Social Capital and Career Mobility

Abstract

In this article, the authors examine the social conditions experienced by Asian employees in the workforce, focusing in particular on the lower returns to education that have been documented for both immigrant and U.S.-born Asians. The authors suggest that human capital translates into improved career outcomes by producing greater social capital and hypothesize that those who are more socially and culturally different from the dominant group-such as native-born and immigrant Asians-are less likely to be able to turn human capital into social capital. The theory is illustrated using data from five work teams at the computer services division of a major bank that was staffed with a sizable number of immigrant Asians. The authors found lower returns to education for Chinese and Asian Indians than for European Americans, in terms of managers' assessment of career potential, and also found that education translated into work team centrality only for European Americans.