Build and Broaden: Growing Capacity in Research Examining Entrepreneurship

California State University San Marcos Corporation, San Marcos CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The goals of this project are to examine entrepreneurship among minority communities and identify how success varies for individuals who experience discrimination. The proposed research utilizes interviews and focus groups to better understand the factors that shape the success or failure of entrepreneurial ventures among entrepreneurs of color and the ways in which discrimination shapes the pursuit of independent business ventures. This study will also evaluate how individuals understand their entrepreneurship as part of their larger social environment and as a strategy for change. Findings from this project will be useful to policymakers as well as to organizations seeking to support entrepreneurship within marginalized communities. This project will create opportunities for collaboration within minority-serving institutions, provide opportunities for minority students and community members to build research capacity through training and experience, and promote examples of the resilience of minority entrepreneurs. The researchers will conduct interviews and focus groups with key informants to construct case studies of minority entrepreneurs and their businesses. Qualitative data will be collected from multiple racial-ethnic communities on the practices and experiences of minority entrepreneurs, and on the extent to which social, legal and racial forms of discrimination shape the process and success of their entrepreneurial ventures. Results will contribute to the theoretical understandings of how individual and environmental factors affect the development of entrepreneurial ventures and shed light on the relationship between entrepreneurship and social mobility. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.