Constructing Change: The Influence of Education on Female Social Entrepreneurs

Authors

  • Cecile Nieuwenhuizen Univeristy of Johannesburg
  • Thea Tselepis University of Johannesburg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15678/SER.2022.1.02

Keywords:

women entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, education

Abstract

Introduction: Female Social Entrepreneurs apply their knowledge in innovative ways in an attempt to solve complex problems in communities in order to create social value. The influence of their education or knowledge when they construct change is not clear from the literature. This paper offers an exploration on the social offering of Female Social Entrepreneurs in Africa.

Literature review: The Female Social Entrepreneurs (FSEs) in this study yield positive change by constructing solutions to meet needs in their communities. Positive change is conceptualised as social value creation, social value capturing and social value sharing.

Material and Methods: The sample is selected from the Ashoka database and 142 female social entrepreneurs from Africa were analysed with quantitative methods from a secondary data set.

Results and discussions: Results indicate that education has an influence on how FSE’s in this study construct knowledge and it could be indicative of a growth mindset to enable them to meet the needs of communities.

Conclusion: The FSEs in this study seem to construct knowledge to solve problems that relate to meeting needs of youth and children and seem to focus on education and learning. Their competencies enable them to construct positive change and share their value add in some instances via their websites to grow their business.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Agarwal M.K. &Mulunga S.N. (2022). Disruptive thinking in social entrepreneurship: Challenges and effectiveness. African Journal of Business Management, 16(4): 82-89. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJBM2021.9251

Ashoka Southern Africa (2020), https://www.ashoka.org/en-za/our-network

Buchanan R. (2019). Systems thinking and design thinking: The search for principles in the world we are making. She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, 5(2): 85-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2019.04.001

Chandra Y. (2018). New narratives of development work? Making sense of social entrepreneurs’ development narratives across time and economies. World Development, 107: 306–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.02.033

Chou D.C. (2018). Applying design thinking method to social entrepreneurship project. Computer Standards & Interfaces, 55: 73-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csi.2017.05.001

Dees J.G. (2018). “The meaning of social entrepreneurship”. In Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (22-30). Routledge.

Dyduch W. (2019). Entrepreneurial strategy stimulating value creation: Conceptual findings and some empirical tests. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 7(3): 65-82. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2019.070304

Felin T. & Zenger T.R. (2009). Entrepreneurs as theorists: on the origins of collective beliefs and novel strategies. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 3(2): 127-146. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.67

Felin T. Gambardella A. Stern S. & Zenger T. (2019). Lean startup and the business model: Experimentation revisited. Forthcoming in Long Range Planning. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3427084

Gandhi, T., & Raina, R. (2018). Social entrepreneurship: the need, relevance, facets and constraints. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 8(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40497-018-0094-6

Grabara J. Hussain H.I. & Szajt M. (2020). Sustainable university development through sustainable human resources and corporate entrepreneurship: The role of sustainable innovation and work environment. Amfiteatru Economic, 22(54): 480-495. https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2020/54/480

Hisrich R.D. & Soltanifar, M. (2021). “Unleashing the creativity of entrepreneurs with digital technologies”. In Digital Entrepreneurship (23-49). Springer, Cham.

Hlady‐Rispal M. & Servantie V. (2018). Deconstructing the way in which value is created in the context of social entrepreneurship. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(1): 62-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12113

Jilinskaya-Pandey M. & Wade J. (2019). Social entrepreneur quotient: An international perspective on social entrepreneur personalities. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship 10(3):265-287. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2018.1541013

Kickul J. & Lyons, T.S. (2020). Understanding social entrepreneurship: The relentless pursuit of mission in an ever changing world. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429270406

Kickul J. Gundry L. Mitra, P. & Berçot L. (2018). Designing with purpose: advocating innovation, impact, sustainability, and scale in social entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 1(2): 205-221. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2515127418772177

Kimmitt, J. & Muñoz, P. (2018). Sensemaking the ‘social’ in social entrepreneurship. International

Louw C. & Nieuwenhuizen C. (2020). Digitalization strategies for SMEs: A cost vs. skill approach for website development. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 12(2): 195-202. https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2019.1625591

Mair J. & Marti I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of world business, 41(1): 36-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002

Mesgari M. & Okoli C. (2019). Critical review of organisation-technology sensemaking:

Murphy F. & Gash H. (2020). I can’t yet and growth mindset. Constructivist Foundations, 15(2): 083-094. https://constructivist.info/15/2/095

Peredo A.M. & McLean M. (2006) ‘Social entrepreneurship: a critical review of the concept’, Journal of World Business, 41: 56–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.10.007

Posen H.E & Chen J.S. 2013. An advantage of newness: vicarious learning despite limited absorptive capacity. Organization Science, 24: 1701–1716. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0815

Pryor C. Webb, J.W. Ireland D. & Ketchen D.J. (2016). Toward An Integration of the Behavioral and Cognitive Influences on the Entrepreneurship Process, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 10: 21-42. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1204

Rieckmann, M. (2018). Learning to transform the world: Key competencies in Education for Sustainable Development. Issues and trends in education for sustainable development, 39:39-59.

Rosca E. Agarwal N. & Brem A. (2020). Women entrepreneurs as agents of change: A comparative analysis of social entrepreneurship processes in emerging markets. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 157: 120067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120067

Schumpeter J.A. (1934). The Theory of Economic Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48082-4_3.

Small Business Journal, 36(8): 859-886. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0266242618789230

Spieth P. Schneider S. Clauß T. & Eichenberg D. (2019). Value drivers of social businesses: A business model perspective. Long Range Planning, 52(3): 427-444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2018.04.004

Systems, 28(2): 205-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085X.2018.1524420

Towards technology materiality, discovery, and action. European Journal of Information

Ubalijoro, E. (2018). "Transforming Community through Feminine Leadership. Leadership and Power in International Development." In Building Leadership Bridges 1 (1): 83-97. Bingley: Emerald Publishing. doi: https://doi-org.ujlink.uj.ac.za/10.1108/S2058-880120180000006009.

Vaghely I.P. & Julien P.A. (2010). Are opportunities recognized or constructed?: An information perspective on entrepreneurial opportunity identification. Journal of business venturing, 25(1): 73-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2008.06.004

Veras, E.Z. (2015) Female Entrepreneurship: from Women's Empowerment to Shared Value Creation. Journal on Innovation and Sustainability, 6(2): 109-123. https://doi.org/10.24212/2179-3565.2015v6i2p109-123

Wendland E.R. (2010). Framing the frames: A theoretical framework for the cognitive notion of “frames of reference.” Journal of translation, 6(1): 27-50.

Yunis M.S. Hashim H. & Anderson A.R. (2018). Enablers and constraints of female entrepreneurship in Khyber Pukhtunkhawa, Pakistan: Institutional and feminist perspectives. Sustainability, 11(1): 27-39. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010027

Downloads

Published

2022-09-28

How to Cite

Nieuwenhuizen, C., & Tselepis, T. (2022). Constructing Change: The Influence of Education on Female Social Entrepreneurs. Social Entrepreneurship Review, 1, 17-32. https://doi.org/10.15678/SER.2022.1.02

Similar Articles

1-10 of 108

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.