Social learning for sustainability: The experience of a business program for women entrepreneurs in poverty situation Aprendizagem Social Para Sustentabilidade: A Experiência De Um Programa Empresarial De Mulheres Empreendedoras Em Situação De Pobreza

Amaral D.G.; Brunstein J.

Social learning for sustainability: The experience of a business program for women entrepreneurs in poverty situation Aprendizagem Social Para Sustentabilidade: A Experiência De Um Programa Empresarial De Mulheres Empreendedoras Em Situação De Pobreza

Tipo

Artigo

Data de publicação

2017

Periódico

Revista de Gestao Social e Ambiental

Citações (Scopus)

3

Autores

Amaral D.G.
Brunstein J.

Resumo

© 2017 ANPAD - Associacao Nacional de Pos-Graduacao e Pesquisa em Administracao. All rights reserved.The purpose of this study is to expand the discussions on the Social Learning for Sustainability literature, focused on environmental issues, through the analysis of the social learning process under the social sustainability perspective, in a project to poverty alleviation. This is a case study in a network of entrepreneurs belonging to the Programa Mulher Empreendedora do Instituto Consulado da Mulher (ICM), the main social action of the brand Consul. Non-participant observation was the primary technique of data collection, complemented by documentary analyzes and semi-structured interviews. As results, we found that three key factors are responsible for stimulating social learning among participants: (a) the possibility of exchanging experiences, due to the format of the entrepreneurship network; (b) encouraging the quality of a more open and democratic dialogue; (c) the need of a mediator, responsible for the process of facilitating discussions and reflections. The key factors created conditions for the existence of five critical elements that influenced, to a greater or lesser extent, the level of social learning: (1) reflection and critical thinking; (2) negotiation and collaboration; (3) barriers to the learning process; (4) participation and engagement; and (5) communication. These results also have practical implications for managers who wish to create similar projects, especially concerning to the construction of mediation processes of dialogues via the social educator.