Where Do I Fit In? Why Belonging Shapes Participation in Business Networking

Business networking is often seen as a key pathway to entrepreneurial opportunities. Networking events, mentoring, learning hubs, and programmes all encourage entrepreneurs to build relationships, exchange knowledge, and access resources that support business development and growth. These spaces are often presented as open and inclusive, offering support to diverse entrepreneurs.

But evidence from practice suggests that access alone does not translate into meaningful participation. While many networking spaces are formally open, individuals do not experience them in uniform ways. For some entrepreneurs, networking is not simply about exchanging information or making new contacts; it is also influenced by their comfort in contributing, confidence in initiating conversations, and ability to build relationships that extend beyond a single event.

The findings presented in the blog are drawn from PhD research interviews, including qualitative interviews with second-generation women entrepreneurs. Recent research with second-generation South Asian women entrepreneurs – women born and educated in the UK – explored how experiences of belonging (or its absence) shape participation across mainstream and ethnic-specific enterprise learning and networking spaces.

Presence Without Participation

Our research participants were educated, highly engaged, and proactive. Most had experience attending both mainstream and ethnic minority enterprise programmes designed to support entrepreneurs. It is important to note that these women were British Asian, multilingual, and had lived experience across both Asian and British cultural contexts. This bicultural perspective helps explain their engagement with both mainstream and ethnic minority enterprise programmes.

Despite this, many described a clear distinction between being present at networking events and feeling able to participate meaningfully. In mainstream spaces, women often reported that they often remain silent due to fear of judgment, avoid discussing cultural and religious identities, and feel the need to downplay aspects of their Asian identity to feel legitimate in mainstream spaces.

Participant accounts also suggested that mainstream networking environments were often perceived as dominated by white women entrepreneurs. Several women reflected that in such spaces, networks are already established or easier to build within relatively homogeneous groups. Interactions, informal exchanges, and longer-term connections tend to remain within these networks.

These experiences were not framed as overt exclusion. Rather, participants described more subtle dynamics related to familiarity, shared reference points, and unspoken norms. Although interactions were typically professional and polite, many women felt they needed to invest additional effort to establish legitimacy and trust.

These narratives highlight how mainstream networking environments can create conditions of partial inclusion, resulting in systematic marginalisation rather than full participation for diverse entrepreneurs

Ethnic-Specific Spaces and Conditions for Belonging

By  contrast, ethnic‑specific networking and mentoring spaces were described as more welcoming, fostering a sense of recognition and belonging among participants. Participants stressed that shared language and cultural and religious backgrounds reduced the need to explain or suppress aspects of their identity.

As British South Asian women, they faced intersecting ethnic and gendered challenges, alongside cultural and religious expectations, which were closely interwoven with their entrepreneurial experiences. In these settings, women felt more able to speak openly about challenges, ask questions, and seek advice without concern about being misunderstood. Mentors with similar cultural and social experiences were viewed as particularly valuable, as they could contextualise business advice within the realities of participants’ lives.

These spaces also played a significant role in building social capital. Participants described exchanging practical knowledge, contacts, and insights, as well as learning from one another’s mistakes. Informal discussions often addressed issues that were rarely acknowledged in mainstream settings, such as managing family expectations, negotiating boundaries, and coping with emotional labour.

An important theme emerging from accounts was the role of mentors and peers as role models. Participants drew inspiration from women who had encountered similar challenges, which reinforced their belief that entrepreneurial success was possible and attainable for them as well.

Belonging, Trust, and Learning

As British Asian women, participants described challenges such as intergenerational trauma, childhood adversity, bullying, and discrimination, all of which shaped their identities. They emphasised the importance of safe spaces that offer psychological safety, emotional support, and opportunities to be heard.

The women were often drawn to identity‑based and ethnic‑specific networking spaces, where trust in mentors and peers contributed to greater confidence and engagement. This confidence was not a result of attendance alone, but emerged through sustained and meaningful interactions. Trust developed more readily in ethnic‑specific contexts, where women described feeling recognised and valued rather than marginal. These relationships commonly extended beyond formal settings, forming ongoing networks of support through which participants accessed knowledge, reflected on shared challenges, and developed strategies rooted in lived experience.

Implications for Networking Design

Our research on entrepreneurship, networking and learning hubs with second-generation British Asian women highlights the importance of prioritising belonging. It also draws attention to the complex dynamics and challenges that need to be addressed within these spaces. It directly influences participation, learning, and the development of social capital. When individuals feel included, they are more likely to engage fully and build lasting connections. When they feel marginal, participation is often constrained, regardless of motivation or skill.

These findings do not suggest that mainstream networking spaces are unnecessary or ineffective. On the contrary, many South Asian women valued such spaces and succeeded within them, particularly in gaining wider visibility and access to diverse markets. However, we need to reconsider how these spaces are structured and facilitated. Within learning and networking events and hubs, the focus should extend beyond access to fostering inclusion and a sense of belonging. This requires meaningful engagement with participants, an understanding of their cultural contexts, and tailored support for diverse entrepreneurs. Small but intentional design changes can help address this, including active facilitation, clearer interaction structures, and greater diversity among speakers and mentors.

Saba Bibi, Lecturer, University of Abertay, Dundee

Note: The data and findings are based on PhD research and are currently unpublished.

Please note that the views expressed in this blog belong to the individual bloggers and do not represent the official view of the

Enterprise Research Centre, its Funders or Advisory Group