Identity is a matter of place: intersectional identities of Romanian women migrant entrepreneurs on the Eastern-Western European route.

Chitac, I. 2023. Identity is a matter of place: intersectional identities of Romanian women migrant entrepreneurs on the Eastern-Western European route. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijebr-10-2022-0897

TitleIdentity is a matter of place: intersectional identities of Romanian women migrant entrepreneurs on the Eastern-Western European route.
TypeJournal article
AuthorsChitac, I.
Abstract

Purpose
Female entrepreneurship is increasing. Romanian women migrant entrepreneurs (RWMEs) are among the largest EU migrant communities in the UK and make significant socioeconomic contributions to both their host and origin nations, but academic research and policy discussions have ignored them. Intersectionality raises complex contextual issues that require comprehensive examination and inclusive policies and programmes. This study was aimed at exploring how Romanian women migrant entrepreneurs experience their transnational intersectional journeys of belonging, as they create, negotiate and enact their intersectional identities of the country of origin, gender, and being entrepreneurs in the UK and Romania.

Design/methodology/approach
This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) draws on draws upon Crenshaw’s (1991) intersectional and Social Identity theories (Tajfel and Turner, 1979) to investigate how nine interviewed RWMEs have experienced their transnational journeys of acculturative belonging in the UK and Romania.

Findings
The study findings show how RWMEs undo and negotiate their intersecting identities to adhere to socio-cultural standards in both their host and native nations. In the UK, they feel empowered as women entrepreneurs, but in patriarchal Romania, their entrepreneurial identity is revoked, contradicting the prescribed socio-cultural roles.

Research limitations/implications
This study responds to the call regarding inequalities in entrepreneurship opportunities (Vershinina et al., 2022). By focusing on the understudied community of RWMEs and exploring new intersectional and transnational contextual insights, it contributes to the literature and practice of migrant entrepreneurship. These empirical findings are essential for the development of evidence-based, disaggregated entrepreneurship programmes and policies.

Originality/value
This study responds to the call regarding inequalities in entrepreneurship opportunities (Vershinina et al., 2022). By focusing on the understudied community of RWMEs and exploring new intersectional and transnational contextual insights, it contributes to the literature and practice of migrant entrepreneurship. These empirical findings are essential for the development of evidence-based, disaggregated entrepreneurship programmes and policies.

KeywordsWomen entrepreneurs
Identity
Entrepreneurship
Immigrants
JournalInternational Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
ISSN1355-2554
Year2023
PublisherEmerald Publishing Limited
Accepted author manuscript
License
CC BY-NC 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1108/ijebr-10-2022-0897
Publication dates
Published online02 Nov 2023
LicenseCC BY 4.0

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Chitac, J., Knowles, D. and Dhaliwal, S. 2024. What is not said in organizational methodology: How to measure non-verbal communication. Management Decision. 62 (4), pp. 1216-1237. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-05-2022-0618

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