Breaking Free or Locking In? Dr. Winnie Jiang on Identity, Disadvantage & Entrepreneurship

Dr. Winnie Jiang, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behaviour and The Goltz Fellow in Business and Society at INSEAD, discusses her research, “Breaking Free or Locking In: How Socially Disadvantaged Individuals Achieve or Reject an Aspired Identity in an Entrepreneurial Context,” which explores how individuals navigate the pursuit or rejection of an aspired identity when it conflicts with their existing sense of self. Dr. Winnie Jiang’s research examines how socially disadvantaged women entrepreneurs in rural China navigate the emotional and identity struggles that arise when aspiring to become business owners. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 61 women, she shows that the core challenge is not time or role overload but a deep meaning-based conflict between their aspired identity as entrepreneurs and their existing identities as rural, less-educated women with strong family obligations. Using an Identity Network lens, she uncovers three distinct paths elevation, experimentation, and entrenchment that explain why some women successfully reconcile these tensions and pursue entrepreneurship, while others ultimately withdraw from their entrepreneurial aspirations. The study highlights that material resources like training and loans are necessary but insufficient, and that emotions, conversations, and identity work critically shape whether entrepreneurial opportunities become a vehicle for emancipation or reinforce existing disadvantage. This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com. Disclaimer: A. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music. B. Dr. Winnie Jiang shared profound insights from her research, “Breaking Free or Locking In: How Socially Disadvantaged Individuals Achieve or Reject an Aspired Identity in an Entrepreneurial Context,” during an engaging conversation on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.