Exploring entrepreneurial roles and identity in the United Kingdom and China. (February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bell, Robin; Liu, Peng; Zhan, Huirong; Bozward, David; Fan, Jing; Watts, Helen; Ma, Xiaoyu
• Other Names: Jones Paul guest-editor.; Ratten Vanessa guest-editor.; Klapper Rita guest-editor.; Fayolle Alain guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: International journal of entrepreneurship and innovation. Volume 20:Number 1(2019)
• Page Start: 39
• Page End: 49
• Publication Date: 2019-02
• Subjects: China -- counter-roles -- entrepreneurial identity -- entrepreneurial roles -- UK; Entrepreneurship -- Periodicals; Business -- Periodicals; Entrepreneurship; Business; Periodicals; 338.0405
• DOI: 10.1177/1465750318792510
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1465-7503

Abstract

This article examines entrepreneurial identity in both the United Kingdom and China through the lenses of identity theory and social identity theory to develop a deeper and more holistic understanding of the concept of entrepreneurial identity. By examining the entrepreneur as both a role and an identity, this article explores how an entrepreneur views the role of the entrepreneur, the counter-roles to the entrepreneur, and the "self-as-entrepreneur" and seeks to understand how entrepreneurs construct their identity as an entrepreneur. By looking at the role identity in different social constructs, a more nuanced view of entrepreneurial identity can be uncovered for entrepreneurs in both the United Kingdom and China. The study argues that entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom use counter-roles to bridge the disconnect between their understanding of the entrepreneur-as-role and the self-as-entrepreneur, whereas entrepreneurs in China have less conflict reconciling the two and use the counter-role as a way to paint entrepreneurship as a "calling, " justifying their abandonment of other identities.