Abstract

Social capital is a collective or individual resource gained by the persons or groups through shared norms, values, and networks. The focus of this article is to examine the level of bonding and bridging social capital within the Bangladeshi community as well as their labor market outcomes based on an empirical study conducted in the Bangladeshi community in Coventry, UK. The results show that social networks develop a close social bonding among the Bangladeshi community. However, regarding their poor civic engagement, the majority of Bangladeshis are weaker in bridging social capital which connects other ethnic groups of the community. Besides, structural factors such as education, gender, and ethnicity mediate the Bangladeshi community’s labor market outcomes.