Entrepreneurial Intent is not Black or White: An Intersectional Perspective

Abstract

Considerable research has explored various drivers of entrepreneurial intent (EI), including the effects of race or gender separately (e.g., Edelman, Brush, Manolova, & Greene, 2010). Our study builds on this previous work by considering the intersection between race and gender, a unique and needed broadening of perspective as race and gender do not exist in isolation from each other. Applying both role congruity and social identity theory, this study considers an individual’s EI through an intersectional lens. Using a sample of 562 student respondents from five universities across the U.S., an experiment examines entrepreneurial intent to participate in entrepreneurship programs after exposure to one of five website conditions intentionally varied in terms of racial and gendered language and imagery. Our findings reveal that intersectionality matters as students responded to the conditions significantly differently dependent upon the race-gender intersection. Overall, the highest positive influence in entrepreneurial intent across all students, regardless of race or gender, resulted from exposure to the racial-minority-female-centric website condition.

Keywords: Intersectionality, Race, Gender, Social Identity, Role Congruence, Entrepreneurial Intent

JEL Classification: M13