Intercultural Learning and Entrepreneurship

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education and Research in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2014

Women’s Entrepreneurship: closing the gender gap in access to financial and other services and in social entrepreneurship

This study explores differences between men and women entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs. It explores the barriers and discriminatory effects that hinder women’s entrepreneurship, including access to finance in the European Union. The study includes four case studies covering the situation in the Czech Republic, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Advancing the psychology of entrepreneurship:a review of the psychological literature and an introduction

This article provides a narrative review of psychology of entrepreneurship research published in leading psychology journals, based on which we develop an organising framework for future psychological contributions to this field. Furthermore, we introduce the manuscripts collected in this special issue. Our review identified five research areas, broadly corresponding with basic psychological domains, namely personal differences; careers; health and well-being; cognition and behaviour; and leadership; as well as three cross-cutting themes: gender issues; genetic and biological foundations; and context. With the aim to stimulate integration across different approaches and disciplines, we propose a framework to understand how psychologists can offer innovative contributions to the multi-disciplinary entrepreneurship literature. This includes a focus on the entrepreneur embedded in and in interaction with his or her immediate and wider context; attention to different types of entrepreneurs; and a focus on dynamic within-person processes evolving over time.

Human capital in social and commercial entrepreneurship

We advance research on human capital and entrepreneurial entry and posit that, in order to generate value, social entrepreneurship requires different configurations of human capital than commercial entrepreneurship. We develop a multilevel framework to analyse the commonalities and differences between social and commercial entrepreneurship, including the impact of general and specific human capital, of national context and its moderating effect on the human capital-entrepreneurship relationship. We find that specific entrepreneurial human capital is relatively more important in commercial entrepreneurship, and general human capital in social entrepreneurship, and that the effects of human capital depend on the rule of law.

Creative thinking experimentations for entrepreneurship with a disruptive, personalised and mobile game-based learning ecosystem

Based on an unprecedented need of stimulating creative capacities towards entrepreneurship to university students and young researchers, this paper introduces and analyses a smart learning ecosystem for encouraging teaching and learning on creative thinking as a distinct feature to be taught and learnt in universities. The paper introduces a mashed-up authoring architecture for designing lesson-plans and games with visual learning mechanics for creativity learning. The design process is facilitated by creativity pathways discerned across components. Participatory learning, networking and capacity building is a key aspect of the architecture, extending the learning experience and context from the classroom to outdoor (co-authoring of creative pathways by students, teachers and real-world entrepreneurs) and personal spaces. We anticipate that the smart learning ecosystem will be empirically evaluated and validated in future iterations for exploring the benefits of using games for enhancing creative mindsets, unlocking the imagination that lies within, practiced and transferred to multiple academic tribes and territories.

Encouraging majority support for immigrant access to health services:multiple categorization and social identity complexity as antecedents of health equality

Health disparities between groups remain even after accounting for established causes such as structural and economic factors. The present research tested, for the first time, whether multiple social categorization processes can explain enhanced support for immigrant health (measured by respondents’ behavioral intention to support immigrants’ vaccination against A H1N1 disease by cutting regional public funds). Moreover, the mediating role of individualization and the moderating role of social identity complexity were tested. Findings showed that multiple versus single categorization of immigrants lead to support their right to health and confirmed the moderated mediation hypothesis. The potential in developing this sort of social cognitive intervention to address health disparities is discussed.

Explaining the off-the-books enterprise culture of Ukraine:reluctant or willing entrepreneurship?

In recent years, there has been a growing realisation that beyond the realm of legitimate entrepreneurship is a large, hidden enterprise culture composed of entrepreneurs conducting some or all of their trade off-the-books. Until now, however, few have evaluated how many entrepreneurs start-up their ventures trading off-the-books and why they do so. Reporting face-to-face interviews conducted in Ukraine during 2005-2006 with 331 entrepreneurs, the finding is not only that the vast majority (90%) operate partially or wholly off-the-books, but also that they are not all driven by necessity, as a last resort and as a survival strategy into entrepreneurship. Revealing how many are willing rather than reluctant entrepreneurs; and that even those who were initially reluctant and ventured into it out of necessity, became more willing entrepreneurs over time as their business became established - the paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for both further research and public policy. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Beyond cultural values? Cultural leadership ideals and entrepreneurship

This paper offers a fresh perspective on national culture and entrepreneurship research. It explores the role of Culturally-endorsed implicit Leadership Theories (CLTs) – i.e., the cultural expectations about outstanding, ideal leadership – on individual entrepreneurship. Developing arguments based on culture-entrepreneurship fit, we predict that charismatic and self-protective CLTs positively affect entrepreneurship. They provide a context that enables entrepreneurs to be co-operative in order to initiate change but also to be self-protective and competitive so as to safeguard their venture and avoid being exploited. We further theorize that CLTs are more proximal drivers of cross-country differences in entrepreneurship as compared with distal cultural values. We find support for our propositions in a multi-level study of 42 countries. Cultural values (of uncertainty avoidance and collectivism) influence entrepreneurship mainly indirectly, via charismatic and self-protective CLTs. We do not find a similar indirect effect for cultural practices.

Entrepreneurial Inclination and Entrepreneurship in Hungary and in Europe

The lecture has two parts. The first part – based upon Eurobarometer data - briefly investigates the proportion and social characteristics of potential entrepreneurs in European comparative perspective. It proves that the Hungarian data are close to the European average. The second part – based on Hungarian panel data (1992-2007) - examines the predictive force of entrepreneurial inclination upon future entrepreneurial career and well-being. The results reveal that potential and actual entrepreneurship have strong social similarities and lasting connections despite the great volatility of both. Entrepreneurial inclination and more concrete plans have influenced the entrepreneurial career chances with nearly identical force, without cancelling each other’s effect. Entrepreneurial motivation has also to do with subjective well-being. The “push” factors of initial dissatisfaction with work and material conditions have lost their significance while the connection between entrepreneurial inclination and satisfaction with future perspectives persists in the longer run. The matrix of original motivation and further career provides a typology of four economic actors: that of “conscious” employees, “blocked”, “forced” and „conscious” entrepreneurs.

The effect of group counseling on the self-esteem, attendance, and counselor utilization of immigrant Hispanic secondary limited English proficient students

As the population of the United States becomes more diverse and the immigrant Hispanic, limited English proficient (LEP) school age population continues to grow, understanding and addressing the needs of these students becomes a pressing question. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of group counseling, by a bilingual counselor, on the self-esteem, attendance and counselor utilization of Hispanic LEP high school students. The design for this study was a quasi-experimental design. The experimental and control groups consisted of one class from each of the four levels of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), I-IV. The counseling intervention, the independent variable, was delivered by a bilingual counselor once a week, for fifteen weeks.^ A total of 112 immigrant Hispanic LEP students selected from the total ESOL student population participated in the study. The experimental and control groups were administered the Culture Free Self Esteem Inventory (CFSEI) Form AD as a pretest and posttest. The Background Information Questionnaire (BIQ) was utilized to gather information on counselor utilization and demographic data. Attendance data were obtained from the students' computer records. At the conclusion of the study the differences between the experimental and control groups on the three dependent variables were compared.^ Statistical analyses of the data were done using SPSS statistical software. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was utilized to determine if there were significant differences in the self-esteem scores, attendance and counselor utilization. Correlational analyses was utilized to determine if there was a relationship between English language proficiency and self-esteem and between acculturation level and self-esteem.^ The study results indicate that there were no significant differences in the self-esteem scores and attendance of the subjects in the experimental group at the completion of the group counseling treatment. Counselor utilization was statistically significant for the targeted population. A relationship was found between English language proficiency level and self-esteem scores for students in ESOL levels II, III and IV. No significant correlation was found between acculturation and self-esteem.^ Research on the dropout rates of LEP coupled with the results of this study show that students at the intermediate and advanced levels of ESOL (III and IV) exhibit more positive self-esteem and achieve higher graduation rates that levels I and II. LEP students at levels I and II, once they became familiar with the role and function of school counselors through group counseling, utilized their services. ^

Influences on immigrant students' perceptions of the chances of making it in the United States

This study examined immigrant minority students' perceptions of race relations and of the chances for social mobility in the United States (U.S.) using cohort samples of West Indian (N = 173) and Haitian (N = 191) students. The Students' responses collected during the 6th and 7th, 8th and 9th grades were analyzed to determine whether perceptions of racial mistrust, teacher derogation and social mobility varied depending on the student's length of stay in the U.S. or self-concept. Quantitative methodology was applied to data extrapolated from a larger epidemiological longitudinal study consisting of 7,386 middle school students in Miami (Vega and Gil, 1998). ^ Results show that West Indian and Haitian students' perceptions of racial mistrust, teacher derogation and social mobility were associated more with student's self-concept than length of stay. Students with more favorable self-concepts reported greater optimism toward social mobility than those with less favorable self-concepts. Results also indicate that in the context of parental education and SES that racial mistrust is the strongest predictor of these students' level of optimism towards social mobility. ^

The academic orientation of first and second generation Nicaraguan immigrant adolescents

The rise in diversity and numbers of U.S. immigrants since 1965 has spawned a number of studies about the education of these immigrants and their children. Most of this research finds that school-age immigrants arriving in the last 20 years have the highest drop-out rates, lowest test scores, and are less likely than their native born peers to go to college. This dissertation examines the experiences of Nicaraguan immigrant youth living in Miami and the factors that make some of these adolescents feel positive about education, while others have negative attitudes about education. The method for this study combined structured and unstructured interviews, participant observation, focus groups, and data collected from a larger data set to understand the academic orientation of 25 Nicaraguan youths over a 4-year period. One of the independent variables is length of time in the United States. During the time of my initial contact with the subjects, 6 had been living in the United States for less than 3 years, 14 had been living in the United States between 6 and 12 years, and 6 had been living in the in the United States most or all of their lives (either they were born in the United States or had resided here for over 12 years). ^ Results are based on the students' particular experiences, which influence the dependent variable, academic orientation. Besides length of time, the independent variables also include ethnic self-identity, perceived discrimination, social capital in Miami, and peer influence. The study finds that those who are very recent arrivals have a “dual frame of reference,” that is, they directly compare their educational opportunities here in the United States, with their prior, often less favorable, situation in their homeland. Many of those who were born in Nicaragua, but have been residing in Miami most of their lives, have a less favorable view of education based on a higher degree of perceived discrimination. However, those who are second generation Nicaraguans deliberately take advantage of the strength inherent in their co-ethnic community unique to Miami. Recognition of this ethnic community prompts them to perceive education as worthwhile. ^

Social support, risk, and adjustment of immigrant preadolescents

The current study was designed to explore the salience of social support, immigrant status, and risk in middle childhood and early adolescence across two time periods as indicated by measures of school adjustment and well-being. Participants included 691 children of public elementary schools in grades 4 and 6 who were interviewed in 1997 (Time 1) and reinterviewed two years later (Time 2); 539 were U.S.-born, and 152 were foreign-born. ^ Repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA's) were conducted to assess the effects of immigrant status and risk on total support, well-being, and school adjustment from Time 1 to Time 2. Follow-up analyses, including Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc tests, were used to test the significance of the differences among the means of support categories (low and high), immigrant status (U.S. born and non-U.S. born), risk (low and high) and time (time 1 and time 2). ^ Results showed that immigrant participants in the high risk group reported significantly lower levels of support than their peers. Further, children of low risk at Time 2 indicated the highest levels of support. Second, immigrant preadolescents, preadolescents who reported low levels of social support, and preadolescents of the high risk reported lower levels of emotional well-being. There was also an interaction of support by risk by time, indicating that children who are at risk and had low levels of social support reported more emotional problems at Time 1. Finally, preadolescents who are at risk and preadolescents who reported lower levels of support were more likely to show school adaptation problems. Findings from this study highlight the importance of a multivariable approach to the study of support, emotional adjustment, and academic adjustment of immigrant preadolescents. ^

Placing immigrant incorporation: Identity, trust, and civic engagement in Little Havana

Immigrant incorporation in the United States has been a topic of concern and debate since the founding of the nation. Scholars have studied many aspects of the phenomenon, including economic, political, social, and spatial. The most influential paradigm of immigrant incorporation in the US has been, and continues to be, assimilation, and the most important place in and scale at which incorporation occurs is the neighborhood. This dissertation captures both of these integral aspects of immigrant incorporation through its consideration of three dimensions of assimilation – identity, trust, and civic engagement – among Latin American immigrants and American-born Latinos in Little Havana, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Data discussed in the dissertation were gathered through surveys and interviews as part of a National Science Foundation-funded study carried out in 2005-2006. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data allows for a nuanced understanding of how immigrant incorporation is occurring locally during the first decade of the twentieth century. Findings reveal that overall Latin American immigrants and their American-born offspring appear to be becoming American with regard to their ethnic and racial identities quickly, evidenced through the salience and active employment of panethnic labels, while at the same time they are actively reshaping the identificational structure. The Latino population, however, is not monolithic and is cleaved by diversity within the group, including country of origin and socioeconomic status. These same factors impede group cohesion in terms of trust and its correlate, community. Nevertheless, the historically dominant ancestry group in Little Havana – Cubans – has been able to reach notable levels of trust and build and conserve a more solid sense of community than non-Cuban residents. With respect to civic engagement, neighborhood residents generally participate at rates lower than the overall US population and ethnic subpopulations. This is not the case for political engagement, however, where self-reported voting registration and turnout in Little Havana surpasses that of most benchmarked populations. The empirical evidence presented in this dissertation on the case of Latinos in Little Havana challenges the ways that identity, trust, and civic engagement are conceptualized and theorized, especially among immigrants to the US.

Parental absence and academic achievement in immigrant students

Academic achievement and educational expectations as a function of parental absence were examined among 268 newly immigrant elementary, middle, and high-school students from Spanish-speaking countries. Data collected as part of a longitudinal study of adaptation and achievement in newly immigrant students were analyzed. Participants had varying experiences with parental absence, in terms of length of absence, gender of absent parent, and reason for absence. Reasons for parental absence included parental divorce, parental death, and serial migration, a cause unique to immigrant children. Students who experienced parental absence reported lower educational expectations. Students who experienced the death of a parent had lower achievement scores and lower expectations than students who did not experience parental death. Prolonged absence was also important, with students who experienced parental absence for more than one year performing worse than students who had minimal parental separation. In addition, boys who experienced parental absence because of serial migration performed worse academically than boys who did not have this occurrence. Educational expectations were reduced among students who experienced parental absence as a result of the migratory process, especially for younger students. The extent to which parental absence related to achievement and expectations through potential mediating factors, such as economic hardship, perceived school support, and parental school involvement was assessed with structural equation modeling. Overall, the model was able to explain some of the relationship between parental absence and the academic achievement and educational expectations of immigrant students from Spanish-speaking countries.^