Intersectionality and Minority Entrepreneurship: At the Crossroad of Vulnerability and Power

Abstract

AbstractIntersectionality has been introduced into research on minority entrepreneurship relatively recently but has already managed to make a significant contribution into better understanding of the phenomenon. The analytical framework helps to describe in more detail a complex structure of opportunities and constraints that a minority entrepreneur is embedded into. However, extreme diversity in topics and focuses among relevant studies poses a challenge to identification of general tendencies within intersectional minority entrepreneurship. The current chapter intends to take on this challenge and to contribute to better understanding of the role intersectionality plays in minority entrepreneurship. The current overview of literature points at the factors that appear to unite all minority businesspersons across various axes of difference; intersectional identities of minority entrepreneurs lead to limited legitimacy in the business market. This limited legitimacy, on the one hand, constitutes an impediment to numerous lucrative industries dominated by mainstream entrepreneurs but, on the other hand, may become a source of competitive advantage in a few gendered, ethnicized, or other niche markets. To ensure that minority businesspersons are not restricted to low-income, labour-intensive sectors with limited potential for growth, deconstruction of the archetype of an entrepreneur through tailored support and diversity initiatives may present the first steps on the way to creation of a more inclusive business environment.