Women entrepreneurship and social capital: A research on female entrepreneurs operating in Antalya

Entrepreneurship is a concept that affects economic and social development and is particularly important for women in creating employment. Entrepreneurship is at the forefront as an important way for women to participate more in employment. In Turkey in recent years, with the increasing importance of female entrepreneurship for women entrepreneurs is emerging importance of social capital for women entrepreneurs the supports they see and challenges they face in the community. Women entrepreneurs can turn into an advantage of disadvantages meaning entrepreneurship with social capitals resources including social networks, trust, cooperation, solidarity, social and political participation in the process of establishing and developing business and solving all kinds of problems. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of social capital on women's entrepreneurship, an important way of increasing the employment opportunities of women, in the context of women entrepreneurs operating in Antalya. As a result of the participation feature which is one of the elements of social capital, women were operating in Antalya and interviewed with 20 women entrepreneurs who were members of the T.O.B.B - Antalya Women Entrepreneurs Board or Mediterranean Entrepreneurial Business Women's Association - AGİDER (NGO) under qualitative research techniques. Interviews conducted by female entrepreneurs were analyzed within the content analysis method. Women entrepreneurs' financial support, social support, difficulties they face, satisfaction with life and women's and society's perceptions of female entrepreneurship are assessed within social capital levels of women entrepreneurship. According to the findings obtained from determinants of social capital within the study, it is explained how women describe ways of being successful in entrepreneurship. In the first part of the study it has created a conceptual framework on entrepreneurship and female entrepreneurship, and in particular women's entrepreneurship given the current situation and potential entrepreneurs number in Turkey and difficulties faced by women entrepreneurs are discussed in the literature context in terms of both individual and social. In the second part, the conceptual framework of the concept and elements of social capital is presented and the relation of entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurship to social capital is explained. In addition, national and international studies dealing with the relationship between daily social capital and entrepreneurship were included in the past. In the third part, there is a detailed analysis of the methods and findings of the research. Demographic characteristics of women entrepreneurs and information on entrepreneurial activities are included and the findings of face-to-face interviews with 20 women entrepreneurs were interpreted to shed light on the relationship between women entrepreneurs and social capital. According to the findings of the study, close environment links such as spouse, family or friend are effective in providing financial capital for women entrepreneurs. Spouses and family members are also among the social support resources such as the financial support of women entrepreneurs. On the other hand, the power and influence of support mechanisms within the social capital they have in spite of all the challenges that women entrepreneurs face is an important way to cope with difficulties. In terms of social networks, women entrepreneurs prefer to resort to informal sources such as spouses, family members, relatives and friend circles, rather than formal sources, in order to reach the necessary support and information resources, especially during the establishment and maintenance of entrepreneurial activities. In terms of level of participation, women entrepreneurs' membership in non-governmental organizations and their active involvement in activities have strengthened their level of social capital. In the same way, according to the findings of trust and safety level that women entrepreneurs have positive responses by most participants within the dimensions of collective trust, trusting in the environment and being a trustworthy person have also pointed out that they strengthen their level of social capital.