posted on 2018-09-21, 10:01authored byAngela DyAngela Dy, Adaku Jennifer Agwunobi
Purpose This conceptual paper has two central aims: to critically analyse the potential of intersectionality theory as a means by which to understand aspects of context in entrepreneurship studies, and advocate for the value of a realist perspective and mixed methods approaches to produce better intersectional research on entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach Highlighting context as an emerging topic within entrepreneurship literature, the paper examines how drawing upon notions of intersectionality and positionality can help to explain the social context for entrepreneurial activity and outcomes, particularly in terms of agency and resources.
Findings The paper complements and extends existing intersectional approaches to entrepreneurship studies by introducing Archer’s critical realist philosophical perspective on agency and Anthias’ positional perspective on resource access, considering the usefulness of realism and mixed methods approaches for such work, and outlining a methodologically informed potential research agenda for the area.
Originality/value The paper offers a theoretical foundation for researchers to begin systematically exploring social entrepreneurial context by accounting for the effects of overarching intersecting structures such as gender, race, and socio-economic class (amongst others), presents empirical methods through which these social-structural influences, and the degree of their impact, can be identified and analysed, and suggests a philosophically robust means of conceptualising how, in combination with agency, they influence essential aspects of entrepreneurial activity.
History
School
Loughborough University London
Published in
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
Volume
25
Issue
8
Pages
1727-1747
Citation
MARTINEZ DY, A. and AGWUNOBI, A.J., 2019. Intersectionality and mixed methods for social context in entrepreneurship. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 25(8), pp. 1727-1747.
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Acceptance date
2018-08-16
Publication date
2019-11-11
Copyright date
2019
Notes
This paper was published in the journal International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-12-2017-0498.