Female Transnational Entrepreneurs (FTEs): A Case Study of Korean American Female Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley

Abstract

Increasingly, studies of entrepreneurship and migration have examined the role of immigrant entrepreneurs in revitalizing and diversifying the economy of the host society. Further, recent transnational skilled entrepreneurs have been understood as being much more mobile in building international networks and collaborations between their home and host societies. These studies have tended to focus on the technically oriented entrepreneurs and to produce a single grand narrative about a particular migrant group that transfers knowledge and becomes a technical pioneer in their home society. This paper scrutinizes a group of Korean American female transnational entrepreneurs (FTEs) living in Silicon Valley and builds a nuanced understanding about the diversity and complexity of being transnational entrepreneurs (TEs). Through a multi-layered qualitative approach, the study illustrates that three major mechanisms are at play: 1) the ecosystem of Silicon Valley; 2) the dynamics of gender and ethnicity; and 3) the adoption to live in a transnational social field. These mechanisms shape the motivations, experiences, and performances of Korean American FTEs. The article reveals the contesting ways in which these three mechanisms work simultaneously with each other.