What about Us? Fostering Authenticity in Entrepreneurship Education

Entrepreneurship education can provide a space for exploring one's authentic self. To investigate this, we employed thematic narrative analysis of qualitative data from an extreme sample: women survivors of violence. At the outset, the women storied that their sense of self was destabilized, yet, through the program, they began to understand and accept the self, believe in their own agency, and experienced a newfound vitality for their ventures and life. These conditions were amplified by the high-quality connections the women forged with one another, their mentors, and other actors associated with the program. We identify three different types of authentic endeavors-lived experience, reflected image, and rewritten meanings-that ultimately enabled the women to reflect their true selves in the ventures they created. This study extends prior research on authenticity by identifying the diverse ways in which authentic endeavors become manifest in entrepreneurial activities. We contribute to research on management education by explicating the program components and mechanisms that enable this to occur.