Negotiating Business, Negotiating Self: Crossing Cultural Borders in Bilingual Entrepreneurial Contexts

Abstract

Characterized by both cultural and gender-based barriers to English language learning, language learning is a continual process of identity renegotiation, as several theorists have argued. While this identity renegotiation has been explored for women who assume the roles of wives, daughters, and employees, less attention has been directed to the dynamic language use processes that occur for women who intermix the role of entrepreneur into their already complex lives. This article examines how one immigrant woman business owner used social and task-oriented talk in the L1 and the L2 to move beyond boundaries of race, culture, and language when interacting with her African American clientele and her Chinese workers. The analysis also draws upon interview responses from more than 20 bilingual women entrepreneurs to highlight their challenges, triumphs, and shifting identities as they navigate their roles as English language learners, entrepreneurs, and women.

Insights on the glass ceiling for immigrant women entrepreneurs in the technology sector

“…Another strategy is to improve one's skills that might cause discrimination (Knight, 2016;Nkrumah, 2016). Because most immigrant WEs are from developing countries where English is not an official language, they make a conscious effort to speak with English-speaking individuals to improve their fluency and accent (Billore, 2011;Collier, 2011). WEs concentrate on building their skills and expertise, working nearly twice as much as men in their industry to compete equally with them (Orser et al, 2012;Ezzedeen and Zikic, 2012).…”

A qualitative study on motivators and barriers affecting entrepreneurship among Latinas

“…Likewise, immigrant women are likely to encounter more challenges and problems compared to men, when starting or running their own businesses in the host countries (De Vita et al , 2014; Hedberg and Pettersson, 2012; Smith‐Hunter and Boyd, 2004). Whereas many studies investigated gender-specific challenges faced by Asian women entrepreneurs (Bastian et al , 2018; Chreim et al , 2018; Collier, 2011; Collins and Low, 2010; Das, 2001; Hedberg and Pettersson, 2012; Jamali, 2009; Modarresi et al , 2017; Roomi and Parrott, 2008), little attention has been given to Latino immigrant women intending to start new businesses in the host countries. Given the growing importance of immigrant female entrepreneurs (Chreim et al , 2018), research should explore factors that may influence starting a new business for this ethnic group.…”