Journal of Entrepreneurial Strategies in Agriculture

Extended Abstract
Background: The entrepreneurial atmosphere in rural communities is undergoing a transition under the influence of global developments. Rural women have been left behind in the train of entrepreneurial development in the wake of the advances in knowledge and technology due to historical backwardness, which is mostly rooted in culture and tradition. On the one hand, rapid changes and the requirements of the modern world, and on the other hand, the slowness of environmental changes and dependence on traditions in complex rural communities have formed the paradox of entrepreneurial development. This problem is much more complicated in its general form and takes on a unique form in the area of rural women's entrepreneurship. Extrinsic conditions for initiating entrepreneurial activities are crucial in the field of women's entrepreneurship, taking into account social and cultural approaches. If it is accepted that personal development results from talent and perseverance, it can be concluded that providing perseverance for talent to manifest requires the provision of environmental conditions, or at least it can be stated that it will reduce the costs of personal development. Due to social issues and weaknesses in the structure, rural women's entrepreneurship in the west of the nation is a little more complicated than in other regions. Accordingly, the present study aims to model the effect of extrinsic components along with components that have an individual and personality origin on the desire for entrepreneurship among rural women.
Methods: With a quantitative general approach, the present study was conducted with a descriptive correlation method. The research is applied in terms of its purpose and non-experimental in terms of the method of controlling variables. The study population (3960 people) is rural women of Miandarband village in Kermanshah City. Based on the Krejci and Morgan table, 250 people were selected as the sample size. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. Two content and construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis) methods were used to determine validity. The reliability of the research Instrument was examined and confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software, and structural equation modeling, and path analysis in Amos 23 software were used in the inferential statistics section. In this study, internal factors refer to all structures and variables that originate in the mind and possession of the individual. In addition, external factors are related to structures and variables that have their roots in the external environment and the atmosphere of rural women's entrepreneurship.
Results: The average age of the studied women was 39 years. More than 80% were married, and about 60% had less than a high school diploma. In addition, employed and unemployed women were 14.4% and 85.6%, respectively. Entrepreneurial experience was recorded in 9.2% of the studied individuals, and 90.8% had no entrepreneurial experience. Moreover, entrepreneurial knowledge and characteristics explained 37% of the variance in the attitude variable and 48% of the variance in the perceived behavioral control variable. In addition, knowledge could explain 21% of the variance of the subjective norm variable, and finally, the research variables (entrepreneurial characteristics, attitude, economic factors, and educational factors) explained 56% of the variance of the entrepreneurial desire variable. According to the results, despite the results of previous research, entrepreneurial knowledge, subjective norm, and self-efficiency as internal variables, and family factors, institutional-organizational factors, and sociocultural factors as external variables did not affect the entrepreneurial desire of the studied women.
Conclusion: External structures that have shaped the surrounding environment and the invisible space that governs the minds of rural women can have a dual role in women's entrepreneurship, and their orientation is decisive for rural women's intention toward entrepreneurship. Therefore, to increase the attitude and desire for entrepreneurship among rural women, there is a need to create favorable environmental conditions for entrepreneurship and improve the level of literacy regarding entrepreneurship and understanding of existing sociocultural conditions. Typically, in a suitable entrepreneurial environment, intrapersonal and external factors should have a positive synergistic effect on the creation and discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. The results of this study showed that, given the conditions prevailing among rural women, internal characteristics such as knowledge, for which the tools and conditions for learning are available nowadays, and mental norms and perceived behavioral control, could not affect women's tendency toward entrepreneurship. A positive effect that has been pointed out in almost all studies. The gender bias of development measures, which is usually, institutionalized in the decision-making and action procedures of development projects, and few programs have been developed with a focus on rural women, has affected the mental structures affecting entrepreneurship among women in the region and, ultimately, has not shown its positive effect on women's desire for entrepreneurship. Therefore, to encourage rural women in the region to become entrepreneurship, it is necessary to observe the following: 1. targeting a part of rural development programs and measures (at least proportional to the population of active and educated rural women), 2. changing the attitude of rural women from "job seekers" to “job creators”, 3. training that familiarizes rural women with hardware and software skills, 4. creating economic incentives, such as self-reliance or self-actualization, in rural women through education, and 5. increasing entrepreneurial characteristics, such as risk-taking and innovation, in rural women.