What matters in the economic integration of foreign-born women? : A development of the ‘mixed embeddedness’ model for female immigrant entrepreneurs

Abstract: This thesis investigates the economic integration of female immigrant entrepreneurs on a micro-level. This is done by employing the model of ‘mixed embeddedness’, created by Kloosterman et al. (1999), which states that immigrant entrepreneurs are embedded in an institutional, social and financial context. The thesis develops further on the model by studying the different contexts compared to each other and seeing what makes a difference for female immigrant entrepreneurs. Thirteen female immigrant entrepreneurs were interviewed about their experiences with economic integration through entrepreneurship in relation to the developed model of ‘mixed embeddedness’. Through the interviews, it was possible to learn about the Swedish institutional, social, and financial contexts, as well as the role they play in the integration of female immigrant entrepreneurs. The results show that all three contexts had an impact on the entrepreneurs' experiences starting their businesses, and they each had varying strengths in doing so. Also, it showed that the developed model of ‘mixed embeddedness’ is a useful analytical tool when studying economic integration through entrepreneurship. Additional studies are suggested to compare different national contexts to each other to further investigate what actually matters in the economic integration of foreign-born women.