With the growing scholarly interest in diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship, we have learned a lot about biases and obstacles surrounding disadvantaged entrepreneurs. In doing so, however, we appear to have overlooked the potential of allyship as a promising mechanism to foster diversity in entrepreneurship. Allyship – defined as behaviors with which advantaged social group members uplift disadvantaged peers – has proven beneficial in a number of ways across a range of contexts, from academia to large organizations. To set the research agenda for allyship in entrepreneurship, we first review extant work within the management literature and outline core findings about why allies act, how they act, and how these actions are perceived. Then, we extract key insights from the management literature to conceptualize research suggestions for allyship in the entrepreneurship context. Our work contributes by introducing allyship as an overlooked but promising perspective to foster diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship.
