Entrepreneurial Skills and Business Creation by Women in Lubumbashi

This study aims to explain the nature of entrepreneurial skills among women in Lubumbashi, which skills result from the mode of socialization which plays an important role in the emergence of entrepreneurial intentions within a population (Zahra, et al. , 1999). The existence of gender differences in socialization vis-?-vis entrepreneurship has been shown in the literature. On the one hand, there is the literature which considers that men have the skills required to start a business, compared to women (Marlow & Patton, 2005), and on the other hand, that which considers that women evolve better in business. This research attempts to identify the determinants of entrepreneurial skills among women in Lubumbashi, which skills allow them to create businesses by seizing opportunities. The key variables of entrepreneurial skills retained are the level of education, background knowledge, professional experience, the objective pursued, entrepreneurial motivation, the ability to take risks and the quality of interpersonal relationships. Two theories have served us to formulate our research hypotheses, namely; Becker's theory (1964) on human capital and Bruyat & Julien's (2001) theory on the personality of the entrepreneur. These theories have enabled us to understand the links between the entrepreneurial skills variables noted above and the ability to identify and exploit business opportunities as part of the business creation process. After analysis, the results showed that five variables out of the seven selected constitute the determinants of entrepreneurial competence among women in Lubumbashi. These are the level of education, professional experience, objective pursued, entrepreneurial motivation and finally the quality of relationships. The other two variables have no effect when it comes to starting a business. Without intention of wanting to generalize, the present research allowed despite everything the development of concepts of entrepreneurial skills among women in a context of business creation by the identification and exploitation of business opportunities in Lubumbashi, studies not still minnow until now.