Asian American women entrepreneurs

Abstract

There are an estimated 620,300 firms owned by Asian American women nationwide, and they contribute $105 billion to the U.S. economy. They are also active in Greater Boston's innovation and entrepreneurship communities. This thesis explores the entrepreneurial narratives of eight women whose small-medium enterprises (SMEs) are concentrated in the professional, scientific and technical industries. My focus is on the following questions: 1) What are the conditions under which Asian American women entrepreneurs are successful? 2) Does their collective entrepreneurial narrative display any unique characteristics? Through in-depth interviews with individual entrepreneurs, I explore these questions and identify emergent themes that add to our understanding of the realities and challenges that entrepreneurship affords. These themes include the transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, the early start-up stages of building a business and the role of network structures. Later themes address the broader role that Asian American women entrepreneurs play in their local communities and civic society.