Entrepreneurs with disability: Australian insights through a social ecology lens

ABSTRACT

The study of people with disability who become entrepreneurs has been a neglected field of research but with a developing body of knowledge from different countries around the world over the last two decades. This paper aims to contribute to that body of knowledge through examining the journeys of entrepreneurs with disability (EwD) in Australia. It does so through a theoretical framework guided by the minority entrepreneurship literature, their lived experiences through social model understandings of disability and a social ecology framework. The research design involved interviews with 60 EwD with the findings examining their motivations, barriers, enablers, outcomes and benefits. The discussion examines the social, economic and cultural embeddedness of EwD’s journey, the paradox of their higher rates of entrepreneurship than the nondisabled and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We conclude by outlining the contribution this study makes to disability entrepreneurship through the complexity revealed by the social ecological framework.

KEYWORDS:

• Disability
• agency
• entrepreneurs
• social ecology
• social model of disability
• mixed embeddedness
• minority entrepreneurship

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge all the entrepreneurs with disability who took time from their busy lives and businesses to participate in this research. The research would not have been possible without our industry partners National Disability Services, Settlement Services International and BreakThru People Solutions involvement in the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant. The combination of our industry connection and our engagement with people with disability and the disability advocacy organisations that represent them is always a wonderful learning experience that improves our research, practice and translation. For those that you would like to know more about the overall project and resources please see https://www.uts.edu.au/about/uts-business-school/management/projects/disability-entrepreneurship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Australian Research Council.