Entrepreneurial Identity

'Entrepreneurial identities permeate virtually every facet of the venturing process, but the study of these identities has received surprisingly little attention among scholars. Thomas Duening and Matthew Metzger address this problem with this insightful and timely edited volume. They have compiled an impressive array of research that covers both macro- and micro-level explorations of entrepreneurial identities. Most importantly, these chapters provide numerous examples of tangible advice to interested educators about how to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and build the entrepreneurial identity within their own students. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in entrepreneurial identities.'

- Charles Murnieks, Oregon State University, US

Entrepreneurship is an academic discipline that, despite decades of growth in research and teaching activity lacks a traditionally distinct or common pedagogy. In this book, editors Thomas N. Duening and Matthew L. Metzger explore entrepreneurial identity as a new basis upon which curricula can be constructed for aspiring entrepreneurs. Critically, this perspective is based on the insight that there is a fundamental difference between venture development and entrepreneur development. Unfortunately, most current interventions for aspiring entrepreneurs focus on the former at the expense of the latter.

The editors have collected work from an international team of authors with diverse views on how identity theory applies to entrepreneur development. Chapters focus primarily on macro-level identity issues (that is, how do these entrepreneurial archetypes form, persist, and sometimes change) or micro-level identity issues (that is, how can educators and resource providers identify, communicate, and incentivize identity construction among aspiring entrepreneurs). This book provides a general theoretical background and offers numerous suggestions for application and further research. One example of this is the 'For Further Reading' feature at the end of each chapter which is perfect for assisting those who want to delve deeper into various topics.

This essential resource will be of interest to researchers, resource providers and students alike.

Contributors include: D. Boje, A. Donnellon, T.N. Duening, R. Gill, B. Mathias, M.L. Metzger, R. Smith, K. Williams-Middleton