Communication Across the Business Life Span of Immigrant Women Entrepreneurs: Strategic Use of Communication Channels to Survive

• In Event: Intersections of Race and Ethnicity and Gender

Abstract

Immigrant women comprise one of the fastest growing groups of business owners in the U.S. However, being a woman, an immigrant, and an entrepreneur at the same time necessitates the development of strategies to negotiate identities with different groups as one creates a professional identity. Based on interviews with different immigrant populations based in New York City, this study explores the communication strategies and channels immigrant women entrepreneurs used in managing the opportunities and challenges associated with their multiple identities. These entrepreneurs in this urban environment may embrace or reject particular identities through their interactions and may vary their communication channels in order to maximize their business opportunities.

Author

• Muge Haseki, Rutgers U