Social Capital and Evaluating the Performance of Entrepreneurship Educators: Case of a Developing Country

Social capital, the resources and the rewards individuals receive through their social relationships has gained widespread prominence in the recent decades. However, the number of studies examining the effect of social capital on the occupational performance of individuals has been scant. The aim of the present study is to examine the effect of social capital on the performance of the faculty staff of Tehran University. Using the views of researchers in the field such as Putnam and Coleman, social capital was measured among the faculty members of Tehran University and then the effect of social capital on their occupational performance was examined. The components of social capital that were analyzed included the quality of relationship (trust) and the quantity of relationship (group memberships, association and reciprocal relationships). The research method included a correlation and survey analysis. The population included 160 faculty members of Tehran University in the 1st semester of 2010 academic year. Using Cochran's formula, 120 faculty members were randomly selected to form the sample. A questionnaire was administered to collect research data. Cronbach s alpha reliability for the questionnaire was equal to 0.903. The results of the study showed that social capital had a direct and significant effect on different aspects of professional performance of the target faculty. Therefore, all three hypotheses were supported.