Women Entrepreneurship and Social Capital : A Dialoque and Construction

This book explores social capital as the multiple relationships between gender, management and entrepreneurship. Human resources are the social capital of a firm and business life, based on trust as well as on expertise, values and cultural diversity. This calls for cross-cultural knowledge and 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 and research has its special place among other women entrepreneurship books, the number of which has lately increased. It strengthens still in some respect the fragmented voice of women entrepreneurship research by providing a landscape of 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. In its eleven chapters, twenty-six researchers representing a variety of disciplines from different parts of the world are presenting 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. Iiris Aaltio (Ph.D., Econ.) is Professor of Management at the School of Economics and Business in the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. She has worked as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Massachusetts, MIT, the University of St. Mary's and Auckland University. Her research is focused on organization culture, gender and organizational entrepreneurship. Paula Kyro (Ph.D. Econ and Ph.D. Educ.) has worked as Professor in both Education and Entrepreneurship. She is currently working as Professor of Entrepreneurship Education at the Helsinki School of Economics, Finland. She has also worked as a Visiting Professor in entrepreneurship at Jonkoping International Business School. Besides women entrepreneurship, her research interests are in the methodology and entrepreneurship education, dynamics of entrepreneurial and enterprising learning and readiness as well as in virtual learning. Elisabeth Sundin (Ph.D, Business Administration and Management) is Professor in Business Administration and Management at Linkoping University, Sweden. She has worked as a Professor at the National Institute of Working Life and also at Jonkoping International Business School. She has done research on SMEs and gender and is now combining the two in research on the reorganisation of the public sector.