Entrepreneurial Women in the Caribbean: Critical Insights and Policy Implications (Palgrave Studies in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenization in Business)

Adopting an intersectional lens, this book comparatively examines the multiple processes and systems of power that frame the experiences of female entrepreneurs in the Caribbean and the fluid ways in which they respond to these. Specifically, it challenges entrepreneurial scholars who are concerned with the experiences of women within that sector to critically interrogate interlocking structures of power (e.g. gender, race, class, age, industry-based hierarchies) that operate within that space, the marginalizing effects of related processes, and the extent to which these affect their thinking and practices of female entrepreneurs within the region. Through comparative lenses, the book highlights the structural and relational realities and complexities that undergird the entrepreneurial landscape within the region, the effects of these on the entrepreneurial identities, positionalities, and practices of female entrepreneurs. It underscores the many ways in which they navigate that terrain. In so doing, the book offers critical insights into the historical, socio-cultural and economic parameters within which female entrepreneurs in the region engage, the lived realities associated with these, the prospects or possibilities for re-presenting or re-framing such contextual and discursive spaces. It also provides necessary understandings of the motivations, positions, prospects, possibilities and constrains of entrepreneurial women in the region and the policy implications of these realities. This book offers insights for scholars and policymakers that are important for (i) understanding the current gaps in entrepreneurial research and policy, (ii) the tools, methods, and strategies that are needed to address these contextual and discursive realities, and ultimately, (iii) the ways in which policy makers and local governments can promote the authentic empowerment of female entrepreneurs in the region, while giving considerations to precarious realities of women. Talia Esnard is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at the University of the West Indies. She has published on issues related to women, work and organizations with particular emphases on women in academe and in the entrepreneurial sector. She recently authored a student textbook, Entrepreneurship in the Caribbean and co-authored the book Black Women, Academe, and the Tenure Process in the United States and the Caribbean. Preface Acknowledgments Praise for Entrepreneurial Women in the Caribbean Contents 1 The Entrepreneurial Imperative: An Interrogation Introduction Entrepreneurship–Growth Nexus: The Case of Developing Countries The Imperative for Women Entrepreneurs The Case of Women Entrepreneurs in the Caribbean Scope of This Book Main Objectives Themes of the Book Significance of This Work Conceptual Terms Summary References 2 Women, Work, and Labor Market Precarity in the Caribbean: A Socio-Historical Perspective Introduction Pre-Emancipation Post-Emancipation Pre- and Post-Independence Conclusion References 3 Framing Enterprise and Entrepreneurship for Women in the Caribbean: A Meta-Synthesis Introduction Women’s Entrepreneurship: Contexts and Frameworks Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago Barbados Achievements, Gaps, and Calls to Action Conclusion References 4 Comparative Intersectionality: A Post-structuralist Turn Introduction Intersectionality Intersectionality and Women’s Entrepreneurship Comparative Intersectionality: A Post-Structuralist Turn Narrative Case Study Design Sampling and Recruitment Methods Data Analysis Intersectionality, Positionality, and Reflexivity Conclusion References 5 The Case of Entrepreneurial Women in St. Lucia Introduction Age, Gender, Color, Sexuality, and Segmentation Culture, Brand, Innovativeness, and Responsiveness Opportunity Cost: Lessons of the COVID-19 Pandemic Success: Material and Non-Material Considerations Conclusion References 6 The Case of Entrepreneurial Women in Barbados Introduction Understanding Positionality: Gender, Prior Exposure, Class Background, and Industry Ethno-Racial Identity and Cultural Entrepreneurship Local/Global/White/Black Distinctions Defining Success, Scope, and Salability Conclusion References 7 The Case of Entrepreneurial Women in Jamaica Harnessing Entrepreneurial Mindsets: Experiential and Structural Considerations Social Enterprises for Youth Vulnerability and Employability Vision, Access, and Scalability Entrepreneurial Success Summary References 8 The Case of Women in Trinidad and Tobago Introduction Gender, Race, Class, and Color and Business Motherhood and Entrepreneurship Building the Entrepreneurial Spirit Section IV-Defining Success Conclusion References 9 Enterprising and Entrepreneurial Women in the Caribbean: A Comparative Analysis Introduction Enterprising and/or Entrepreneurial Women Giving Voice: Lessons Learnt and Passed on Conclusion References 10 Diversifying Entrepreneurial Pathways: Insights and Policy Implications Introduction Charting the Way Forward: A Call to Action Reframing Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: An Intersectional Perspective Research Implications Conclusion References Index