The newly formed Special Interest Group which represents Entrepreneurship in Minority Groups was formally launched on Thursday 9th May. The event was hosted by The Innovation Centre at De Montfort University, Leicester. More than 30 people from various universities and disciplines attended the event. Participants included academics, practitioners, PhD and Masters Students.
Professor David Rae, Director of the Centre for Enterprise & Innovation at De Montfort University and interim co-chair of the SIG opened the event, explaining how inclusivity in the discourse of minority entrepreneurship underpins the aim and objectives of the SIG.
Professor Kiran Trehan from University of Birmingham used videos of Sam Cooke and the Birmingham market to demonstrate how impact can be achieved in entrepreneurship research. Using curiosity in methodology can spur innovation and enhance the robustness of research she emphasised. She was also pleased with the inclusive nature of the new SIG as it encompasses minorities from any ethnicity and background.
Professor Monder Ram from Aston University made a welcome return to DMU, explaining the importance of contributing to academic debates and peer-reviewing. He challenged delegates to review the notion of ethnicity, reflecting on his journey at CRÈME in developing the scholarship of ethnic minority entrepreneurship. He stressed the importance of questioning often-perpetuated myths in ethnic, minority entrepreneurship, encouraging scholars and researchers to critique the notion of what constitutes ethnic minorities in entrepreneurship. He identified the importance of context in making claims and drawing wider implications, emphasised the significance of co-production, engaged scholarship and impact in entrepreneurial research.
Dr Tom Domboka, also interim co-chair, announced that the existing interim committee will hold office until the next ISBE Conference in November 2019 and encouraged members to put their names forward for the future leadership of the SIG. He encouraged delegates to support the entrepreneurship in minorities conference track by submitting and reviewing abstracts and papers and through chairing some sessions at the conference. This call has been successful.
Delegates had the opportunity to network during the event and to look forward towards meeting at the ISBE 2019 conference in Newcastle on 14-15 November.
