TY - JOUR

T1 - Contextualising migrant black business women's work-life balance experiences

AU - Forson, C.

PY - 2013/8/9

Y1 - 2013/8/9

N2 - PurposeEmploying a feminist relational lens, the purpose of this paper is to explore the work-life balance experiences of black migrant women entrepreneurs, examining the relationship between macro, meso and micro levels of business activity. The paper examines the obstacles raised and opportunities enabled by the confrontation and negotiation between the private and public space.Design/methodology/approachQualitative methods are used and the paper draws on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 29 black women business owners in the legal and black hairdressing sectors in London. The analysis of the paper is informed by a relational approach that recognises the embedded nature of business activity in differing levels of social action.FindingsThe analysis reveals that ability of the women in the study to manage their work-life balance was shaped by power relations and social interactions between and within cultural, structural and agentic dimensions of small business ownership.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on business and entrepreneurial behaviour of women by embedding work-life balance experiences of black migrant women in context of relations between and within macro, meso and micro levels. It conceptualises the behaviour of the women in the study in terms of confrontations, negotiations and dialogue between notions of motherhood, femininity, family and entrepreneurship at the societal, institutional and individual levels. In so doing the paper expands the literature on minority entrepreneurship and underscores the interconnected nature of these three levels to produce unique experiences for individual migrant women.

AB - PurposeEmploying a feminist relational lens, the purpose of this paper is to explore the work-life balance experiences of black migrant women entrepreneurs, examining the relationship between macro, meso and micro levels of business activity. The paper examines the obstacles raised and opportunities enabled by the confrontation and negotiation between the private and public space.Design/methodology/approachQualitative methods are used and the paper draws on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 29 black women business owners in the legal and black hairdressing sectors in London. The analysis of the paper is informed by a relational approach that recognises the embedded nature of business activity in differing levels of social action.FindingsThe analysis reveals that ability of the women in the study to manage their work-life balance was shaped by power relations and social interactions between and within cultural, structural and agentic dimensions of small business ownership.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on business and entrepreneurial behaviour of women by embedding work-life balance experiences of black migrant women in context of relations between and within macro, meso and micro levels. It conceptualises the behaviour of the women in the study in terms of confrontations, negotiations and dialogue between notions of motherhood, femininity, family and entrepreneurship at the societal, institutional and individual levels. In so doing the paper expands the literature on minority entrepreneurship and underscores the interconnected nature of these three levels to produce unique experiences for individual migrant women.

U2 - 10.1108/IJEBR-09-2011-0126

DO - 10.1108/IJEBR-09-2011-0126

M3 - Journal article

VL - 19

SP - 460

EP - 477

JO - International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research

JF - International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research

SN - 1355-2554

IS - 5

ER -