Loading…
Women’s journey to the top: the role of bonding and bridging social capital
Purpose Drawing on Putnam’s concept of social capital, this study aims to examine the oral life histories of women on management boards. It explores how the bridging and bonding forms of social capital are created and used to advance women’s careers to reach top management positions on corporate boa...
Saved in:
Published in: | Gender in management 2022-02, Vol.37 (1), p.77-93 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | Purpose
Drawing on Putnam’s concept of social capital, this study aims to examine the oral life histories of women on management boards. It explores how the bridging and bonding forms of social capital are created and used to advance women’s careers to reach top management positions on corporate boards.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is both explorative and interpretive. A total of 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted with female board members of Polish companies to gain access to their life histories.
Findings
Women develop social capital to advance their careers. However, they mainly focus on bonding capital, which allows them to sustain relationships within their inner circle. Bridging capital, which extends relationships to advance women’s careers, is often overlooked if not neglected. It seems it is usually an external shock when women understand the importance of bridging capital.
Practical implications
This study provides a better insight into how bridging and bonding capital help and/or distract women from reaching top managerial positions. It has potential policy-making implications for promoting women to leadership positions. The study results can guide organizations in providing equal opportunities for employees.
Originality/value
This study builds on previous research regarding the accumulation of human and social capital by board members. It encourages academics and practitioners to critically consider the relationship between bonding and bridging capital and the promotion of women to top management positions. This study provides access to a field of Central and Eastern European countries. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1754-2413 1754-2421 |
DOI: | 10.1108/GM-01-2021-0004 |