Solo self-employment, entrepreneurial subjectivity and the security–precarity continuum: Evidence from private tutors in the supplementary education industry

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is regarded by policy makers and politicians as an accelerant for economic development. Economic geography demonstrates that rather than stimulating entrepreneurship in general, policy makers should support specific forms of entrepreneurship that fuel wider growth. The paper's original contribution is to insist that entrepreneurship research must also explore less growth-oriented, but crucially very widespread, forms of entrepreneurial activity. The paper therefore places solo self-employment – the self-employed without employees – centre stage as an exemplar of this trend. Research is presented on private tutors who run businesses from home, offering children one-to-one tuition in the burgeoning supplementary education industry. The paper scrutinises the causes, configuration and consequences of such solo self-employment as an economically marginal, but numerically dominant, form of entrepreneurship. In so doing, it makes three conceptual advances in the exploration of heterogeneous entrepreneurship. First, in examining why individuals become self-employed, the paper moves beyond classic efforts to understand entrepreneurship through binary push/pull mechanisms in models of occupational choice. Instead, the analysis demonstrates the importance of risk in entrepreneurship and paid employment, highlighting the multiple pathways into solo self-employment as opportunities and constraints coalesce in individual's lives. Secondly, in considering how the solo self-employed think about business, the research breaks through conventional definitions of entrepreneurship to demonstrate that solo self-employment involves a distinctively entrepreneurial subjectivity and practices. Thirdly, by investigating the consequences of solo self-employment, the findings transcend dualist interpretations of self-employment as the realm of entrepreneurial wealth or economic precarity, highlighting instead a security–precarity continuum in immediate and long-term outcomes.

Gender differences in solo entrepreneurship in modern countries

“…The purpose of the article is to evaluate the indicators describing the level of solo entrepreneurship in the total number of women and men who are beginning entrepreneurs in different countries. Our article responds to calls for a more in-depth study of the development of solo entrepreneurship, which according to a number of authors (Hipp et al, 2015;Holloway & Pimlott-Wilson, 2021;Bogenhold, 2019) is an insufficiently studied type of entrepreneurship. In addition, the article responds to calls for the study of the gender dimensions of solo entrepreneurship (Mababu & Merino-Hijosa, 2015).…”

Usługi edukacyjne w Polsce w dobie pandemii COVID-19

“…Płaszczyzną, na której sama pandemia i podejmowane w jej konsekwencji decyzje władz państwowych dotknęły wszystkie wskazane grupy jednocześnie, jest edukacja. Rynki usług edukacyjnych w krajach wysokorozwiniętych są znaczące i stale zyskują na wartości w dobie gospodarki opartej na wiedzy (Holloway, Pimlott -Wilson, 2021). Ich wzrostu nie powinna zatrzymywać pandemia COVID-19, biorąc pod uwagę fakt, że nowoczesne technologie informacyjne, a wraz z nimi rozwój e -learningu stwarzają nieistniejące wcześniej możliwości zaspokajania rosnącego popytu na edukację na skalę masową.…”

“…2020), samopoczucie psychiczne (Asanow i in., 2021;Cao i in, 2020, Jiao i in., 2020, Rodríguez -Hidalgo i in., 2020Lee, 2000;Zandifar, Badrfam, 2020), w tym złość i strach (Loan i in., 2021), a także wyniki w nauce (Meeter, 2021;Zhang i in., 2021;Zierer, 2021). Zdecydowanie mniej uwagi poświęca się wpływowi pandemii na sam rynek usług edukacyjnych (Holloway, Pimlott -Wilson, 2021). Bieżących doniesień na temat stanu systemów edukacji w czasie pandemii dostarczają raporty organizacji międzynarodowych i polskich (Pyżalski, Walter, 2021).…”

“…Bieżących doniesień na temat stanu systemów edukacji w czasie pandemii dostarczają raporty organizacji międzynarodowych i polskich (Pyżalski, Walter, 2021). Badania naukowe kondycji rynku usług edukacyjnych w czasie pandemii, w szczególności w zakresie kształcenia nieformalnego i pozaformalnego, są nieliczne i prowadzone głównie w Wielkiej Brytanii (Holloway, Kirby, 2020;Holloway, Pimlott -Wilson, 2021, Hajar, 2020 i Indiach (Deuchar, Dyson, 2020;Gupta, 2021). W polskich badaniach geograficznych nie podejmowano dotychczas tych kwestii.…”

Self-Confidence of Venezuelan Migrant Entrepreneurs in Colombia

“…Another important notion found in the literature on motivation theory is the push/pull theory that focuses on push and pull factors towards entrepreneurship for explaining the differences between entrepreneurs (Harrison and Hart 1983). On the one hand, push motivation suggests that an individual is being pushed into entrepreneurship by negative reasons but is motivated to overcome them, such as dissatisfaction with their current employment situation, unemployment, pressure to start a business, pressure to continue family tradition and so on (Block and Wagner 2007;Bögenhold 2019;Giacomin et al 2007;Hipp et al 2015;Holloway and Pimlott-Wilson 2021;Simón-Moya et al 2016). There are reasons that push migrants to generate self-employment through entrepreneurship because it is common for this sector of the population to be excluded from the labour market, owing to discrimination, language barriers or validation of academic degrees, incompatible Soc.…”