Mobilising and resisting age-related master narratives in the identity work of late-life entrepreneurs

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Purpose This narrative entrepreneurship research examines how late-life entrepreneurs engage in identity work to demonstrate that they are legitimate entrepreneurs by mobilising and resisting master narratives of entrepreneurship and age. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on the narrative practice approach to identity work and carries out a positioning analysis based on interviews with a group of Finnish late-life entrepreneurs (N = 18). Findings Three key age-related counter-narratives to negative stereotypes of ageing were identified: sustained superiority, leaving a legacy, and productive ageing citizenship. In addition, the interviewees negotiated the potentially devalued identity of late-life entrepreneurship by providing justifying and excusing accounts. Research limitations/implications Further research is needed to explore how the type of entrepreneurship is connected to the identity work of late-life entrepreneurs as well as age discrimination in different contexts of late-life entrepreneurship. Social implications Understanding the identity work of late-life entrepreneurs may help develop more inclusive support systems and policies for this group and the ageing workforce more generally. The findings highlight the need for empowering narratives to strengthen late-life entrepreneurs’ identity and legitimacy and for greater awareness in national and local organisations and media of underlying age-based assumptions that may undermine such entrepreneurship. Originality/value The study contributes to narrative entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial identity research by enhancing understanding of how late-life entrepreneurs negotiate ascribed positions within the constraining discourses of cultural master narratives. It also contributes to research on the identity work of minority entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on discursive barriers to late-life entrepreneurship.

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