Minority Women Entrepreneurs: How Outsider Status Can Lead to Better Business Practices

by Mary Godwyn, Donna Stoddard

Overview

Minority women start new businesses in the U.S. at four times the rate of non-minority men and women. Though minority women entrepreneurs in the United States are thriving, their stories are very seldom told, and few think of minority women as successful entrepreneurs. Minority Women Entrepreneurs gives voice and visibility to this group of business owners.
The second purpose of this book is to explain what makes these women different from the standard white, male business owners with whom most people are familiar. Through in-depth interviews and firsthand accounts from minority women entrepreneurs, the authors found that minority women use their outsider status to develop socially conscious business practices that support their communities in innovative and exciting ways. They reject the idea that business values are separate from personal values, and instead balance profits with social good and environmental sustainability. This pattern is repeated in statistical evidence from around the globe: women contribute a much higher percentage of their earnings to social good than do men. But, until now, there was no clear explanation of why. Using sociological and psychological theories, the authors explain the tendency for women, especially minority women, to create socially responsible businesses. The findings in this book suggest fresh solutions to economic inequality and humanistic alternatives to exploitative business policies. Herein lays a radically new, socially integrated model that can be used by businesses everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804774789
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	02/23/2011
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Mary Godwyn is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Babson College. Donna Stoddard is Associate Professor and Chair of the Technology, Operations, and Information Management Division at Babson College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii

The 12 entrepreneurs ix

Introduction: challenging the elegant theories of economics 1

Part 1 19

1 The unique position of minority women entrepreneurs 20

2 Sociological explanations for inequality 41

3 Challenging and changing inequality 78

4 Where did business-as-usual come from? 94

Part 2 119

5 Minority women as business innovators 120

6 Minority women in partnership with producers, vendors, and customers 138

7 Minority women entrepreneurs as community members 149

Part 3 171

8 Minority women entrepreneurs: challenges and opportunities 172

References 188

Appendix. Themes in Women's entrepreneurship as a basis for qualitative interview analysis 198

Index 208

About the authors 214

Editorial Reviews

"...a great read which challenges commonly held views and simplistic theorisation."

Norwich Business School - Professor Mustafa F. Ozbilgin

"An evocative and enlightening success story that turns conventional wisdom on the business practices of minority women upside down."

author of Call to Home and All Our Kin - Carol Stack

"I could not put it down; I kept wanting to know more ... a superb job of blending real-world experience with the research literature."

The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development - Dr. dt Ogilvie

"Rich in resources and insights, this book tells the fascinating stories of a diverse group of successful minority business women who combine doing well with doing good. It offers grounded hope, not only for people who have been marginalized, but for everyone. It shows that women who become entrepreneurs are often guided by caring values—providing impetus for a more caring way of living and a more caring way of earning a living for us all."

author of The Real Wealth of Nations and The Chalice and The Blade - Riane Eisler

"Godwyn and Stoddard reveal how and why diversity is not just the right thing to do, but is intricately tied to innovation and excellence ... thought provoking for everyone in our multi-cultural world."

author of Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, and Computing and Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computi - Jane Margolis

"Minority Women Entrepreneurs provides an excellent theoretical base, and is interesting in that it draws out many different facets of the problems and arguments concerning minority women's entrepreneurship. It illustrates these aspects with 'real-life' narratives that will be useful for students and entrepreneurs alike."

Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Isla Kapasi

How does gender and minority status shape entrepreneurial decision making? This question seems long overdue since minority women in the U.S. start new businesses at four times the rate of non-minority men and women. This book is about minority women entrepreneurs in the United States. Though these women are thriving as business owners, their stories are very seldom told, and few realise how many minority women are successful entrepreneurs. Therefore, the first purpose of the book is to give voice and visibility to U.S. minority women business owners. The second purpose is to explain how and why these women's approach to business differs from the practices that are routinely endorsed by business case studies and entrepreneurship literature. Through in depth interviews and firsthand accounts from minority women entrepreneurs, the authors found that, in innovative and exciting ways, minority women use their outsider status to develop socially conscious business practices that support the communities with which they identify. They reject the idea that business values are separate from personal values and instead balance profits with social good and environmental sustainability. Using sociological and psychological theories, the authors explain why women, especially minority women, have a tendency to create socially responsible businesses. The innovations provided by the women in this study suggest fresh solutions to economic inequality and humanistic alternatives to exploitative business policies. This is a radically new, socially integrated model that can be used by businesses everywhere. - Educational Book Review, October/November 2011

Minority Women Entrepreneurs sets out to offer fresh insights into the business practices of female minority business owners to reveal innovative ways to approach the practice of business and challenge mainstream business dialogues... Overall, Minority Women Entrepreneurs provides an excellent theoretical base, and is interesting in that it draws out many different facets of the problems and arguments concerning minority women's entrepreneurship. It illustrates these aspects with "real-life" narratives that will be useful for students and entrepreneurs alike. - Isla Kapasi, School of Management and Languages, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

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