Symbolic capital within the lived experiences of Eastern European migrants: a gendered perspective

Natalia Vershinina (nvershinina@audencia.com) and Peter Rodgers
Additional contact information
Natalia Vershinina: Audencia Business School
Peter Rodgers: University of Leicester

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Despite recent large flows of migrants to the UK, the gendered nature of how men and women experience migrant entrepreneurial journeys remains under-researched. This article contributes to debates within the field of entrepreneurship by exploring the lived experiences of transna- tional migrant entrepreneurs setting up enterprises in the UK. Reporting the findings of interviews with forty-seven Eastern European transnational migrant entrepreneurs, this article focuses on the rarely discussed form of symbolic capital understood as the prestige, status and positive reputa- tion individuals possess in the eyes of others. Our findings demonstrate the multifaceted and often gendered nature of forms of cultivated sym- bolic capital. Men use traditional conceptions of ‘status' and ‘prestige' to accrue forms of symbolic capital, which consequently facilitate and legit- imate the transfer of economic capital into their UK businesses. In con- trast, women, by setting up successful businesses in the UK, gain legitimacy in the eyes of family and friends in their home countries. This in turn enables them to overcome traditional gendered ascribed roles in which their visibility is centred solely around looking after children and the family. The article concludes by reflecting on the contributions and implications for theory and practice before identifying directions for further research.

Keywords: Migration; entrepreneurship; transnational; symbolic capital; gender; legitimacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://audencia.hal.science/hal-03517416
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 2019, Small Towns, 32 (7-8), pp.590 - 605. ⟨10.1080/08985626.2019.1703045⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://audencia.hal.science/hal-03517416/document (application/pdf)

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:hal:journl:hal-03517416

DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2019.1703045

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD (hal@ccsd.cnrs.fr).