Social Entrepreneurs as Role Models for Innovative Professional Career Developments

Ignacio Alvarez de Mon, Jorge Merladet and Margarita Núñez-Canal
Additional contact information
Ignacio Alvarez de Mon: IE Business School, IE University, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Jorge Merladet: IE Business School, IE University, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Margarita Núñez-Canal: ESIC Business and Marketing School, ESIC University, 28223 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: Through qualitative analysis, this paper examines the role of social entrepreneurs as an example of innovative and alternative professional career development. We review the dominant literature about social entrepreneurs’ distinct intentions, attitudes, abilities, and behaviors. We also directly connect social entrepreneurs’ biographies and discourses with the actual nature of their social enterprises. We have found some fundamental common factors as critical determinants of the final social entrepreneurial decision and result: (i) motivations such as emotional connection, moral judgment, personal dissatisfaction, purpose achievement and change, and social needs; (ii) personal internal resources such as connection skills, conviction, creativity, efficiency skills, and learning orientation; (iii) facilitating external factors such as financial and social support, higher and social education, relevant past events, and previous professional experience. Putting together all these factors, we develop a theoretical framework that can explain social entrepreneurship as an alternative career option and connect it with a dominant social entrepreneur’s narrative and profile.

Keywords: social entrepreneurship; career development; purpose; vocation; social innovation; creativity; discourse; narrative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13044/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13044/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13044-:d:687494

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().