Rethinking Social Entrepreneurship: Beyond the Myths

Social entrepreneurship has grown rapidly over the past two decades, but it remains a conceptually fragmented and contested field. While it is often presented as a way to address social problems through entrepreneurial action, there is still no clear agreement on what it actually is or how its impact should be measured. Much of the early literature focuses on individual motivations such as empathy, moral judgment, and perceived feasibility, but this perspective tends to overemphasise personal agency. In reality, the translation of intention into action is strongly shaped by organisational and institutional constraints that are often overlooked. Another challenge is the blurred boundary between social and sustainable entrepreneurship, which leads to inconsistent definitions of key concepts like social value and impact. The field is also dominated by micro-level studies, with less attention paid to systemic and multilevel dynamics. Methodologically, research relies heavily on qualitative case studies, which limits generalisability and causal understanding. At the same time, measuring social impact remains difficult due to the lack of standardised frameworks and reliable data. More recent research has also challenged the idealised image of the social entrepreneur, highlighting issues such as burnout and unintended consequences. Overall, social entrepreneurship is best understood as a complex and evolving phenomenon that requires more integrated, multilevel, and critically informed approaches.