Document Type

Theses, Ph.D

Disciplines

5.2 ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

Publication Details

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in School of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Business, Technological University Dublin, August 2025.

Supervised by: Prof. Thomas M. Cooney Dr. Anthony Buckley

Abstract

This thesis investigates the impact of tailored entrepreneurship training on the perceived emancipation of aspiring entrepreneurs with disabilities in Ireland. This community is significantly underrepresented in the labour market, yet it is hindered in accessing self-employment opportunities due to a lack of specific training and limited access to necessary resources. Furthermore, there is a dearth of knowledge in academic literature addressing the influence of tailored entrepreneurship programmes targeted at people with disabilities. To address this knowledge gap, this study gathered data from in-depth interviews with 21 key informants (including nine participants from TU Dublin’s entrepreneurship training programme, five representatives from support agencies, and four government officials), and following detailed analysis of the data, a novel conceptual model was developed.

The qualitative analysis offers detailed insights into the perspectives, unique experiences, and challenges faced by people with disabilities in entrepreneurship. Participants shared their personal experiences regarding the effectiveness of the training programme. At the same time, representatives from support agencies and policymakers provided organisational perspectives, discussed policy challenges, identified opportunities, and offered recommendations for improving support mechanisms.

The research is structured around one critical research question and three objectives focused on the entrepreneurial knowledge and competencies, perceived emancipation, and entrepreneurial opportunities for people with disabilities in Ireland. Key findings reveal that entrepreneurship training significantly improves the entrepreneurial knowledge, competencies, and perceived emancipation of people with disabilities. Both male and female participants reported substantial gains in knowledge and competencies, with males being more incessant in seeking financial gains and females adopting a more methodical approach due to caregiving responsibilities.

Overall, the study offers valuable insights into potential methods for enhancing entrepreneurial activities among individuals with disabilities by improving policy and practice. The research fills gaps in the literature by offering three significant contributions: (I) Benefits of tailored entrepreneurship training on knowledge and competence; (II) Insights into economic and personal emancipation of people with disabilities; and (III) Development of an emancipatory entrepreneurship training model to address the gap between training and perceived emancipation.

The significance of this study lies in its recommendations for designing and implementing appropriate practices, policies, and specific entrepreneurship programmes that aim to improve income, standard of living, and overall economic development for aspiring entrepreneurs with disabilities.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/8ypr-b021

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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