Women Entrepreneurship and Social Capital

Book excerpt: Human resources are the social capital of a firm or business, based on trust as well as on expertise, values, and cultural diversity. This calls for cross-cultural knowledge - an understanding of gender issues and individual differences in the social capital of the firm and society. The dialogue between women entrepreneurship and social capital theory/ research strengthens the fragmented voice of women entrepreneurship, providing the landscape for women entrepreneurs as creators of, and created by, social capital. It indicates how women entrepreneurs appear to have a special position in forming, developing, and reorganizing the social capital in the business world. This book explores social capital in the multiple relationships between gender, management, and entrepreneurship. Twenty-six researchers, representing a variety of disciplines from different parts of the world, provide findings on diverse aspects of the dialogue between women entrepreneurship and social capital. As a consequence, the central concepts - social capital, entrepreneurship, and gender - are given a variety of meanings. Women entrepreneurs and business owners - regardless of their cultural context, branch, and education - provide interesting ideas to the global debate on equality and social capital.