Technology adoption and entrepreneurial orientation for rural women: Evidence from India

•ICT based micro entrepreneurship model is proposed.•Mental access, material access, skill access, usage access help in adoption of ICT.•Adoption leads to entrepreneurial orientation leading to micro entrepreneurship. Information and communication technology (ICTs) have been proven to be an enabler for women empowerment, particularly for marginalized women. Policies have been formulated to link ICT with gender issues. The success of such policy initiatives largely depends on adoption intention because only ‘transplanting’ will not work. This evidence-based article with primary data established the covariance structure between the dimensions of access, ICT adoption intention and entrepreneurial orientation. This study highlights that different types of access like mental, material, skill and usage contribute significantly towards the adoption of ICT among rural women. Adoption of the ICT leads to innovation. Adoption intention is a booster for entrepreneurial orientation which aids micro-entrepreneurship. The findings of this study are significant because it connects technology adoption with the entrepreneurial intention of women micro-entrepreneurs.