Bolstering Immigrant Women’s Economic Status: Immigrant Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator in Taiwan
Difficulties in Economic Participation for Immigrant Women in Taiwan
In Taiwan, the number of immigrants who have come to the country through marriage has exceeded 530,000, of which more than 90% are women, accounting for 4% of all women in Taiwan. Among them, approximately 67% of immigrants are from China, while immigrants from Vietnam account for the majority of women from Southeast Asian countries. However, the overall labor force participation rate for immigrants in Taiwan is less than 50%. Across individual, familial, vocational, social and institutional levels, immigrant women are facing great difficulties in terms of employment.
On an individual level, immigrants coming from Southeast Asian countries have limited access to information and resources when first arriving in Taiwan due to language barriers. Obtained from their local networks (which usually consist of other immigrants), information on jobs are mostly those for part-time and low-paying duties. On a familial level, immigrant women are expected to play the role of caretaker. Out of fear that they might have unfaithful thoughts or run away, their family members might also place restrictions on the opportunities for them in the job market. Even in the event that they are successfully employed, immigrant women still need to withstand discrimination and discriminatory treatment at the workplace and by society. To further complicate matters, there is a lack of a solid system to protect their labor rights.
Micro-entrepreneurship: A New Form of Economic Participation for Immigrant Women
Insofar as entrepreneurship by immigrant women is concerned, “micro-entrepreneurship” is the most prominent, which refers to any enterprise with a total of less than five employees. Micro-entrepreneurship is characterized by the enterprise’s being flexible in terms of work, small-scale, and low in terms of capital. For immigrant women, micro-entrepreneurship presents a relatively lower starting threshold along with high levels of trialability and flexibility, with which they can use to look after their families at the same time.
The food and beverage industry is where most immigrant women start off as entrepreneurs due its relatively low threshold in required skills and starting capital. Homesickness of the immigrants also plays a factor in this phenomenon. While immigrant women entrepreneurs are commonly seen in the beauty, hairdressing and retail industries, there is a growing number of immigrant women teaching their mother-tongues and cultural heritage as a business. One common denominator to this type of entrepreneurship is that they can then make use of their cross-border and local networks to obtain such resources as spices, food ingredients, and books, while flexible work hours and methods make it possible for them to look after their families.
Momentum for Micro-entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship Accelerator for Immigrants
At this point, micro-entrepreneurship might appear to be a highly viable form of economic participation for immigrant women. However, immigrant women lack the professional and economic resources required to start. Barriers to employment in Taiwan make it difficult for immigrant women to learn entrepreneurial skills. In addition, their educational and work experiences in their native countries are also highly varied. As such, unless they come from or are married into financially adequate conditions, it remains difficult for many immigrant women to obtain the funds needed to start, expand and maintain their businesses.
For immigrants, the government has yet to provide a platform with comprehensive entrepreneurial resources, making it even more challenging for immigrants to start a business. Looking at the policies the Taiwanese government has implemented pertaining to immigrant women, one may realize that most of them are focused on the aspects of lifestyle adaptation and language learning, which fails to take into account the possibilities of immigrant women participating in Taiwan’s economy. The government either provides extremely limited entrepreneurial counseling resources for immigrant women or excludes them altogether based on the fact they are not of Taiwanese nationality. It was not until 2013 that immigrant women were added to the “Annual Women Entrepreneurship Program”.
Beginning in 2016, the Foundation of Women’s Rights Promotion and Development initiated the “Entrepreneurship Accelerator for Immigrant Women” program. The program is a combination of funds by private foundations, government subsidies, and regional service centers for immigrants. Operating for a year based on the concept of an “accelerator”, the program provides entrepreneurship courses including finance, operations management, marketing planning, and customer management for immigrant women needing professional training and start-up funding. Participants are also encouraged to propose business plans, join entrepreneurship competitions, win awards, and receive guidance from mentors.
The Empowering Effects of Micro-entrepreneurship for Immigrants
Though one may think that, the food & beverage, beauty, and hairdressing industries are all entrepreneurial categories associated with the traditional role of females, where the female paradigm is reproduced. While these industries make it possible for them to economically participate in Taiwan’s community, they also further deepen stereotypes. However, looking at the above industries from a different perspective, one may realize that these entrepreneurial options are in fact “strategic”. They help aspiring female entrepreneurs consider the concerns of their families while juggling with a limited start-up capital, low risks, and familial obligations.
Seeing this issue in a more positive light, we may see that micro-entrepreneurship can positively influence the immigrant woman herself, her community and society as a whole, thereby making micro-entrepreneurship a form of “empowerment” for all immigrant women. On a personal level, the immigrant woman may see her power status change within the family as she earns her income. The process and achievements of entrepreneurship itself also further strengthen self-affirmation and self-recognition. On a community level, the physical business space born out of such entrepreneurship may become a location of interaction for immigrants. Successful cases in entrepreneurship also help to encourage other immigrant women to attempt their own businesses, thereby strengthening their networks and community dynamics. On a social level, entrepreneurship by immigrant women may bring about a positive, self-reliant impression of the community, thereby reversing discriminatory attitudes and treatment by society.
Efforts for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Immigrants
To protect the right to work as well as other rights of immigrant women, we may also consider methods to strengthen “community connections”, “professional competency”, and “rights of political participation”. Extending the Entrepreneurship Accelerator for Immigrant Women program to build a network of information exchange and mutual empowerment, and protecting the rights of immigrants by transforming the image of the immigrant community, form the basis upon which future efforts can be made.
With the Entrepreneurship Accelerator for Immigrant Women program, the Foundation of Women’s Rights Promotion and Development hopes to direct the attention of the government and other civil organizations to the entrepreneurial needs and right to work of immigrants. In addition to hoping that authorities responsible will carry out long-term policy planning to protect the right to work for immigrants, the Foundation of Women’s Rights Promotion and Development is also committed to taking on responsibility for entrepreneurial counseling and provide cross-border resource connection for immigrants in the future, as well as act as a platform for mutual assistance and interaction for immigrant women.
The negative labeling that immigrant women are “weak” stands as a hindrance for them to participate in Taiwan economically. Entrepreneurship, however, serves the community well in terms of creating a positive impression. The establishment of a positive image is not so that the community would benefit from improved interaction with others or society’s inclusion, but also so that the community, through self-empowerment and attention and opinions from the mass public, would benefit from increased political means (such as social movements or participative decisions) through which to participate in society and increase political influence. With increased political influence, the community would then become one the government cannot overlook for policy-making, thereby prompting it to invest resources in and protect the rights of immigrants.
Through cooperation among the government, NGOs and the civic society, there is hope to empower immigrant communities and create a more vivid society.
Other articles in this issue
Does Taiwan’s First Female President Mean Gender Equality?
Marking a global and historic milestone, Tsai Ing-Wen was elected as Taiwan’s first female president in 2016. However, there is still room for Taiwan to boost women’s political participation.
A Paradoxical Situation: A Peek at Women’s Entrepreneurship in Taiwan
Similar to other highly developed countries, Taiwan is subject to the same paradox in which high rates of economic participation coexist with low rates of entrepreneurship.
Author: Joy Hu
Interested in gender and diplomatic issues. Believing that by connecting the strengths in different fields, we are able to create a more inclusive society.
