting women entrepreneurs, as no single organization can take this mandate on alone.
What are your hopes for the future? What will more, better, and better-applied data change?
More women joining the workforce. More women retained in the workforce. More women-led businesses being built and scaled towards greater impact and significantly more capital flowing into this space.
“5 Minutes with” series
These articles share the stories of people around the world leveraging data and AI to drive impact.