Men’s social networks are often composed of more non-kin, coworkers, friends, and members of higher-earning occupations. Their networks tend to be larger and possess more ties to actors in economic organizations. This structural advantage provides men with greater access to opportunities in jobs, business, and professional achievement. In contrast, women often have smaller, but more cohesive and diverse networks, typically localized within the domestic sphere. Additionally, child-rearing decreases the size of female networks while having virtually no effect on male network composition. Occupational sex segregation and a lack of cross-group contact further restrict women’s access to traditionally male-dominated spheres in economic organizations, perpetuating gender inequality in social capital.

Augustana College (IL)

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There are two primary components that explain inequality in social capital: structural factors and homophily. The structural explanation posits that the historical and institutional makeup of societies provides unequal opportunities to different demographic groups based on race, class, gender, caste, and other categories. The homophily explanation describes the tendency of most individuals to associate with people who share common social and cultural characteristics, causing them to remain within closed network systems. Although awareness can sometimes motivate communities to create cross-group networks for better resource access, homophily generally restricts the ability of actors to bridge into other groups.

Components of Inequality in Social Capital

Blacks in the urban area had a higher rate of informal ties with relatives (78% of respondents have relatives in the city), friends, and neighbors.  Minority networks have lower diversity and size than their white counterparts. Whites had the largest networks (mean size 3.1), blacks the smallest (mean size 2.25). Of those network ties, black respondents cited fewer kin and fewer non-kin than whites did. There is a class-based disparity among blacks. The black middle class  is engaged in more formal memberships in clubs, organizations and church groups than lower class black people.  Additionally, there is an enclave economy effect in most immigrant communities where immigrants typically rely on other immigrant families for employment and financial resources. Most of these kin networks are socially isolated from the mainstream economy. 

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