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Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the positive and negative effects of gender and ethnicity in relation to discrimination and the problems encountered in accessing social support (including emotional and instrumental support). Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data were c...

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Main Authors: Davidson, M.J, Fielden, S. L., Omar, Azura
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2010
Subjects:
H Social Sciences (General)
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/13361/1/Black%2C_Asian.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/13361/
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1839170&show=abstract
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spelling my.iium.irep.133612012-01-26T07:55:10Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/13361/ Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support Davidson, M.J Fielden, S. L. Omar, Azura H Social Sciences (General) Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the positive and negative effects of gender and ethnicity in relation to discrimination and the problems encountered in accessing social support (including emotional and instrumental support). Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with 40 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) female small business owners based in north west England. The main aims and objectives of the study were to: investigate the discriminatory experiences of BAME female small business owners related to their gender and ethnicity; and to identify the forms (formal and informal) and types (emotional/instrumental) of social support available in relation to their entrepreneurial activities that enabled them to cope with and overcome, the discrimination they may encounter. Findings – Over half of the respondents in the study had experienced discriminations because of their gender, ethnic background or both. This was attributed to a number of factors, including stereotypical images of specific ethnic cultures, religions and practices. Many respondents reported difficulties in accessing different types of formal social support, e.g. formal business and financial support. Informal support by respondents' families was reported as a key source of both emotional and instrumental. Research limitations/implications – This paper is just a starting point for this area of research and, because the sample covers women from a variety of BAME backgrounds, it is not possible to generalize the findings to the wider population of BAME women. However, it does give an indication of what issues need to be considered in the provision of instrumental support for BAME women small business owners. Practical implications – The paper shows that a key element in the development of a strategy for addressing the needs of the BAME female small business owners is the necessity to appropriately re-design mainstream business support systems and financial services, in order to provide these women effective access to formal social support. Originality/value – The experiences of BAME small business owners have received little attention and this paper offers a unique insight into the relationship between social support, gender, ethnicity and business ownership Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2010 Article REM application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/13361/1/Black%2C_Asian.pdf Davidson, M.J and Fielden, S. L. and Omar, Azura (2010) Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support. Team Perfomance Management, 16 (1-2). pp. 58-80. ISSN 1352-7592 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1839170&show=abstract
institution Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia
building IIUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider International Islamic University Malaysia
content_source IIUM Repository (IREP)
url_provider http://irep.iium.edu.my/
language English
topic H Social Sciences (General)
spellingShingle H Social Sciences (General)
Davidson, M.J
Fielden, S. L.
Omar, Azura
Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support
description Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the positive and negative effects of gender and ethnicity in relation to discrimination and the problems encountered in accessing social support (including emotional and instrumental support). Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with 40 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) female small business owners based in north west England. The main aims and objectives of the study were to: investigate the discriminatory experiences of BAME female small business owners related to their gender and ethnicity; and to identify the forms (formal and informal) and types (emotional/instrumental) of social support available in relation to their entrepreneurial activities that enabled them to cope with and overcome, the discrimination they may encounter. Findings – Over half of the respondents in the study had experienced discriminations because of their gender, ethnic background or both. This was attributed to a number of factors, including stereotypical images of specific ethnic cultures, religions and practices. Many respondents reported difficulties in accessing different types of formal social support, e.g. formal business and financial support. Informal support by respondents' families was reported as a key source of both emotional and instrumental. Research limitations/implications – This paper is just a starting point for this area of research and, because the sample covers women from a variety of BAME backgrounds, it is not possible to generalize the findings to the wider population of BAME women. However, it does give an indication of what issues need to be considered in the provision of instrumental support for BAME women small business owners. Practical implications – The paper shows that a key element in the development of a strategy for addressing the needs of the BAME female small business owners is the necessity to appropriately re-design mainstream business support systems and financial services, in order to provide these women effective access to formal social support. Originality/value – The experiences of BAME small business owners have received little attention and this paper offers a unique insight into the relationship between social support, gender, ethnicity and business ownership
format Article
author Davidson, M.J
Fielden, S. L.
Omar, Azura
author_facet Davidson, M.J
Fielden, S. L.
Omar, Azura
author_sort Davidson, M.J
title Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support
title_short Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support
title_full Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support
title_fullStr Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support
title_full_unstemmed Black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support
title_sort black, asian and minority ethnic female business owners: discrimination and social support
publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited
publishDate 2010
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/13361/1/Black%2C_Asian.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/13361/
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1839170&show=abstract
_version_ 1643606748674654208
score 13.211869

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