Social capital and gender in the workplace

Abstract

Purpose Social capital has been widely accepted as an important asset for creating and maintaining healthy communities, robust organizations and vibrant civil societies. This paper explores the relevance of social capital to management development in the workplace and, more specifically, the importance of gender in the formation of social capital and the distribution of its benefits. Design/methodology/approach The pertinent scholarly literature is reviewed to explore the role of social capital in organizational behavior and its relationship to gender. Findings Although the numbers of women entering the workplace have risen steadily in the last half century and strides have been made in attaining economic parity with men, statistics reveal that women continue to lag behind men in career advancement and in levels of compensation and achieved status. It is argued in the literature that women are hindered in their efforts to achieve career advancement and its associated benefits due to their inability to access social capital, a valuable organizational commodity and source of the knowledge, resources, and networks that are essential for career development and maturation. Originality/value This review reveals that untold benefits and rewards may be generated once workplaces are democratized and equalized so that women – and men – may contribute equally to the growth and development of private and public sector organizations. However, few practical solutions are included, as the available literature only cursorily addresses possible remedies.

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