Minority Women Entrepreneurs - by Mary Godwyn & Donna Stoddard (Paperback)

About the Book

Published simultaneously in the United Kingdom by Greenleaf Publishing.

Book Synopsis

Minority women start new businesses in the U.S. at four times the rate of non-minority men and women. Though minority women entrepreneurs in the United States are thriving, their stories are very seldom told, and few think of minority women as successful entrepreneurs. Minority Women Entrepreneurs gives voice and visibility to this group of business owners.

The second purpose of this book is to explain what makes these women different from the standard white, male business owners with whom most people are familiar. Through in-depth interviews and firsthand accounts from minority women entrepreneurs, the authors found that minority women use their outsider status to develop socially conscious business practices that support their communities in innovative and exciting ways. They reject the idea that business values are separate from personal values, and instead balance profits with social good and environmental sustainability. This pattern is repeated in statistical evidence from around the globe: women contribute a much higher percentage of their earnings to social good than do men. But, until now, there was no clear explanation of why. Using sociological and psychological theories, the authors explain the tendency for women, especially minority women, to create socially responsible businesses. The findings in this book suggest fresh solutions to economic inequality and humanistic alternatives to exploitative business policies. Herein lays a radically new, socially integrated model that can be used by businesses everywhere.

Review Quotes

"...a great read which challenges commonly held views and simplistic theorisation."--Professor Mustafa F. Ozbilgin, Chair in Human Resource Management, Norwich Business School

"Rich in resources and insights, this book tells the fascinating stories of a diverse group of successful minority business women who combine doing well with doing good. It offers grounded hope, not only for people who have been marginalized, but for everyone. It shows that women who become entrepreneurs are often guided by caring values--providing impetus for a more caring way of living and a more caring way of earning a living for us all."--Riane Eisler, author of The Real Wealth of Nations and The Chalice and The Blade

"Minority Women Entrepreneurs provides an excellent theoretical base, and is interesting in that it draws out many different facets of the problems and arguments concerning minority women's entrepreneurship. It illustrates these aspects with 'real-life' narratives that will be useful for students and entrepreneurs alike."--Isla Kapasi, Entrepreneurship and Innovation

"An evocative and enlightening success story that turns conventional wisdom on the business practices of minority women upside down."--Carol Stack, author of Call to Home and All Our Kin

"Godwyn and Stoddard reveal how and why diversity is not just the right thing to do, but is intricately tied to innovation and excellence ... thought provoking for everyone in our multi-cultural world."--Jane Margolis, author of Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, and Computing and Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing

"I could not put it down; I kept wanting to know more ... a superb job of blending real-world experience with the research literature."--Dr. dt Ogilvie, Founding Director, The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development

About the Author

Mary Godwyn is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Babson College. Donna Stoddard is Associate Professor and Chair of the Technology, Operations, and Information Management Division at Babson College.