Handicaps and new opportunity businesses: what do we (not) know about disabled entrepreneurs?
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy
ISSN: 1750-6204
Article publication date: 30 June 2020
Issue publication date: 14 July 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The process by which disabled individuals become entrepreneurs can be influenced by factors of different orders. Throughout their entrepreneurship careers and projects, disabled entrepreneurs may have to overcome multiple personal, social and political barriers. This study aims to review what we do (and do not) know about disabled entrepreneurs research to date.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature review focused on analyzing 42 articles from two databases, namely, Web of Science and Scopus. After the articles were selected, they were grouped into thematic clusters.
Findings
The results were categorized into four areas, namely, entrepreneurs with disabilities, self-employment as an alternative to unemployment for people with disabilities, barriers faced by disabled entrepreneurs and the importance of education, training and/or orientation for these individuals’ entrepreneurship. The research verified that, in some cases, people with disabilities resort to self-employment and become entrepreneurs to avoid unemployment. Education and training’s positive role in how this process develops is clear as they empower individuals with disabilities and enable them to raise entrepreneurial attitudes.
Originality/value
Based on the citation profile of articles on disabled entrepreneurs, the results contribute to a better understanding of the flow and main findings of scientific research on this topic over the past 15 years. The findings also include research tendencies that reveal the field’s emergent perspectives, which are of great importance to academics seeking to enhance entrepreneurial processes and policymakers interested in stimulating entrepreneurship education.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the support provided by the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro’s Center for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD), which receives national funds through Portugal’s Foundation for Science and Technology (project UIDB/04011/2020).
Citation
Mota, I., Marques, C. and Sacramento, O. (2020), "Handicaps and new opportunity businesses: what do we (not) know about disabled entrepreneurs?", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 321-347. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-12-2019-0120
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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