Impact of gender on production of social capital in working life and the role of social capital on the reduction of gender inequalities

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to question whether the concept of social capital has anything original to offer for understanding why women experience more gender inequalities in working life. Social capital, which is seen as an important tool of both personal and institutional improvement, is not produced and reached equally by everyone. Especially when it is taken into consideration that everyone cannot benefit from the resources of social capital, it is important to investigate the influence of gender based discrimination on disparities. Therefore, understanding production processes of women's social capital in work life from the perspective of gender will enable the reappraisal of social capital in the context of inequality. As well as the positive consequences of social capital, the network indicating that the negative consequences of social capital, excluding the relationship of trust and reciprocity, brings to mind the question of whether gender has an effect on women's social capital production. In the present study, starting from the findings of this research, the answer is sought. The article is the product of a screening assessment study carried out on the available resources bases indexing literature on the subject. It has been observed that the lack of social capital for women causes them to face more inequality in working life, while through social capital, they begin to be involved in economic networks, besides bonding social capital, which they use to create opportunities and overcome encountered obstacles. © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Frankfurt am Main 2015. All rights reserved.