MARY GODWYN is an Assistant Professor in the History and Society Division at Babson College. DONNA STODDARD is Associate Professor of Information Technology Management (ITM) at Babson College.

• Part I1. The unique position of minority women entrepreneurs2. Sociological explanations for inequality3. Challenging and changing inequality4. Where did business-as-usual come from?  Part II5. Minority women as business innovators6. Minority women in partnership with producers, vendors and customers7. Minority women entrepreneurs as community members  Part III8. Minority women entrepreneurs: challenges and opportunities  ReferencesAppendix. Themes in women’s entrepreneurship as a basis for qualitative interview analysisIndex

How does gender and minority status shape entrepreneurial decision making? This question seems long overdue since minority women in the U.S. start new businesses at four times the rate of non-minority men and women. This book is about minority women entrepreneurs in the United States. Though these women are thriving as business owners, their stories are very seldom told, and few realise how many minority women are successful entrepreneurs. Therefore, the first purpose of the book is to give voice and visibility to U.S. minority women business owners. The second purpose is to explain how and why these women's approach to business differs from the practices that are routinely endorsed by business case studies and entrepreneurship literature. Through in depth interviews and firsthand accounts from minority women entrepreneurs, the authors found that, in innovative and exciting ways, minority women use their outsider status to develop socially conscious business practices that support the communities with which they identify. They reject the idea that business values are separate from personal values and instead balance profits with social good and environmental sustainability. Using sociological and psychological theories, the authors explain why women, especially minority women, have a tendency to create socially responsible businesses. The innovations provided by the women in this study suggest fresh solutions to economic inequality and humanistic alternatives to exploitative business policies. This is a radically new, socially integrated model that can be used by businesses everywhere. - Educational Book Review, October/November 2011Minority Women Entrepreneurs sets out to offer fresh insights into the business practices of female minority business owners to reveal innovative ways to approach the practice of business and challenge mainstream business dialogues... Overall, Minority Women Entrepreneurs provides an excellent theoretical base, and is interesting in that it draws out many different facets of the problems and arguments concerning minority women's entrepreneurship. It illustrates these aspects with "real-life" narratives that will be useful for students and entrepreneurs alike. - Isla Kapasi, School of Management and Languages, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

MARY GODWYN is an Assistant Professor in the History and Society Division at Babson College. DONNA STODDARD is Associate Professor of Information Technology Management (ITM) at Babson College.

• Part I1. The unique position of minority women entrepreneurs2. Sociological explanations for inequality3. Challenging and changing inequality4. Where did business-as-usual come from?  Part II5. Minority women as business innovators6. Minority women in partnership with producers, vendors and customers7. Minority women entrepreneurs as community members  Part III8. Minority women entrepreneurs: challenges and opportunities  ReferencesAppendix. Themes in women’s entrepreneurship as a basis for qualitative interview analysisIndex

How does gender and minority status shape entrepreneurial decision making? This question seems long overdue since minority women in the U.S. start new businesses at four times the rate of non-minority men and women. This book is about minority women entrepreneurs in the United States. Though these women are thriving as business owners, their stories are very seldom told, and few realise how many minority women are successful entrepreneurs. Therefore, the first purpose of the book is to give voice and visibility to U.S. minority women business owners. The second purpose is to explain how and why these women's approach to business differs from the practices that are routinely endorsed by business case studies and entrepreneurship literature. Through in depth interviews and firsthand accounts from minority women entrepreneurs, the authors found that, in innovative and exciting ways, minority women use their outsider status to develop socially conscious business practices that support the communities with which they identify. They reject the idea that business values are separate from personal values and instead balance profits with social good and environmental sustainability. Using sociological and psychological theories, the authors explain why women, especially minority women, have a tendency to create socially responsible businesses. The innovations provided by the women in this study suggest fresh solutions to economic inequality and humanistic alternatives to exploitative business policies. This is a radically new, socially integrated model that can be used by businesses everywhere. - Educational Book Review, October/November 2011Minority Women Entrepreneurs sets out to offer fresh insights into the business practices of female minority business owners to reveal innovative ways to approach the practice of business and challenge mainstream business dialogues... Overall, Minority Women Entrepreneurs provides an excellent theoretical base, and is interesting in that it draws out many different facets of the problems and arguments concerning minority women's entrepreneurship. It illustrates these aspects with "real-life" narratives that will be useful for students and entrepreneurs alike. - Isla Kapasi, School of Management and Languages, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

MARY GODWYN is an Assistant Professor in the History and Society Division at Babson College. DONNA STODDARD is Associate Professor of Information Technology Management (ITM) at Babson College.

• Part I1. The unique position of minority women entrepreneurs2. Sociological explanations for inequality3. Challenging and changing inequality4. Where did business-as-usual come from?  Part II5. Minority women as business innovators6. Minority women in partnership with producers, vendors and customers7. Minority women entrepreneurs as community members  Part III8. Minority women entrepreneurs: challenges and opportunities  ReferencesAppendix. Themes in women’s entrepreneurship as a basis for qualitative interview analysisIndex

How does gender and minority status shape entrepreneurial decision making? This question seems long overdue since minority women in the U.S. start new businesses at four times the rate of non-minority men and women. This book is about minority women entrepreneurs in the United States. Though these women are thriving as business owners, their stories are very seldom told, and few realise how many minority women are successful entrepreneurs. Therefore, the first purpose of the book is to give voice and visibility to U.S. minority women business owners. The second purpose is to explain how and why these women's approach to business differs from the practices that are routinely endorsed by business case studies and entrepreneurship literature. Through in depth interviews and firsthand accounts from minority women entrepreneurs, the authors found that, in innovative and exciting ways, minority women use their outsider status to develop socially conscious business practices that support the communities with which they identify. They reject the idea that business values are separate from personal values and instead balance profits with social good and environmental sustainability. Using sociological and psychological theories, the authors explain why women, especially minority women, have a tendency to create socially responsible businesses. The innovations provided by the women in this study suggest fresh solutions to economic inequality and humanistic alternatives to exploitative business policies. This is a radically new, socially integrated model that can be used by businesses everywhere. - Educational Book Review, October/November 2011Minority Women Entrepreneurs sets out to offer fresh insights into the business practices of female minority business owners to reveal innovative ways to approach the practice of business and challenge mainstream business dialogues... Overall, Minority Women Entrepreneurs provides an excellent theoretical base, and is interesting in that it draws out many different facets of the problems and arguments concerning minority women's entrepreneurship. It illustrates these aspects with "real-life" narratives that will be useful for students and entrepreneurs alike. - Isla Kapasi, School of Management and Languages, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh