Making the ideal (local) entrepreneur: Place and the regional development of high-tech entrepreneurial identity

Abstract

Entrepreneurship research has begun to examine the construction of an occupational identity for entrepreneurs, arguing that this identity is intersected by a variety of discourses, including gender, class and race/ethnicity. Yet, these studies only partially account for the myriad ways that entrepreneurial identity, and occupational identity more broadly, may manifest across the US or globally. In this article, we discuss how high-tech entrepreneurial identities are constructed in conjunction with place-based 'transcendent' and 'locale-specific' discourses. Empirical results from two studies of hightech entrepreneurs in the western US demonstrate that place both shapes and constrains the possibilities for constructing an 'ideal entrepreneurial self'. The implications of our research suggest: (i) the importance of 'relocating place' to understand the regional shaping of entrepreneurial identity and occupational identity; (ii) the significance of place serving as a rich organizing discourse for studies of intersectionality; and (iii) the complex ways in which entrepreneurial and occupational identities are shaped by place while simultaneously engaged in 'place-making'.

Identity, identity formation and identity work in entrepreneurship: conceptual developments and empirical applications

“…She employed a number of primary and secondary data collection methods including interviews, field notes and reflections from the participant to obtain insights into his lived experiences, perceptions and sense-making about his identity capital asset accrual and deployment. In interpretive research context is vital and goes beyond merely capturing the characteristics of a place or space (Gill and Larson, 2014) but instead takes cognizance of the embeddedness of an actor within his/ her historic and contemporary environments and the impact these have on identity formation and enactment.…”

Identity, Enactment, and Entrepreneurship Engagement in a Declining Place

“…However, as Johannisson pointed out so long ago (), entrepreneurship happens in places. For Gill and Larson (), place both shapes and constrains the possibilities for constructing an “ideal entrepreneurial self.” We demonstrate that not only do entrepreneurs do identity work, and work their identity, they “work” place too. Place thus contextualizes, informing identity, identity work, and the entrepreneurial process.…”

“…We conceive “place” as more than the location of entrepreneurship (Berg ); place re‐presents social and economic histories embodied as “sense of place,” a place identity, which forms the context for social relationships (Gill and Larson ). In the interpretivist tradition, Down () proposes identity as an achievement in time and space, built through relationships in the practice of entrepreneurship.…”

Identity Work as an Event

“…Scholars present how individuals draw on diverse discourses pertaining to society, institutions, occupations, organizations, and places, and how they work on who they are and what they do (Brown & Lewis, 2011;Clarke, Brown, & Hailey, 2009;R. Gill & Larson, 2014;Kuhn, 2006;Toyoki & Brown, 2014;Wieland, 2010).…”