Identity Work of Social Entrepreneurs - The Way of Maintaining a Coherent Self-View

Abstract: Title: Identity Work of Social Entrepreneurs - The Way of Maintaining a Coherent Self-view Authors: Hannah Antonie Schmitz and Laura Crespi Van Assche Supervisor: Nadja Sörgärde Submission Date: 18th of May 2018 Keywords: Identity, Identity Work, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurial Identity Purpose: To understand how social entrepreneurs manage to maintain a coherent self-view by successfully engaging in identity work. Research Questions: How do social entrepreneurs maintain a coherent self-view? Sub questions: How do social entrepreneurs frame themselves? What tensions and struggles provoke doubt about their self-view? In what ways do they cope with such struggles? Methodology: Following an interpretive and abductive approach, we crafted a qualitative research study. Our findings are based on our empirical material, gathered through conducting semi-structured interviews with seven social entrepreneurs. Findings: Social entrepreneurs can maintain a coherent self-view by engaging successfully in identity work. They do this through a three-part circular process, which we named the ‘Circle of Identity Work’. This process consists of a strong self-view, presented as identity outcomes; struggles that question this self-view and coping strategies with which they strengthen and maintain their initial identity outcomes. Contributions: Our findings contribute to the undeveloped field of social entrepreneurial identity by applying the concept of identity work and, therefore, offering new perspectives and interpretations.