Understanding the journey: challenges, opportunities, and pathways for refugee entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has the potential to aid refugees in integrating into the host country and adapting to mainstream life. The purpose of this study was to explore the entrepreneurship journey of refugees and its impact on their integration process in the USA. Findings of the study derived from semi-structured, individual interviews conducted with entrepreneurs from refugee backgrounds. The emergent overarching themes indicated that despite encountering language, culture, regulatory, and system-related barriers, as well as limited access to business funds and mainstream business resources, the entrepreneurship experiences of refugees gave them a sense of autonomy, freedom, and hope for a brighter future.