Exploring the Motivation of Nascent Social Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship (SE) is an increasingly popular practice in which business solutions are applied to social problems. While empirical study of the various facets of SE is on the rise, the motivation of social entrepreneurs – a key antecedent of SE – has received little attention. In contrast, substantial theoretical and empirical work exists on the motivation of commercial entrepreneurs as well as the motivation for public–social sector work. Seeking to fill a gap in the SE literature, this paper presents qualitative findings from in-person, in-depth interviews with self-identified nascent social entrepreneurs that participated in an SE training program in the USA. The findings provide an empirical foundation for further theory development and research on SE motivation.

Key Words:

• Social entrepreneurship
• social enterprise
• social innovation
• nascent social entrepreneurs
• motivation

Acknowledgements

The authors received financial support for this project from the Faculty Grants Program at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. In addition, the authors would like to recognize the efforts of the anonymous reviewers and the journal's editors, and thank them for helping to enhance this article.

Note

Notes

1. Name has been changed to protect confidentiality of research subject.