Self-Employment or Selfless Employment? Exploration of Factors that Motivate, Facilitate, and Constrain Latina Entrepreneurship from a Family Embeddedness Perspective

Abstract

As the economic and social importance of Latina-owned businesses continues to grow, research is needed on the factors that motivate entrepreneurship among Latinas and that facilitate and constrain their success. This study draws on in-depth interviews and survey data to explore the experiences of Latina entrepreneurs in Idaho, USA, from an embeddedness perspective combining family embeddedness and intersectionality frameworks to illustrate how family and social positioning affects motivations, opportunities, and access to resources. We found Latinas were motivated to start businesses by a range of interacting factors, including centrally a strong sense of responsibility to their nuclear and families of origin. Prominent family motivations included the desire to provide opportunities for younger and older generations and the need for flexibility to manage family and work obligations. Compared to their middle-class peers, working-class Latina entrepreneurs were more likely to need flexibility because they could not afford third-party care for a family member, to experience greater barriers to accessing traditional financing and professional advice, and to be more dependent on family support for their success, although not all had family-based resources upon which they could rely. Latinas struggled to fulfill traditional family role expectations and obligations while assuming the expanded responsibilities of running a business. While a central tension in their lives, this struggle provides the impetus to renegotiate and update traditional gender and family expectations as they navigate role conflict and strain.