On Wednesday, 17 September, From 13.00 to 14.00, the second seminar of this academic year of the ISEG Research Seminars, with Sandra Portocarrero (London School of Economics), who will present the paper on “Entrepreneurship as an Opportunity To Gain Dignity: Insights into Undocumented Entrepreneurship in California“.
The ISEG Research Seminars take place each week, on Wednesdays, in Lecture theatre 4 of Quelhas (4th floor), with the participation of ISEG professors, as well as professors from other Portuguese and international universities.
Free admission.
Abstract
We examine how the quest for dignity motivates undocumented immigrants to pursue entrepreneurship. Drawing from 50 in-depth interviews with undocumented entrepreneurs and leaders from an immigrants rights organisation in California, we explore the social and economic motivations behind entrepreneurial entry among this marginalised population.
Our findings reveal that undocumented immigrants' primary motivation for entrepreneurship stems from their desire to restore dignity in a society that actively alienates them due to their legal status. Participants experienced discrimination and exploitation not only from broader society but also from employers of their same ethnic background, creating an "ethnic cage" that stratifies members of the same ethnic group based on legal status and economic resources. We explain how entrepreneurship is conceptualised as an opportunity to gain dignity, and describe how individuals recognise entrepreneurship as a means to reclaim their inherent worth. In our study, organisations supporting undocumented populations played a crucial role in this quest for dignity, facilitating the transition from informal employment to formal business ownership, with many undocumented participants subsequently employing U.S. citizens. Our findings contribute to entrepreneurship literature by theorising entrepreneurship as an opportunity to gain dignity, extending frameworks on social mobility and addressing elite bias in entrepreneurship research by centering experiences of highly marginalised entrepreneurs.