Navigating entrepreneurial strategies: a comparative study of female immigrant entrepreneurs

Female immigrant entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as central to inclusive economic development, yet it is commonly treated as a homogeneous category. This study examines how heterogeneity among female immigrant entrepreneurs becomes strategically consequential within shared institutional conditions through a comparative analysis of two migrant groups in Sweden. Drawing on 23 in-depth interviews, the study develops a mechanism-based framework integrating mixed embeddedness, intersectionality, and entrepreneurial resourcefulness. The findings reveal that heterogeneity is not merely descriptive but generative, shaping how entrepreneurs configure strategic entrepreneurial practices across six dimensions: resourceful market entry configuration, cultural positioning through resourcefulness, resourceful financial mobilization, market engagement amid asymmetric market embeddedness, operational configuration under constraints, and resourceful collaboration strategies. Building on these empirical patterns, the study develops a mechanism-based, configurational explanation of entrepreneurial action and identifies two forms of entrepreneurial resourcefulness: boundary-confirming and boundary-reconfiguring. By positioning resourcefulness as a boundary-oriented mechanism, the study advances research on female immigrant entrepreneurship by demonstrating systematic variation in strategic responses across groups facing similar institutional constraints. It offers a comparative and mechanism-based account of female immigrant entrepreneurship, showing how intersectional positionalities and embedded structures shape not only entrepreneurial constraints but also the forms of resourcefulness through which opportunities are constructed and transformed.