Safety or lack of safety surrounds me. Living through the COVID-19 pandemic means seeing the death toll rise daily, visible confrontations of White supremacy in the media and on the street corners in my small town, and economic uncertainty. While these threats to safety are currently at the forefront of my mind, safety and security are ongoing considerations in the lives of women worldwide. Women are taught to fear walking down the street at night, worry about hurting people’s feelings, and being too much or not enough. When thinking about starting something new like a business, these fears are evident, labeled risk aversion, and particularly salient for immigrant women entrepreneurs. In my recently completed dissertation study, immigrant women entrepreneurs did not use the word fear to describe their experiences. Yet, the lack of safety and the subtle description of discrimination, especially around securing citizenship, persist in my thoughts. The safety of citizenship in the United States has ebbed and flowed since before the inception of the nation, yet the desire of many immigrants to pursue their dreams in the United States remains a dominant idea. Upon arrival in the United States, they find the economic environment and the explicit and nuanced discrimination as something new to navigate but worth the risk. This reflection provides a space to further think about the experiences of the women who participated in this study and the potential impact of the current social and political environment on their lives. I consider the risk for women starting their own businesses in the United States, the overall safety of citizenship that separates domestic women entrepreneurs from immigrant women entrepreneurs, and the personal and economic safety of such entrepreneurs. Finally, I share implications for adult educators related to the discrimination and safety for immigrant women entrepreneurs as well as their overall contributions to communities.

中文翻译：

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安全的细微差别：美国的女移民企业家

安全或缺乏安全围绕着我。度过 COVID-19 大流行意味着看到死亡人数每天都在上升，白人至上主义在媒体和我所在小镇的街角的明显对抗，以及经济的不确定性。虽然这些对安全的威胁目前是我最关心的问题，但安全和保障是全世界女性生活中持续考虑的问题。女人被教导害怕晚上走在街上，担心伤害别人的感情，担心太多或不够。在考虑开办新事物（如创业）时，这些恐惧是显而易见的，被贴上风险规避的标签，对于移民女企业家来说尤其突出。在我最近完成的论文研究中，移民女企业家没有使用恐惧这个词来描述她们的经历。然而，缺乏安全感和对歧视的微妙描述，尤其是在获得公民身份方面，一直存在于我的脑海中。自建国以来，美国公民身份的安全性就已起起伏伏，但许多移民在美国追求梦想的愿望仍然是一个主导思想。抵达美国后，他们发现经济环境和明确而细微的歧视是新事物，但值得冒险。这种反思为进一步思考参与这项研究的女性的经历以及当前社会和政治环境对她们生活的潜在影响提供了空间。我认为女性在美国创业的风险，区分国内女企业家和移民女企业家的公民身份的整体安全，以及这些企业家的人身和经济安全。最后，我分享了与移民女企业家的歧视和安全以及她们对社区的整体贡献有关的成人教育工作者的影响。