12.06.2026

Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as open to anyone—yet decades of research show that opportunities, recognition, and support are not equally distributed. Gender, ethnicity, social class, and institutional context matter deeply.

In this podcast episode, we explore diversity in entrepreneurship through a research lens. What we know, what we often overlook, and how this should change the way we think about entrepreneurship education, policy, and practice.

Together with Professor Ulla Hytti from the University of Turku and Dr Spinder Dhaliwal from the University of Westminster, we discuss the following questions:
– What do we mean by diversity in entrepreneurship?
– What are the structural barriers and hidden inequalities?
– What is the role of entrepreneurship education? Is it part of the problem or the solution?
– What are the implications for policy and ecosystems?
– What are the new research directions?

Listen to the podcast:

Transcript of the podcast

Professor Ulla Hytti is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Turku. Her research focuses on entrepreneurship at the individual level and particularly on entrepreneurial identity, entrepreneurship education and gender in diverse entrepreneurial contexts.

She is the recipient of the European Entrepreneurship Education Award in 2019 and a former President of the European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB). Ulla is an Associate Editor at Entrepreneurship and Regional Development and a Research Editor at Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy.

Dr. Spinder Dhaliwal is a Reader in Entrepreneurship at Westminster University Business School where she leads the Entrepreneurship Research Group and is the Director of PhD Programmes for the School.

Spinder has written extensively about entrepreneurship and the business community and her latest book which she edited, Cases on Entrepreneurship and Diversity (Edward Elgar Publishing) has been released.