Refugee Women Business Mentors: New Evidence for Women’s Empowerment
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Women’s Empowerment
1.2. Refugee Women and Entrepreneurship
1.3. Refugee Women as Business Mentors
1.4. Research Context: The United Kingdom
2. Materials and Methods
Participants
3. Findings
3.1. Mentor 2
“Initially, I looked at these women; they were all married with children, and I thought, what can I teach these women? I know nothing.”
3.2. Mentor 3
“Mentoring means guiding and helping them figure out their own path and what they want to do. I think it’s important because I come from a culture that spoon-feeds, so I want to empower women from similar cultures and backgrounds to question and make their own life decisions.”
3.3. Mentor 5
“Coming from an Eritrean background, there is a lack of entrepreneurs but also a lack of women role models. There was one older lady who was very entrepreneurial and started an internet café but other than that, they seem risk-averse. Do you know that it was actually the Somalian women who are kick-arse, who are amazing, they are so entrepreneurial, they have a hustle about them, I found that really inspiring. But I asked myself why are Eritrean women so afraid to try new things?”
3.4. Empowerment as a Mentee
“As a recipient of mentoring, I think there was a vulnerability and being vocal of my concerns and needs and weaknesses at the start of the relationship with my mentor. I did enjoy allowing myself to be vulnerable, and then the next thing is feeling empowered to be challenged to figure out my own path and what I wanted to do next.”(Mentor 3)
“Through my experience as a mentee, I was introduced to potential funders for my business, but the issue was I didn’t know how to talk to them. I felt intimidated by these men, so I never pitched my idea, and I never got the funding I needed...There was not anyone that could be turned to for help and support with this.”(Mentor 5)
3.5. Empowerment as an Entrepreneur
“I have fear, and I have education; how must these women feel?”(Mentor 3)
“I am always conflicted; I keep asking whether I should surrender to the fear or take the empowerment.”(Mentor 2)
“I did not have anyone that was like-minded when I started my business.”(Mentor 1)
“I’ve been here for five years. But I still don’t know how things work here, I really needed to ask someone like, oh what and where can I start? How do I start?”(Mentor 6)
3.6. Empowerment as a Mentor
“I felt empowered to be in an all-women setup; it’s unusual we don’t experience that on a daily basis; it’s a reminder that we are valuable, and the guidance we give is more valuable if we are relatable role models. Men are important, but it is just as important for women to feel in a safe space and feel like you are valuable. So, I think that’s how I was empowered in that environment.”(Mentor 3)
“It boosted my confidence; I feel like I have been learning every day since I started my business; I didn’t realise how much I knew until I started sharing it.”(Mentor 5)
“My mentoring experience allowed me to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. A lot of the women were interested in starting similar businesses in food. It gave me the opportunity to reflect. I had been so in the middle of things. This gave me space to share my failures and acknowledge how much I had done so I could give suggestions. To encourage them to make mistakes and not just fantasise about starting a business. It was so helpful thinking back on the things I had done.”(Mentor 3)
“Being able to meet other refugee women is super inspirational, and it re-enforces in me why I started my business. I want to give back to those communities because that is where I come from.”(Mentor 5)
“The workshop gave me new ways of thinking, to be with other successful women, wonderful women and see how they started their businesses, It gives me the courage to carry on.”(Mentor 4)
“You are in the company with other women who are positive and full of energy.”(Mentor 1)
“When I see people fighting for their dreams, I think I have to be more like them.”(Mentor 6)
“I have all this education and experience; one of my mentors was a young man in his early twenties with no real understanding of who I was; at times, I felt a bit patronised… This felt different. I could share what I had learnt, I could share all the knowledge I had gained through my experiences, and they listened, and they were interested in what I had to say.”(Mentor 3)
“What has been the most helpful is networking with people who are similar to me, other minorities, I can relate to, I find it easier.”(Mentor 5)
3.7. Empowerment as a Reflective Agent
“I loved that they were sharing their hopes and dreams. It made me focus on teaching people to empower themselves, boosting confidence and giving them opportunities to question and ask why? Women just don’t question.”(Mentor 3)
“When you live with fear, you can never take risks. You can never improve. You can never consider these ideas, but if you have people who have these dreams and with the ability to elicit this, to get them to talk about them, then you do empower them to think. So, oh yes, there’s something I do like, and there’s something I can improve, so why not. It’s just this breaking the fear.”(Mentor 2)
“To just show them the way to do it or suggesting a way to do it is the perfect way to help them…you give energy, and you take energy”(Mentor 6)
“Such lovely, active, full of positive energy women, they just give me more positive feelings and energy to encourage me to work for my future.”(Mentor 4)
“I didn’t know (name removed) before the workshop. She is amazing, the way she helped (name removed) with her business idea is amazing, I love encouraging people to get involved with the community.”(Mentor 1)
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Identifier | Country of Origin | Education Level | Age Category | Life Status | Business |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mentor 1 | Palestine | Bachelor’s degree | 30–34 | Single | Online clothing store |
Mentor 2 | Palestine | PhD | 30–34 | Single | Designer |
Mentor 3 | Yemen | Master’s degree | 30–34 | Single | Food blogger and pop-up restaurant owner |
Mentor 4 | Libya | Bachelor’s degree | 25–29 | Single | Motivational speaker and activist |
Mentor 5 | Eritrea | Bachelor’s degree | 25–29 | Divorced w/children | Online products |
Mentor 6 | Afghanistan | Bachelor’s degree | 44–49 | Married w/children | Food stall |
Provisional Categories and First-Order Codes | Interview Excerpts | Theoretical Categories (Second-Order Themes) | Aggregate Theoretical Dimensions |
---|---|---|---|
Statements about experiences as a mentee in an entrepreneurship program | “As a recipient of mentoring, I think there was a vulnerability and being vocal of my concerns and needs and weaknesses at the start of the relationship with my mentor. I did enjoy allowing myself to be vulnerable, and then the next thing is feeling empowered to be challenged to figure out my own path and what I wanted to do next.”—Mentor 3 | Vulnerability Be challenged | Challenge to create potential |
“Through my experience as a mentee, I was introduced to potential funders for my business, but the issue was I didn’t know how to talk to them. I felt intimidated by these men, so I never pitched my idea, and I never got the funding I needed...There was not anyone that could be turned to for help and support with this.”—Mentor 5 | Lack of confidence Intimidation Isolation | ||
“I have all this education and experience; one of my mentors was a young man in his early twenties with no real understanding of who I was; at times, I felt a bit patronised….”—Mentor 2 | Patronisation | ||
Statement about experiences of being an entrepreneur | “I am always conflicted; I keep asking whether I should surrender to the fear or take the empowerment.”—Mentor 2 | Conflicted | Feeling of ‘lack’ |
“I’ve been here for five years. But I still don’t know how things work here. I really needed to ask someone like, oh what and where can I start? How do I start?”—Mentor 6 | Lack of support | ||
“I did not have anyone that was like-minded when I started my business.”—Mentor 1 | Isolation | ||
“Women are more comfortable if you create a space for them and allow them to talk about their hopes and understand how they can go about them. I don’t know about the participants, but that is one of the major issues for me. I have a dream, but I don’t know how to do it.”—Mentor 2 | Barriers to realisation | ||
“….there is a lack of entrepreneurs but also a lack of women role models. ….., I asked myself why are Eritrean women so afraid to try new things?”—Mentor 5 | Lack of knowledge Lack of role models Fear | ||
Statement about their experiences being a mentor | “Initially, I looked at these women; they were all married with children, and I thought, what can I teach these women? I know nothing.”—Mentor 2 | Humbled | Empowering through manifestation of power over (ability to resist manipulation) |
“When you live with fear, you can never take risks. You can never improve. You can never consider these ideas, but if you have people who have these dreams and with the ability to elicit this to get them to talk about them, then you do empower them to think. Oh yes, there’s something I do like and there’s something I can improve, so why not. It’s just this breaking the fear. So, you create this place where you think you get your participants to think that we are all equals. Don’t think of me as the mentor; I’m just a participant like you. I’m learning from you, learning from me, so it’s all equal, so that breaks the fear, that breaks kind of the hierarchy that we are talking about.”—Mentor 2 | Equality | Power to (creating new possibilities) | |
“Mentoring means guiding and helping them figure out their own path and what they want to do. I think it’s important because I come from a culture that spoon-feeds, so I want to empower women from similar cultures and backgrounds to question and make their own life decisions.”—Mentor 3 | Culturally sensitive | ||
“I feel empowered that I can share my experiences…”—Mentor 1 | Supporting others | ||
“You are in the company with other women who are positive and full of energy…Such lovely, active, full of positive energy women, they just give me more positive feelings and energy to encourage me to work for my future. I’m not just going to sit back and relax now that I had my children; I have my degree. That’s it.”—Mentor 6 | Positive energy Encouragement | ||
“I felt empowered to be in an all-women setup; it’s unusual we don’t experience that on a daily basis; it’s a reminder that we are valuable, and the guidance we give is more valuable if we are relatable role models. Men are important, but it is just as important for women to feel in a safe space and feel like you are valuable. So, I think that’s how I was empowered in that environment.”—Mentor 3 | Women-only Self-recognition Safe space | Power with (acting in a group) | |
“So, you don’t look at other people that, oh, she’s intimidating. She’s done this this, I can never do this, I’ll give up, I can never be like this, but if you feel that you are in an equal place, equal position, you feel oh OK. Actually, I can relate to this person. She’s gone through much that I’ve been through, and we can learn from each other. We can learn together.”—Mentor 2 | Equality Shared learning | ||
“It boosted my confidence; I feel like I have been learning every day since I started my business; I didn’t realise how much I knew until I started sharing it.”—Mentor 3 | Self confidence | ||
“My mentoring experience allowed me to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. A lot of the women were interested in starting similar businesses in food. It gave me the opportunity to reflect. I had been so in the middle of things. This gave me space to share my failures and acknowledge how much I had done so I could give suggestions. To encourage them to make mistakes and not just fantasise about starting a business. It was so helpful thinking back on the things I had done.”—Mentor 3 | Self-reflection Positivity Energy | Power from within (enhancing self-respect and self-acceptance) | |
“Being able to meet other refugee women is super inspirational, and it reinforces why I started my business. I want to give back to those communities because that is where I come from.”—Mentor 5 | Inspiration Giving back | ||
“When I see people fighting for their dreams, I think I have to be more like them.”—Mentor 4 | Relatability | ||
“What has been the most helpful is networking with people who are similar to me, other minorities, I can relate to; I find it easier.”—Mentor 1 | |||
Statement reflecting on their different junctures in entrepreneurship/reflective agent | “I think the most valuable lessons I took away was never underestimate the other person’s ability; you unconsciously feel you are superior, but it’s easy to get into the space of I am better, I know more. You feel you are ahead of the game, especially it’s important to keep yourself grounded. The exchange of life experience is just as important; you learn something from them that might not be professional.”—Mentor 3 | Learning from one another | Empowering ‘us’ |
“The workshop gave me new ways of thinking, to be with other successful women, wonderful women and see how they started their businesses; It gives me the courage to carry on.”—Mentor 6 | Woman as role model | ||
“we were sharing as women.”—Mentor 4“ | Gendered perspective | ||
“It boosted my confidence. I knew that I was skilled, and I had a more professional background than the women I mentored, and even if I didn’t have all the answers, I was just meant to guide them. And help them find the answers together.” —Mentor 6 | Working together | ||
“This felt different. I could share what I had learnt, I could share all the knowledge I had gained through my experiences, and they listened, and they were interested in what I had to say.”—Mentor 3 | Reciprocity | ||
“I didn’t know (name removed) before, and now I’m following her on Instagram. She is amazing; the way she helped (name removed) with her business idea is amazing.”—Mentor 7 | Connection | ||
“I felt a connection with the Syrian and Iraqi refuge women. I felt so grateful that I was so privileged… I totally understood; through the whole asylum process, I spent a lot of time with other refugees, and this reminded me of those days. I wanted these women to be in a better position and try to live a normal life.” —Mentor 3 | Empathy |
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Street, C.P.; Ng, P.Y.; Al-Dajani, H. Refugee Women Business Mentors: New Evidence for Women’s Empowerment. Sustainability 2022, 14, 9154. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159154
Street CP, Ng PY, Al-Dajani H. Refugee Women Business Mentors: New Evidence for Women’s Empowerment. Sustainability. 2022; 14(15):9154. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159154
Chicago/Turabian StyleStreet, Claire P., Poh Yen Ng, and Haya Al-Dajani. 2022. "Refugee Women Business Mentors: New Evidence for Women’s Empowerment" Sustainability 14, no. 15: 9154. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159154