Re-contextualising start-up communities as social learning systems

Abstract

Start-up enterprises are perceived as key drivers of economic growth within a region and as a result have been subject to increased interest from governments and researchers. However, little research has focused on social learning within start-up communities and the broader start-up ecosystem. This study focuses on the start-up community in Perth, Western Australia. It has two research aims: firstly, to re-contextualise start-up communities as social learning systems (SLS), as defined by Étienne Wenger. Secondly, to explore the place of social learning within the start-up ecosystem. The two research aims are pursued through semi-structured interviews, and theoretically directed thematic analysis, both informed by Wenger’s work on communities of practice and social learning systems. The study finds that the start-up community’s role within the ecosystem is to act as a forum that accumulates and disseminates knowledge, that is essential to direct social interaction with others and shapes individual and community identities, grounding the start-up ecosystem in norms of Alignment, Engagement and Imagination. This article enhances understanding of the start-up community as an object of study in its own right, which can be approached as a social learning construct.

Keywords:

• Start-ups
• social learning
• discourse
• knowledge
• communities of practice
• Étienne Wenger

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics approval

Ethics approval for this project (RA/4/20/4582) was granted in accordance with the requirements of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (National Statement) and the policies and procedures of The University of Western Australia.

Notes

1 There are some weaknesses present in referral sampling that are concerned with sample bias (Biernacki and Waldorf 1981). The initial point of contact may refer individuals who are too similar or who they personally want to improve relations with. Other examples of potential sample bias within the study is that the participants may have limited connections, resulting in a misrepresentation of the community (Weerakkody, 2015). However, this method was effective for the research considering time constraints and given the fluid boundaries of start-up communities.