Due to different cultural backgrounds, education qualifications, and social ties the economic integration of these immigrants is even more important for their financial support as well as the economic growth of the host country. Consequently, the rising unemployment rate poses a threat requiring multiple efforts to integrate them into the labor market, and one such way that immigrants tackle unemployment is by opting for entrepreneurship.

Reema Akhtar defended her dissertation titled "What if your world is outside the oyster? How highly educated and skilled first-generation immigrant entrepreneurs develop opportunities in knowledge-intensive sectors" at the Marketing Section, Stockholm Business School, on March 20th.

- "I wanted to study how immigrants can enable themselves to start businesses in knowledge-intensive sectors," says Reema. "I have used a consolidated view of opportunity creation and discovery, namely opportunity development, which is at the core of the entrepreneurial process."

Reema Akhtar with her thesis "What if your world is outside the oyster? How highly educated and skilled first-generation immigrant entrepreneurs develop opportunities in knowledge-intensive sectors".

In her research, Reema has utilized the method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to analyze data from 30 interviews with highly educated immigrants and cross-checked it with secondary data collected from online sources. The dissertation presents a model of immigrant entrepreneurship that illustrates how weak social ties (to members of communities and groups such as government organizations, NGOs, and contacts made at conferences, workshops, incubators, coworking spaces, and startup events) and strong social ties (consisting of friends, family, or community members who share the same country of origin), prior work experience, and education of immigrant entrepreneurs influence them to recognize and evaluate business ideas and opportunity development in knowledge-intensive sectors.

The results show that there wasn't a specific phase of opportunity development where either of the two social ties was more or less relevant, as knowledge flowed through both, helping bridge social distances. To endure and overcome their foreign status, immigrants sought out weak social ties to become more acquainted with their host country. Although they avoided directly involving certain strong social ties in business matters, strong ties were equally important in providing emotional support and motivation. This resulted in increased self-confidence in their abilities and trust in the feasibility, credibility, and legitimacy of their business ideas, helping overcome fears to make informed assessments, investments, and appropriate adjustments to their business idea.

Furthermore, certain weak ties evolved into strong bonds over time, such as former colleagues and clients who became lifelong friends, business partners, and advisors. Social ties also had a stronger impact when combined with the immigrant's high human capital, namely previous work experience and education, as well as new knowledge gained through systematic searching with the aid of social ties. Thus, social ties serve as a source of new knowledge, while prior work and education can be sources of important social ties such as potential clients and business partners.

A marginal group of immigrants felt frustrated with weak ties and, as an alternative, relied on social networking sites to connect with a broader global pool of potential business partners, clients, and skilled individuals. This option was less time-consuming and more cost-effective for them to acquire resources.

Read the thesis "What if your world is outside the oyster? How highly educated and skilled first-generation immigrant entrepreneurs develop opportunities in knowledge-intensive sectors"

From the left: Birgitta Schwartz, Maria Frostling, Ali Osman, Martin Johansson, Reema Akhtar, Per Servais, David Sörhammar, Maria Elo and Zoran Slavnic.