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9 The Roles and Contributions of Chinese Women Entrepreneurs in Community Organizations in Sydney Angeline Low Introduction .... communit y role s canno t b e adequatel y understoo d withou t usin g a gender len s (Somavi a 1999 ) The voluntar y role o f Chinese women i n communit y organization s ha s no t been recognized in Australian literature. Neither are there many international studies o n th e subject . Thi s chapte r attempt s t o thro w som e ligh t o n th e subject an d i s part o f a wider researc h effor t tha t focuse s no t o n Chines e community association s bu t o n eight y Asian-born wome n entrepreneur s (ABWEs) i n Sydne y with a research questio n abou t thei r contribution s t o Australia. The data sets had been segregated to account for sixty-seven women entrepreneurs o f Chines e descen t o r heritage , t o examin e th e role s thes e Chinese women entrepreneurs (CWEs ) play in their leadership initiatives and contributions i n communit y organizations . To understan d th e role s o f CWE s i n communit y organizations , th e theoretical perspectives of community capital formationin the context of theories of human and social capital, the application o f ethnic capital and cultural capital in immigrant communities is explored. This is followed by a literature revie w of community organizations in Australia and literature on the role of women. The profil e o f the CWEs is presented, togethe r with understanding th e tim e limitations on their ability to participate in community organizations and th e roles they play. Finally, a model o f commitment is presented, t o explain ho w women's commitment , powe r an d influence , togethe r with th e interactio n of their human, social, ethnic and cultural capital, contribute to the strengt h of community organizations and th e building of community capital . 202฀Angeline ฀Low฀ Theoretical Perspective s o f Communit y Capital Formatio n The followin g explore s th e theoretica l perspective s of human capital , socia l capital, ethni c capita l an d cultura l capital , an d ho w thes e ar e relate d t o community capita l formation . Human capita l i s recognize d a s importan t i n supportin g economi c development a s far back as Adam Smith' s concept of labour a s one o f thre e factors of production (Smit h 1776) , but the specific concept of human capita l only emerged i n 1961 , in the work of Theodore Schult z (Schult z 1961) . This was followed b y Gary Becker's empirical study in 196 4 (Becker 1993) . Schultz and Becker recognized that knowledge and skills are a form o f human capita l and ar e products o f deliberate investmen t in economi c development . Sinc e then, Schultz, Becker and other researchers have expanded the understandin g of human capita l an d it s benefits beyon d it s role i n economi c productio n (Marger 2001 ; McMahon 2000 ; Mingat and Tan 1996 ; OECD 2001; Picciotto 1997; Schulle r 2000) . Fo r example , Minga t an d Ta n highlighte d th e community non-marke t effect s o f human capital : education yield s benefit s for societ y that include possible contribution t o improving social equity an d strengthening nationa l cohesivenes s (Minga t 8c Tan 1996) . Late r i n thi s chapter, I will show that th e generall y high educationa l level s of the CWE s in m y study of ABWEs in Sydney , together with thei r skill s and experience , exemplify thi s flow-over effec t o f human capita l to community welfare. I will explore ho w CWE s tak e leadershi p role s i n communit y organization s t o improve socia l equit y an d integratio n o f th e Chines e communit y int o mainstream Australia . The OECD distinguishes between human and social capital in that human capital resides in individuals, whereas social capital resides in social relation s (OECD 2001). It defines huma n capita l as the knowledge, skills, competencies and attributes embodied in individuals...

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