Title

Developing and Contextualising a Knowledge Base in Rural Work Psychology: Rural Development, Rural Women and Entrepreneurship in India and Australia

Author Details

Maureen Dollard, Centre for Applied Psychological Research, Work & Stress Research Group, University of South Australia, Australia

Saswata Biswas, Institute for Rural Management, Anand, India.

Jessica Lynch, Centre for Applied Psychological Research, Work & Stress Research Group, University of South Australia

Correct Reference

Dollard M. F., Biswas, S., & Lynch, J. (2004), Developing and Contextualising a Knowledge Base in Rural Work Psychology: Rural Development, Rural Women and Entrepreneurship in India and Australia, International Journal of Rural Psychology
URL:http://www.ruralpsych.com/Members/RefereedArticles/
DollardBiswasLynch/DollardBiswasLynch.html

Corresponding Author

Dr. Maureen Dollard, Centre for Applied Psychological Research, Work & Stress Research Group, University of South Australia, Australia 5000. Telephone +61 8 8302 2277 Email: maureen.dollard@unisa.edu.au

Abstract

In this paper we discuss rural psychology, and the notion of rurality and set out a case for the development of a knowledge base in a new area of psychology, rural work psychology. We argue that there is enormous scope for work psychology to be applied to and contribute to the project of rural development. In this paper we attempt to identify a space within which work and organisational psychologists can contribute to rural development, specifically to improve the participation of rural women in enterprise through empowerment. We describe the current economic, social, political and psychological circumstances of rural women and work in both India and Australia. At the present time, little is known of the context and complexities of rural women entrepreneurship. We set forward some preliminary ideas about the scope of rural work psychology and the contributions that it could make to rural development through rural women entrepreneurship development. In particular we urge work psychologists to use their privileged skills in undertaking collaborative research, education, and training for rural development.

Given the embryonic state of rural work psychology, the discipline and its application, the aim of this paper is to further advance discussions about rural work psychology and describe an area of application in rural development~ in rural women entrepreneurship. To contextualise our discussion we focus on the rural context in both the Indian and Australian economy. We felt that juxtaposing the countries, whilst challenging, would help to highlight the similarities and differences of rural milieu transnationally, and hence underscore the cultural, social, political and geographic boundedness of the psychological space we seek to identify. Secondly, we decided to focus on women as in both countries, rural women are significantly worse off economically than their male counterparts, yet make up roughly 50% of the rural population and have an equally important and valuable contribution to make to rural development. Finally we see entrepreneurship as an important mechanism for economic, social and psychological development in rural areas. But first what is meant by rural?

Census definition of rural Australia
(adapted from http://www.ruraldoc.com.au/About%20Us/rrma.htm)

In Australia, The Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) classification, is used by the Commonwealth and the Australian Bureau of Statistics and is based primarily on population numbers and an index of remoteness using "distance factors" related to urban centres containing a population of 10,000 persons or more, plus a factor called "personal distance" which relates to population density and indicates the "remoteness" or average distance of residents from one another. The structure of the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan (RRMA) Classifications is a follows:

Rural Development

Rural areas are integrally important to national economies. In India the rural character of the national economy is reflected in a predominant proportion of people living in rural areas (Singh, 1999). In 1991 74 per cent of India's population lived in rural areas and the rural sector contributed about 29 percent of its gross domestic product (Singh, 1999). Other countries such as Australia have a much smaller rural/remote population (29.6%) and contribute significantly more (42%) to the GDP. For Australia this figure is considered an underestimate and could be 2 to 3 times larger, because goods from rural, remote and regional industry are inputs to production in other areas (www.health.nsw.gov.au/policy/hsp/hhoriz/3overview.pdf).
According to AusAID (Australian Aid) about 70 per cent of the poorest people in developing countries live in rural areas (http://www.ausaid.gov.au/makediff). In Australia rural people are disadvantaged compared to their urban counterparts on wide range of social and economic indicators (Cheers, 2001). Singh (1999) concluded that "no strategy of socio-economic development of India that neglects rural people and rural areas can be successful" (p 23). The same is true for Australia and other parts of the world. Worldwide is estimated that in the year 2000 about forty-seven percent of world population lived in urban areas, whereas fifty-three percent live in rural areas (http://www.censusindia.net/results).
Rural development as both a process and a phenomenon is a promising antidote to poverty and rural disadvantage. It refers to the "sustained improvement in the quality of life of rural people and a sustainable increase in their access to basic necessities of life such as food, clothes, shelter, basic literacy, and security of life and property (Singh & Reddy, 2000, pg 1). While a number of epidemiological measures have been used as indicators of development (e.g. percentage of people living on US $ per day; literacy rate; life expectancy at birth) there is scope to consider the psychological and social aspects of development.

Why rural (work) psychology is important

In emerging economies at the very heart of rural development is the psychosocial imperative of dignity: that access to the most basic necessities is a matter of dignity, self-respect and honour (Singh, 1999). Further, freedom in the form of political or ideological freedom, economic freedom, and freedom from social servitude is a key element of rural development in any economy (Tadaro, 1977 in Singh, 1999). In discussing western societies Fryer (2000) argues that "mental health problems are structured by social class, gender, poverty, relative deprivation, and employment status with people from relatively more deprived areas and unemployed people tending to have poorer mental and physical health" (p.141). While not meaning to problematise all rural areas, it is clear that in many rural areas these disadvantages apply. Further there is reason to believe that structural parameters (severe deprivations in education and health -especially in the North where caste, class, and gender inequities are particularly strong" operating in India may lead to similar psychological results (see World Development Report, India, ch2 p. 4). While there is no doubt that a structural space needs to be constructed for individual freedom in most cases, the psychosocial phenomenon of empowerment provides personal agency to operate the space and make it even larger. However as we shall elaborate later in the paper there are also psychosocial parameters of freedom, in the form of empowerment.

We argue that there is enormous scope for work psychology to be applied to and contribute to the project of rural development. In this paper we attempt to identify a space within which work and organisational psychologists can contribute to rural development. Currently the specific discipline of work and organisational psychology is both urban-centric and western focused. The knowledge base in the discipline is based on research carried out in the main on urban workers. Its preoccupation has been in understanding large urban organisations rather than small, rural, enterprises which collectively have the potential to contribute significantly to the national economy. Further, psychology with its historic focus on the individual, may have underestimated a crucial role as a key player in the necessarily multidisciplinary aspects of rural development.

Psychology is the study of human behaviour (the way people think feel and behave). Work and organisational psychology is a specialty of psychology and is concerned about human behaviour in the workplace. It is a legitimate field of scientific research. As well the work psychologist may work as a practitioner/ professional and apply the scientific literature for the solution of organisational issues. Practitioners may use information to solve issues in numerous broad areas such as selection, training, and organisational development (Muchinsky, 2000).

However we are yet to define the scope, elements and boundaries of rural work psychology, possibly "the study of how people think, feel and behave in a rural work setting". This paper does not intend to address this vexing issue, but rather intends to focus on the issue of empowerment of women so that they can contribute effectively to the rural economy. We will now contextualise the issue by examining the economic, social, and political context of rural women in India and Australia.

Gender focus: The economic, social, and political context of rural women in India and Australia

We decided to focus on women in this paper as it is well documented that discrimination against women is more pronounced in communities which are poor (World Development Report, 2001/2002). This is true both for a developing country like India as well as for the women, particularly Indigenous Australian women, residing in rural and remote areas. Additionally the full contribution of women to the economy and the democracy is yet to be realised in both countries

Differences between the countries are frequently dichotomised as: one is developed and the other is developing, one is First World and the other is Third World, one is industrial and the other is non-industrial, one is individualistic the other collective . But simplistic dichotomies blur the fact that there are elements of each extreme to be found in both countries. Mies (1998) challenges these unidimensional classifications as euphemisms for manifestations of a political and economic global system that emerged due to European colonialism, capitalism, and later industrialism, rendering the first world superior to the third world. Notwithstanding, what is especially salient is that women from both countries report an oppressive patriarchal structure that renders them, especially rural indigenous women, poor in economic, social and health status. There is a large body of research, which focuses on the structural impediments to the process of women's empowerment particularly of rural women who have been subjected to generations of deprivation and structural barriers. To become empowered these rural women need support to move from a state of dependency to a state of independence.

In India it has been acknowledged for some time that the economic development of a country depends on the free and full participation and integration of women in the workplace and in all spheres of life (The Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women 1985). Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, former Indian Prime Minister observed, "freedom depends on (the) economic condition, even more than political. If a woman is not economically free and self-earning she will have to depend on her husband or someone else, and dependents are never free". The promise of emancipation of women through economic self-reliance has many potentialities, and humane corollaries such as improved self-development and self-efficacy and hence mental health for women, a decrease in unemployment levels and poverty alleviation, as well as national improvements in gross domestic product. Rao (1998, p. 274) notes for instance that "In India, as in other South Asia Countries earning a cash income itself has helped women to initiate the process of changing gender relations within the household, by enlisting the support of household members to share daily chores for instance, as their economic contribution is quite visible to the family and society".

Examples have been provided to us by village women in programs administered by a number of non-government organisations in India (Seva Mandir, Rajathan, the District Poverty Intervention Program in Madyha Pradesh and Gram Vikas, Orissa), that before rural development intervention programs, women were not allowed (were too afraid) to come out of their houses. Their job was confined to domestic work. Through development intervention the women were encouraged to come out of their houses and many self-help groups were established based around an economic activity such as quilting, weaving and agriculture. Women reported a key result was economic self-reliance, respect from their husbands and a reduction in domestic abuse. In many villages committees comprising women only, meet and discuss women's issues. Despite these gains, women in rural areas still suffer disadvantage and often carry the burden of the heaviest manual work such a lugging buckets of water from the wells. An outstanding example was of a group women fetching firewood each morning and then carrying it 10 kilometers to the nearest town, and then returning to the village.

The inexorable link between the viability of the economy, the health of the population and the welfare of communities is clearer delineated in Health Horizons, A framework for improving the health of rural, regional and remote Australians (1999-2003). Yet the health status of rural Australians is generally reported to be poorer than for their urban counterparts even more so for Indigenous groups. An Australian Bureau of Statistics study of Indigenous health and welfare, found that Indigenous people were about twice as likely to report poor or fair health as non-Indigenous people (ABS, 1999, as cited in ATSIC, 2000). Despite this, less money is spent per capita on Indigenous health than on the health of other Australians (ATSIC, 1998a).

Indigenous enterprise

The Australian government has funded Indigenous economic development for over 30 years, through the administration of a variety of government bodies. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was established in 1990, with the goal to further the economic, social and cultural development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. ATSIC continue to administer and fund numerous programs with the aim of nurturing Indigenous economic development (Herron, 1998).

The CDEP scheme is run by ATSIC to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations to take control of their own community, enhance economic and social development, and to provide employment for people in their communities. CDEP communities choose their own work activities and undertake a range of different projects, for example: housing construction and maintenance, building infrastructure, the development of farms or other businesses (ATSIC, 1998b; 2001). Indigenous unemployment rates remain high compared to the non-Indigenous population, with approximately 26% of the Indigenous population currently unemployed. Numbers are estimated to go as high as 41% if those involved in CDEP programs (they forego their unemployment benefits for another kind of allowance) were also counted (ATSIC 1998a; Taylor & Hunter, 2001).

A number of variables have been advanced as potential causal factors for high indigenous unemployment rates. These include for example:

aaa· Limited educational opportunities and lower school retention rates, aaaacontributing to low skill levels across Indigenous populations;

aaa· An Indigenous working-age population that is increasing at more than aaaatwice the rate of the overall working population;

aaa· A decline in rural-industries that have traditionally been employers of aaaaIndigenous labour; and

aaa· Lingering prejudice among non-Indigenous employers (ATSIC, aaaa1998a; Taylor & Hunter, 2001).

Despite the aforementioned factors contributing to high Indigenous unemployment rates, there is some evidence of a relative improvement in the number of self-employed among the Indigenous employed (Hunter, 1999). Self-employment provides one possible solution to high unemployment within the Australian Indigenous community.

One difference between Indian and Australian women is access to social security entitlements such as unemployment benefits and sickness benefits. Those without work in Australia generally will qualify for unemployment benefits or sickness benefits. Indigenous women may voluntarily forego social security entitlements to participate in the CDEP scheme (Community Development Employment Projects). Increasingly problems associated with welfare dependency in Australia have been highlighted (see below).

General barriers to rural enterprise

Daley (1993) advances several factors as contributing to the low rate of self-employment among Indigenous people, namely:

aaa· The historical emphasis of government funding on community aaaaenterprises, especially in urban settings where indigenous communities aaaaare relatively dispersed;

aaa· Poor education and training in the organisation of viable commercial aaaaenterprises;

aaa· Shortages of capital;

aaa· Limited opportunities in remote areas;

aaa· Few Indigenous entrepreneur role models;

aaa· Difficulties associated with Indigenous artists and hunter-gathers not aaaaclassifying themselves or being recognised as self-employed under aaaaexisting definitions;

aaa· The role of traditional value systems acting contrary to the efficient aaaaorganisation of viable commercial enterprises; and

aaa· Relatively high transport costs and a low level of local business.

However, Daley (1993) also notes that some of these factors may have positive as well as negative aspects. For example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote locations may be considered to have unique opportunities for the development of small business in the arts or tourism industries.

Wherever they live, Indigenous people encounter significant barriers to accessing capital from commercial financiers. These barriers include for example, a lack of equity, insufficient credit history, and limitations as to the kinds of security that can be used (ATSIC, 1998b; McDonnell, 1999). Most Indigenous communities lack savings and both Commonwealth and Stage legislation limit the use of inalienable Indigenous land as collateral and in general Indigenous people have few employment opportunities in rural and remote areas from which they can accumulate equity (McDonnell, 1999).

McDonnell (1999) contends that problems faced by Indigenous women in terms of access to credit are often more acute than that faced by Indigenous men. For example, Indigenous women are less likely to have personal collateral or a credit history than Indigenous males, making the perceived risks of lending to them even greater. Howell (1993) argues that women are generally considered less financially attractive by lending institutions than men, as they tend to borrow smaller amounts from banks, which have a smaller profit margin than large-scale loans (Howell, 1993, as cited in McDonnell, 1999).

In India Since 1970's there has been an increase in number of female entrepreneurs resulting in part from five year government plans culminating in policies for empowerment of women and the emergence of Entrepreneur Development Institutes around India. However Datta (1999) argues that the economic, social, cultural and social factors are not favourable to development of women entrepreneurs in India. Women in India own 5% of businesses compared to 20% in many other countries. In particular rural women totally ignored in entrepreneurship development programs (Govindappa, 1999). Women also have very low rates of land ownership.

Financial barriers aside, successful entrepreneurial activity requires more than just economic resources and an opportunity. A reasonable body of literature identifies numerous psychosocial variables as influential in entrepreneurial effectiveness and success. Identified psychosocial factors include talent, motivation, determination, optimism, self-management, self-efficacy, leadership, persistence, role models, education, competencies, strategies, family context factors, social networks, industry context factors, and environment (Foley, 2000; Haslam McKenzie, 2001; Orhan & Scott, 2001). These psychosocial aspects provide some key entry points for work psychologists to provide education and training to enhance competencies and skills in these areas for rural women.

Geographical location presents a potential barrier in the operation of small-business enterprises. Australia is presently one of the least densely populated nations throughout the world. Further, it is reported that a "population drift" from country regions to the city, has further decimated regional, rural and remote populations (McInnes & Stanger, 1996). Regional, rural and remote areas contain only 19% of the nation's population, averaging 0.8 people per square kilometre. There is great variation between regional areas, and it is estimated that half the continent has only 0.3% of the population (Haslam McKenzie, 2001). This limits marketing to other rural areas, and creates a labour force problem.

In addition to the gradual population decline is the closure and withdrawal of business services, such as banks, leaving those who persist in regional areas to become even more isolated. Further, small businesses that depend on the local population for their livelihood are particularly vulnerable to declining population numbers (McInnes & Stanger, 1996). Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses in rural and remote Australia share the difficulties inherent in the distance from major urban markets and declining populations. India has ample market opportunities within the rural population given its sheer density. Distance from urban markets and finding niche opportunities in distant markets is also a challenge.

General barriers to the operation of women in small-business

Despite the proportion of female compared to male entrepreneurs being low, there is an increasing trend in the number of women who start businesses in Western countries. Of the approximately 1.3 million small-business operators in Australia, women now own 35%. Whilst female small-business participation rates in the rural, regional and remote areas of Australia remain unclear, it has been advanced that women are increasingly active participants in the agricultural industries (Chavan & Agrawal, 1998; Haslam McKenzie, 2001).

Whilst all small enterprises face barriers to success, it has been argued that women in small-business face some distinctive challenges that contain a gender dimension. At a broader level, both non-Indigenous and Indigenous women are less likely than their male counterparts, to have a post-school qualification. Less than 10% of Indigenous women have a post-school qualification (ABS 1998, as cited in ATSIC, 2000). On a more psychological level, gender-related problems may also be attributable to low self-confidence in skills and abilities, and their credibility as business owners (Carter & Cannon, 1992).

Indian women entrepreneurs face a multitude of problems many preceding the conception of the start up idea. Problems include pressures from families regarding the traditional role of women in the household, social pressures, economic pressures due to lack of access to funding, a lack of education, a lack business experience, a lack of transport, competition from better quality products, irregular work, and impoverished psychological resources (Punitha, Sangeetha, Padmavathi, 1999). Mies (1998) has another perspective on entrepreneurship, which basically sees entrepreneur as a euphemism for poor people in the Third world working as producers for the world markets. Despite the new terminology she argues that the basic strategy of treating women's labor as a more or less free resource has not fundamentally changed (Mies, 1994). Further, women entrepreneurs experience the demands of a new enterprise in addition to usual domestic duties.

Moving beyond barriers: The potential benefits of self-employment for Indigenous rural women and their communities

In spite of the cultural, regional, gender and psychosocial barriers, there are reports of rural and Indigenous women engaged in entrepreneurial activity in regional areas (Foley, 2000; Haslam McKenzie, 2001; McDonnell, 1999). Entrepreneurship is a concept that is often associated with desirable economic outcomes such as growth, innovation and flexibility; in addition to autonomy and independence (Still, 1990). Given the economic, social and structural disadvantages inherent in Indigenous communities, fostering entrepreneurial activity in Indigenous Australians, presents as one possible solution to move beyond "the shackles of welfare" presently subjugating Indigenous Australia (Foley, 2000; Herron, 1998). Similarly in India entrepreneurship is widely recognised as a tool of economic development as well as a strategy to achieve the emancipation of women (Solaiman & Belal, 1998).

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities, economic development offers an opportunity to attain a higher standard of living, obtain greater independence from governments and improve their capacity to make life choices. Economic development and self-reliance may provide a means for assisting more Indigenous people overcome welfare dependency and thus improve their social circumstances in areas such as employment, housing, health and the criminal justice system (Herron, 1998).

Running a business, or otherwise being self-employed, is one such avenue for economic advance of Indigenous people. In comparison with other workers (excluding CDEP scheme workers), Indigenous self-employed enjoy on average $2, 027 more income from government payments and about $4,400 more employment income (Hunter, 1999). Specifically for rural Indigenous women, entrepreneurial activity offers the opportunity to combat poverty, create employment, combine paid work with family responsibilities and provide independence and self-fulfilment.

Emergence of new entrepreneurs: Group approaches

There is growing recognition that the social and technological risks faced by rural women in India may be reduced by the development of group entrepreneurship (Govindappa, 1999). At the same time a major innovation being trailed to assist the rural poor, in particular women, to help them gain better access to savings and credit facilities, is the development and promotion of self-help groups (Shylendra, 1999). Non-government organisations like the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and formal rural financial institutions are encouraging women to organise themselves into small solidarity groups, called self-help groups (SHGs), to overcome previous problems with credit agencies. One advantage is that the groups overcome the problem of collateral, as the group as a whole stand as guarantors to the loan. Better loan repayment (and less risk to the creditors) is observed through peer monitoring, and this in turn assists in sustaining access to credit facilities (sustainable entrepreneurship). Another advantage is that the process helps reduce the exploitation of women by moneylenders.

Access to institutional credit can help the poor acquire new assets and technology, leading to higher employment and income generation and productivity enhancement (Shylendra, 1999). There is a clear role for (rural work) psychologists here, with a long tradition in group and community processes, for research, education and training about group processes, (developing cohesiveness, trust, efficacy) which could be helpful to rural women as well as development workers.

Psychological aspects of entrepreneurship: empowerment and efficacy

In addition to conceptually important social, cultural, economic and gendered aspects of entrepreneurship there are key psychological concepts specifically empowerment and efficacy (Biswas, in press). The process of enabling rural women to have greater control over their actions and consequently the ability to take effective actions (including economic) should be construed as the process of empowerment. Empowerment and efficacy are core psychological states without which rural women we believe would be unlikely to succeed in enterprise.

Empowerment is defined as a process through which people attain greater control over and come to participate in decision affecting their lives and circumstances, which influence their fate (Anderser & Larsen, 1998). Beteille (1999) opines that the idea of empowerment embeds a theory of social change, more specifically a change from a hierarchical to an egalitarian type of society.

But empowerment cannot be bestowed merely through official sanctions or edict. People with a sense of self-efficacy remove barriers to opportunities created by vested interests and they gain agency. Seldom people have secured a share in power and control without prolonged and arduous struggle. Throughout history, people's sense of efficacy has led to changes in the social order. The course of history has not changed because it was programmed to change but because people believed that they could be proactive and aspiring (Biswas 2004). In other words, they believed that they could have a hand in shaping their own lives and the social system.

The term empowerment embodies the concept of power. The word "power" has its roots in the Latin word "potere" meaning ability. The ability of the individual or collective to have control over their lives and factors directly or indirectly influencing them can be construed as power. This is the demarcating feature of power as distinguished from the political conceptualisation of power, which is the ability to influence the external environment in the face of resistance. Thus, the power of the individual is essentially one's own ability to take effective action.

Structural conditions such as creating legal and political conditions have been regarded as an essential part of empowerment process. Fryer (2000) notes that empowerment promotes mental health: "Socially structured power is intimately bound up with mental health: empowerment promotes mental health and disempowerment puts it at risk…working collaboratively with people whose mental health is at risk usually involves taking a stand against vested interests" (p.138). While these are necessary actions, the improved conditions by themselves, we argue will not lead to the sense of being empowered. The process of empowerment starts at the level of individual's own cognitive make-up and sets in motion from inside and extends to outside (Bandura 1997). Women's empowerment hinges on the development of adequate cognitive capabilities to understand and recognise external factors that impede and facilitate free choice and unfettered actions. It involves the development of behavioural capabilities to modify and change such external constraints. We refer to this psychological capability and agency as 'self-efficacy'. We believe that women can learn to be self-efficacious through education and training. Another approach is to develop efficacy within groups, and in groups develop so called 'collective efficacy' (Biswas in press).

Further research is required to understand the psychological process through which women in rural and remote areas in India and Australia develop such cognitive and behavioural capabilities. However there is a clear role for work psychologists to work as part of a multidisciplinary approach to rural development through rural entrepreneurship, and in the development of self-efficacy in individuals and collective efficacy in groups or communities.

Notwithstanding the situation is more complex for the rural/remote Indigenous Australians. Due to two centuries of destruction to indigenous families and culture, Rosemary Wanganeen herself an indigenous social entrepreneur believes that women first need spiritual healing to help them overcome the grief of extensive loss (forced separation of family members, forced relocation and being severed from the land; loss of culture, loss of health, early death of family members) before they can move into any area of personal growth.

Future directions of rural women entrepreneurship study

Against this background, several key research questions emerge for the field of work psychology. First what do we know about the psychology of the women who emerge as entrepreneurs? Economic and social policy plans apparently presage positive outcomes for the women and society, but what are the actual experiences of women? Despite their difficult conditions some women emerge as successful entrepreneurs. This generates questions such as what is the psychology of becoming an entrepreneur? What is the psychology of (sustained) entrepreneurship in rural women? What are the contextual factors that impinge upon their success?

In addition exploration of the (shift in) life quality of rural women who have become entrepreneurs as well as the potential psychological shift from dependency to independence is required. We expect that the women would report improved life quality as a result of their venture into entrepreneurship. On the other hand little research has sought to examine the possibly of new burdens facing enterprising women. Mayoux (2003a, p. 31) notes that "small increases in access to income may be at the cost of heavier work loads. The expansion in women's income earning activities for many women is not compensated by greater contribution by men to unpaid domestic work. They are only able to increase their productive role through decreasing leisure time, time for their children and social and political activities. The stress and exhaustion caused has potentially adverse health implications for women and their families". Therefore exploration of factors associated with enterprise stress and failure could also be informative. Studies have mainly focused on men entrepreneurs or urban women (Kanitkar, 1995) and on graduates of Entrepreneur Development Institutions.

The major aim of this research agenda is to restore dignity, self-esteem and honour to rural women, to affirm the equality of women in society and working life and to reduce poverty and injustice by studying rural women entrepreneurs and life quality in both India and Australia. No studies could be found that directly contrast Western and developing nations yet such studies could provide finer insights into the economic, social, religious, cultural and social factors prevailing in society that affect the emergence and meaning of sustainable entrepreneurship for rural women. The knowledge base and methods of cross-cultural psychology may be particularly helpful in this regard (Berry, Portinga & Pandey, 1996). Studies have also not focused on psychological aspects, such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, collective efficacy, leadership skills, management skills, decision making ability, independence, risk-taking, adaptability, attitudes, and values required in rural enterprise.

Once developed the knowledge base could be applied in training and empowerment sessions using psychological techniques such as role modeling, group processes, team-building, social supports and networks. Of course a lot of these processes are in place already. What we think is that the systematic application of psychological principles and processes to the development and application of knowledge may lead to more effective sustainable solutions. Work psychologists could turn their skills to the development of sustainable learning methodologies such as participatory leaning and action (PLA) (see Mayoux, 2003b) techniques, impact assessment tools, participatory data research processes, data collection techniques, data analysis, action plans, and evaluation. Indeed it has been noted in India that there has been no systematic studies, which assess the positive impact economic empowerment, has on women's well-being (Mayoux, 2003a). It is important that this is achieved due to increasing pressure to "demonstrate actual contribution to development goals through impact assessment. Monitoring of gender impacts and gender strategies are an explicit and integral part of such assessments" (Mayoux, 2003b, p. xv).

A more in-depth and qualitative view of factors that lead rural women entrepreneurs to be successful in their own enterprises is required. Analysis of this information could be used to recommend strategies that will assist in encouraging women in rural areas to embark in their own enterprises to improve their living standards, autonomy and self-determination, e.g.: reduce high levels of unemployment and ill-health. The information gained from such research could be used to recommend practical strategies that will assist government and non-government programs, which aim to foster entrepreneurialism in rural women. New insights could have the potential to increase the rates of self-employed in rural areas, and improve the health status of rural Australians through improved socioeconomic gradients.

Finally we believe that the approach to research on this issue needs to be led by the rural women themselves supported by the academies so as not to reproduce historical and contemporary inequities. Current critique of research in related areas, argues that:

aaa· research about women in Third World is by Euro-American women

aaa· it constructs an "average woman" who leads a truncated life based on aaaaher feminine identity and her being third world, or indigenous, or rural aaaa(Mohanty, 1991).

aaa· "Colonialism and class structure have created commonalities of aaaaeconomic and political disempowerment of women across diverse aaaacultures. At the same time, each culture and local economy carries its aaaaown opportunities for exercising power and potential for change, aaaawhich outsiders may have difficulty seeing." (Sutton, 1998).

aaa· Researchers occupy specific social, political and economic roles, aaaatherefore all research products and findings are partial and provisional.

aaa· "For growth of valid knowledge, all relevant voices must be heard aaaawith an openness to learning"(Sutton, 1998, p 21).

aaa· Lack of attention to processes that afford relative privilege to Western aaaawomen in the construction of knowledge.

Further traditional research methods, for example using questionnaires may be highly inappropriate among illiterate groups. At the same time a wider understanding of the issues and possibilities must be disseminated to the broader community for improved understanding and resources.

Towards the development of a knowledge base in rural work psychology

In conclusion, we have discussed issues related to rural women self-employment start-up to emphasise the myriad 'others' (rural, women) in the work psychology space and to highlight the contributions that work psychology could make in non-traditional areas. In particular we focused on the context of rural women in India and Australia and see some parallels as well as differences. We urge work psychologists to use their privileged knowledge and skills in undertaking collaborative research, education, and training for rural development. We believe that the development of a knowledge base in rural work psychology in this particular application could lead to:

aaa· improved capacity, social inclusion & employability of rural women

aaa· life quality improvements (eg reduction in violence in rural families) aaaaamong the rural poor particularly when well-being is linked to aaaaeconomic status and autonomy among the rural poor (women).

We look forward to further research and attempts to mark out the contributions that rural work psychology can make to rural development.