Abstract
Despite a growing literature on entrepreneurial intentions, there remain gaps in the
understanding of how these are affected by the age of later working-life social
entrepreneurs. This research examined ‘over-50s’ social entrepreneurs’ understandings
of age as an antecedent of their social entrepreneurial intentions. In-depth interviews
were conducted with 28 UK-based social entrepreneurs. Our findings demonstrate that
social entrepreneurial intentions in later working-life are influenced by an interplay of
necessity, fulfilment, and experienced later life, age being perceived as a positive
construct rather than as a barrier. Our research contributesto the social entrepreneurship
and small business literature by enhancing and advancing current knowledge and
theorisation of over 50s’ social entrepreneurial intentions. We reveal firstly how social
entrepreneurs make sense of their older age and the influence of their social
entrepreneurial intentions; and secondly how these social entrepreneurial intentions are
formed by the intertwining of necessity, fulfilment and experienced later life.