Before delving into my personal social capital and cultural capital it is important to first understand what those are. Social capital can be described briefly by the catchphrase “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” which emphasizes that levels of success can be directly impacted by the strength of your social network. More technically, social capital is the power and resources granted to people of groups by the strength or influence of their social network (Painter, 2000). Cultural capital is almost the opposite, where it is what you know and how you use it more than who you know. Being knowledgeable and capable of discussing topics deemed culturally important in a variety of fields, such as politics, arts, world events, or professions lends to cultural capital (Cairn, 2019). Up to now, I viewed my career in the field of climate action as one part luck and two parts effort. At this point, I think it would be best described as one-part cultural capital and two-parts social capital.
I began my career in climate action by working in the field of building automation systems where I thought my break came from being in the right place at the right time. This was a result of seeing a job posting in a newspaper on a slow night at work that I decided to apply for. Being young and confident, I believed it was my moxie and strong interview skills that landed me a job offer within a few days. Looking back now, it was likely my social capital gained from privileges that I did not acknowledge at the time as I had no relevant experience due to being fresh out of trade school. However, I was the same ethnicity and gender as the owner of the company, who was also interviewing me and responsible for the hiring choice. Hartfield (2023) defines four types of social capital as bonding, bridging, linking, and identifying. As this was my first step into the building automation field, I had no bonds with anyone in the field, had no known similarities with my interviewer to build bridges with, and could not use previous experience to link us as I had none. The only advantage I had was social capital gained from him identifying me as familiar and safe, I even had the same color hair and was similar in height furthering this connection. It is important to be aware that although I now have social equity in the form of bonding, bridging, and linking there is still privilege gained by those who connect with me through identity.
Fueled by my desire to be more impactful in the climate action field and the accompanying imposter syndrome, self-doubt of my abilities in my professional field (Hueker et al., 2023), I began a journey to further build my accreditations in search of cultural capital. With climate change being a topic of increased conversation, this inadvertently began to increase the cultural capital I could leverage professionally. Leveraging some of my cultural capital helped me gain admittance into this very program, Masters of Arts in Climate Action Leadership, where I am further increasing my ability to influence climate action. Most students would jest that a Master’s program hurts their social capital due to the amount of time spent researching, but I view the social capital gained by networks built within cohorts as a priceless benefit and great return on time. While becoming more pronounced and networked in the climate action field has opportunities to enhance both my social and cultural capital, it is important to note the loss of influence it can cause amongst those with counter beliefs. Bugden (2021) speaks to this divide and refers to it as the partisan climate gap, the large divide between climate change activists and deniers that can be represented by an affiliation as being either a Democrat or Republican in the U.S. political system. The partisan climate gap, as presented by Bugden (2021), is a great example of an instance where cultural capital can simultaneously enhance or damage opportunities. This polarization can impact career advancement either positively or negatively by opening or closing doors of opportunity depending on the beliefs of those responsible for decision-making. With that said, I still believe I have gained significant cultural capital due to both academic and experiential experiences in the field of adaptation and mitigation. This allows me the privilege of being able to discuss climate action, with perceived credibility, on a topic such as climate change that is currently deemed culturally important and controversial.
Social and cultural capital, similar to financial capital, is nothing if not used. So, what does this mean to me and how can I use it effectively? As I begin to expand into the professional field of consultant work my social capital will become one of the most important tools I have. My networks have been built off of professional relationships that I have grown through previous projects with building managers and organizations local to where I reside, throughout British Columbia, and even across other provinces. In addition to a geographic span, these connections also cross different professional networks such as school districts, the advanced education sector, municipalities, provincial governments, product manufacturers, and energy consultants. While these networks could have been established without cultural capital, this would have made weak connections as they would not have created any social capital due to lacking any bonding, bridging, or linking (Hartfield, 2023). Privileges allowed to me by my gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation will still influence my social capital, but it is no longer the only influence that grants me an audience in the climate action field. I can now leverage social capital to help me gain an influential audience and then utilize my cultural capital to influence decisions that can impact climate action initiatives such as the creation of sustainable procurement policies, low-emission capital projects, and incorporation of adaptive planning future strategic plans. Furthermore, my network which spans multiple sectors can also be leveraged to provide unique perspectives or interpretations on potential proposals or problems due to different approaches used within each sector.
In summary, I acknowledge that my first step as a climate action leader was supported by social capital resulting from being identified with. With this hurdle overcome, I can now use my cultural capital to further my social capital. In turn, enhancing the ability to lead climate action across both geographic and industry sectors. Additionally, this network can also be utilized as a transdisciplinary resource that offers multiple outlooks on climate change creating better-informed recommendations on how to lead climate action.
References
Bugden, D. (2022). Denial and distrust: explaining the partisan climate gap. Climate Change. 170, 34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03321-2
Cairns, S. (2019, July 1). What is cultural capital?. Cultural learning alliance. https://www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk/what-is-cultural-capital/
Hartfield, G. (2023, August 28). Exploring The Four Types of Social Capital. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/08/28/exploring-the-four-types-of-social-capital/?sh=6bc18d91485b
Huecker, M., Shreffler, J., McKeny, P., & Davis, D. (2023, July 31). Imposter Phenomenon. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK585058/ Painter, J. (2000). Pierre Bourdieu. In Crang, M., & Thrift, N., Thinking Space. pp.239-259. ISBN: 9780203411148
Painter, J. (2000). Pierre Bourdieu. In Crang, M., & Thrift, N., Thinking Space. pp.239-259. ISBN: 9780203411148
Tretina, K. (2023, January 6). What is Leverage? [Image]. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/what-is-leverage/