Entrepreneuring mothers’ identity work and motivation from the perspective of possible selves

Nichola Phillips, Natalia Vershinina, Joanne Duberley and Marylyn Carrigan
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Nichola Phillips: DMU - De Montfort University [Leicester, United Kingdom]
Natalia Vershinina: Audencia Business School
Joanne Duberley: University of Birmingham [Birmingham]

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Abstract: This study examines how mothers who engage in entrepreneurshipnegotiate their evolving identities, highlighting the role of multi-domainpossible selves in shaping their experiences. We examine twenty-ninebiographical narratives of entrepreneuring mothers, drawing on theoriesof gender and entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial identity and theconcept of possible selves. Thematic categories of hoped, feared andought selves are employed as an organizing frame, to examine the inter-relationships between gendered social expectations, individual self-conceptions and entrepreneurial motivations that enable motherhoodto serve as both a catalyst and constraint to entrepreneurial endeavour.We introduce the concept of Reflexive Accommodation to explain howmothers reconcile identity dissonance, leveraging entrepreneurship asa flexible, values-aligned pathway that integrates professional aspirationswith maternal responsibilities. We highlight the role of narrative in makingsense of these transitions and illustrate how conflicting ought selves canamplify feared selves, exerting powerful motivational influence. Our studyextends current understanding of the recursive relationship betweenidentity multiplicity, identity dissonance and entrepreneurial activities,challenging dominant assumptions about entrepreneurial orientation.By situating EI within whole-life identity projects in a liquid-modern con-text, we contribute to scholarship on gender and entrepreneurship byoffering insights into the social situatedness of identity while emphasizingindividual agency in entrepreneurial decision-making.

Keywords: entrepreneur; women; motivation; possible selves; entrepreneurial identity; entrepreneurial identity possible selves motivation women entrepreneur; Motherhood; Entrepreneur; Women; Motivation; Possible selves; Entrepreneurial identity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-11-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05741021v1
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Published in Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 2025, 38 (7-8), pp.944-967. ⟨10.1080/08985626.2025.2583218⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05741021

DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2025.2583218

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