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“An Endless Process of Proving Yourself”: The Construction and Negotiation of Legitimacy Among Female Entrepreneurs in China’s Cultural and Creative Industries

Zhang, Mingwei LU and Chen, Yao LU (2026) SMMP40 20261
Department of Service Studies
Abstract (Swedish)
This thesis examines how female entrepreneurs in China’s cultural and creative industries construct and negotiate entrepreneurial legitimacy through narrative practices and identity work. Drawing on thirteen semi-structured interviews and eleven publicly available podcast accounts, covering twenty-four entrepreneurs in total, the study combines narrative analysis and discourse analysis to examine legitimacy work across different communicative contexts. The analysis identifies three main patterns. First, cultural resources function unevenly as legitimacy resources, depending on entrepreneurs’ material conditions, personal positioning, sectoral location, and audience expectations. Second, gendered scripts can help women entrepreneurs gain... (More)
This thesis examines how female entrepreneurs in China’s cultural and creative industries construct and negotiate entrepreneurial legitimacy through narrative practices and identity work. Drawing on thirteen semi-structured interviews and eleven publicly available podcast accounts, covering twenty-four entrepreneurs in total, the study combines narrative analysis and discourse analysis to examine legitimacy work across different communicative contexts. The analysis identifies three main patterns. First, cultural resources function unevenly as legitimacy resources, depending on entrepreneurs’ material conditions, personal positioning, sectoral location, and audience expectations. Second, gendered scripts can help women entrepreneurs gain recognition, while also making some structural conditions of inequality less visible or harder to articulate. Third, legitimacy work differs between reflective interview settings and public-facing podcast accounts, suggesting that communicative context shapes which claims can be made credible. Overall, the findings suggest that entrepreneurial legitimacy is constructed through an ongoing and context-sensitive process, shaped by uneven material, cultural, gendered, and communicative conditions. What counts as a credible legitimacy claim is therefore not stable or universal, but depends partly on the evaluative environment in which it is made. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Zhang, Mingwei LU and Chen, Yao LU
supervisor
organization
course
SMMP40 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
female entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial legitimacy, construction, negotiation, narrative, identity work, culture, gender, cultural and creative industries, China
language
English
id
9233298
date added to LUP
2026-06-08 16:39:58
date last changed
2026-06-08 16:39:58
@misc{9233298,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how female entrepreneurs in China’s cultural and creative industries construct and negotiate entrepreneurial legitimacy through narrative practices and identity work. Drawing on thirteen semi-structured interviews and eleven publicly available podcast accounts, covering twenty-four entrepreneurs in total, the study combines narrative analysis and discourse analysis to examine legitimacy work across different communicative contexts. The analysis identifies three main patterns. First, cultural resources function unevenly as legitimacy resources, depending on entrepreneurs’ material conditions, personal positioning, sectoral location, and audience expectations. Second, gendered scripts can help women entrepreneurs gain recognition, while also making some structural conditions of inequality less visible or harder to articulate. Third, legitimacy work differs between reflective interview settings and public-facing podcast accounts, suggesting that communicative context shapes which claims can be made credible. Overall, the findings suggest that entrepreneurial legitimacy is constructed through an ongoing and context-sensitive process, shaped by uneven material, cultural, gendered, and communicative conditions. What counts as a credible legitimacy claim is therefore not stable or universal, but depends partly on the evaluative environment in which it is made.}},
  author       = {{Zhang, Mingwei and Chen, Yao}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{“An Endless Process of Proving Yourself”: The Construction and Negotiation of Legitimacy Among Female Entrepreneurs in China’s Cultural and Creative Industries}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}