While there is growing interest in professional identity construction (e.g. Clarke et al., 2009), little is known about how stigma may influence the development of professional identity. Professional identity is defined as one’s professional self-concept based on attributes, beliefs, values, motives, and experiences (Ibarra, 1999; Schein, 1978). Professional identity construction under conditions of stigmatized cultural identity presents an interesting puzzle. Professional roles are defined as prestigious and provide the role holder with autonomy (Benveniste, 1987) and, often, a degree of privilege. However, stigmatized persons are often accorded little prestige and/or privilege because their identities are tainted. Thus, the purpose of our research is to build and enrich theory around professional identity construction by investigating the development of professional identity under conditions of stigmatized cultural identity. To accomplish this goal, we study narratives written by 20 prominent African American journalists (Terry, 2007) who discuss what it means to be both Black and reporters.

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Much of our understanding concerning minority-owned firms is based on nascent entrepreneurial businesses. Therefore, it is difficult to answer the question of how a minority-owned firm's age and size may influence the social capital derived from a minority business network. We utilize a resource-dependence perspective to hypothesize that the social capital derived from participation in a minority business network will be negatively related to the minority-owned firm's age and size. We find that firm size (as measured by revenue and number of employees) is negatively related with social capital derived from the minority business network. Our findings may help minority business owners understand the relative value of membership in minority business networks before committing limited resources.

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the growth performance of top African American-owned employer firms when compared with their White counterparts. Design/methodology/approach -The paper uses longitudinal, revenue data from a sample of the largest African American-owned employer firms in the USA with that of a comparable sample of White-owned firms. Findings -The paper finds that complex and volatile industry environments have a significantly greater negative impact on African American businesses than their White-owned counterparts. Social implications -The complexity and volatility associated with one of the most difficult US business environments since the 1940s may increase the performance disparity between established African American and White-owned firms. On a macroeconomic level, such a performance disparity will have significant negative impact on US economy output and job creation, particularly as the number of new minority businesses continues to outpace the rate of all US business. Originality/value -This is the only published research to date, which examines the growth of top African American businesses.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of employee homogeneity on the financial performance of minority business enterprises (MBEs). It is widely postulated that MBEs tend to hire minorities that resemble the ethnicity of the founder(s) and that this is beneficial by helping to decrease minority unemployment rates as well as providing new opportunities to minorities that they might not otherwise receive at White-owned firms.Design/methodology/approachThe study used hierarchical linear regression on archival data of 271 MBEs to determine if employee homogeneity will be a factor in understanding their financial performance. The authors also conducted exploratory interviews with a convenience sample of MBEs to gain insight into the concept of employee homophily.FindingsThe research uncovered that as homogeneity increases, MBE financial performance decreases, and this effect is more pronounced the longer the MBE is in business.Research limitations/implicationsThe data set is cross-sectional in nature and lack the perspective and clarity of time. The paper only contains a small set of exploratory interviews. The most significant implication from the study is that a lack of diversity decreases the long-term financial viability of MBEs which is to counter mainstream arguments that speak only to the positive aspects of MBEs Chiring their own.Originality/valueThe research builds on the scant literature on the impact of diversity within MBEs. It also provides guidance to MBEs by suggesting they be strategic in diversifying their employee base in order to improve performance.

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