30 April 2012 Dr Patricia Lewis discusses the’Mumpreneur project with BBC Radio Kent. The interview can be heard here.
Dr Patricia Lewis of Kent Business School has won a British Academy research grant for a project on women who combine motherhood with launching their own business.
This project explores the emergence of the ‘mumpreneur’. This fascinating form of entrepreneurship sees women choosing to stay at home and care for children while launching a successful business, often with a nurturing or child-centred theme.
Chrissie Rucker, founder of the White Company, and Justine Roberts and Carrie Longton, founders of Mumsnet.com, are examples of the ‘mumpreneur’ phenomenon.
The one year project investigates how distinct ideas about being a mum and entrepreneur influence these women’s business and mothering activities. A key question of the project is whether combining business with being a stay-at-home mum can make women’s entrepreneurial activity seem less legitimate.
‘Mumpreneurs’: Reframing Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity? runs from September 2012 until December 2013 and is supported by a £3,650 British Academy research grant.
For more information please contact p.m.j.lewis@kent.ac.uk