Owalla, B. orcid.org/0000-0001-9706-3144 and Holmquist, C. (2017) Understanding the ""woman entrepreneur"" identity construction in different socio-cultural contexts. In: Atinc, G., (ed.) Academy of Management Proceedings. 2017 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, 04-08 Aug 2017, Atlanta, GA, USA. Academy of Management , p. 13952.
Abstract
The concept of identity has been widely researched within the social sciences with increasing attention being given to the understanding of entrepreneurial identities. However, while existing studies have analyzed the concept from both a normative and interpretative perspective, many have viewed identity itself as an unproblematic concept, and few studies have examined the importance of the socio-cultural context for the identity construction process. Using an inductive multiple case study approach, and drawing from identity and identity work theories, we analyze the construction of the “woman entrepreneur” identity in two different socio-cultural contexts, namely Sweden and Tanzania. Our study contributes to the entrepreneurial identity literature by identifying five typologies of women entrepreneurial identities, namely: born, know how, missionary, transition and solution seeker entrepreneurs. Second, we find that women construct their entrepreneurial identities as either central or salient to their self-identity, which influences their perceptions of entrepreneurship and subsequent behavior. Third, while the socio-cultural context influences their identity construction, we also find that the level of influence by contextual factors varies depending on the typology of women entrepreneurs. Implications for policy and practice as well as suggestions for future research are highlighted.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Editors: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Author and the Academy of Management. This is an author-produced version of the paper. The abstract was subsequently published in Academy of Management Proceedings. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Entrepreneurial identity; Identity work; Gender; Socio-cultural context |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 Jan 2020 10:58 |
Last Modified: | 29 Jan 2020 15:05 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Academy of Management |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.5465/ambpp.2017.13952abstract |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:155962 |