Training As the Indicator of Female Entrepreneurship Development, and Training Needs Analysis

The paper elaborates the strategic need to support entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurs in particular, highlighting the need for an organized approach towards development of the professional and managerial capacities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia, with a special focus on women owned enterprises. First part of the paper deals with the women entrepreneurship (WE) importance rationale, following the presentation of the newest EU policies regarding women entrepreneurship development based on Small Business Act (SBA). SBA is a set of ten policy principles which form the framework for policies explicitly aimed at the support of SME’s, both at individual (national) levels as well as in the EU. Among the 10 SBA principles, indicators of measuring female entreprenurship (WE indicators) are involved in the first one: Create an environment in which entrepreneurs and family businesses can thrive and entrepreneurship is rewarded (SBA, 2008). Education and training of WE, as one of the four indicators, is elaborated further on. Therefore, the methodology of the training needs assessment (TNA)is elaborated, as well as the analysis of the conducted TNA survey results. Special focus is given to business performance, information and networking and human resources and training