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About the Author

Former Vice-President of the University of Montpellier III in France, Benedicte Gendron, University Professor since 2005, earned her Ph’D in Economics of Human Resources and Education from the University Paris I – Pantheon-Sorbonne and completed in the US, as a funded fellow of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a post-doctoral research at UC. Berkeley – Graduate School of Education and NCRVE-National Center for Research on Vocational Education. Trained in Mindfulness in the US and Europe, while at the University of Montpellier III, she earned a second Ph’D in Psychology & Neurosciences, and specialized her research on emotional competencies, transversal and soft skills developments and their personal and socio-economics impacts. She is the author of the economic concept of Emotional Capital. For this work, she received in Paris both the prestigious research scientist prize from the French Academy (2006) and twice the award of the French Association of Health Education at School and University – AFPSSU – (2011 and 2012). She also joined Daniel Goleman’ Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Interested in well-being, humanistic and eudaimonic economics’ developments, her research focused on the emotional capital and its impacts on education, at work, on creativity and heatlh and well-being issues. She serves on the editorial boards of various scientific journals and her research on Emotional Capital applied on several domains has been published in numerous articles, book chapters and books. One of her last books is about Mindful Management and Emotional Capital at work published by De Boeck.

Key words: Emotional Capital, Emotional competencies, Enabling Education, Human Capital, Executive functions, Positive psychology, Heutagogy, Meditation, Mindfulness, Gender

Abstract: From the perspective of the Chicago school, there is no behaviour that is not interpretable as economic. In this book, I continue the discussion started in the 2000 in the perspective of a broader Human Capital approach, through an added powerful capital, the “Emotional Capital” (EK) neglected in the measurement in Becker Human capital approach. Referring to the personal and social emotional competencies found in emotional intelligence models, I show that emotional capital, more than an additional capital, is a booster capital potentializing or energyzing the others capitals as Becker human capital, the social and cultural capitals as defined by Bourdieu, Putman or Coleman. EK is critical to enable the human capital building in a broad sense as its valorisation as well in the today’s increasingly complex society and competitive global workplace in western countries. The conceptual emotional capital model I developed in the 2000s is an economic model of the unmeasured soft skills based on a pluridisciplinary approach (economics, psychology, neuroscience, education and sociology) and seen as a crucial capital to invest in education with emergency. It is also a micro-meso-macro levels model enables to understand and analyse children development, students’ academic success or failure, people creativity and citizenship behaviour and health issues as gender jobs’ occupations and career evolution differences but also successful teams and organizations, sustainable development and peaceful societies in an eudaimonic economics paradigm. It questions, in different spheres, education matters and perspectives, curriculum, transversal skills as teaching style and pedagogies, executive functions, mental health, meditation and life values, as economics values, businesses purposes and management styles as well and, at a broader level, the societies values and directions and humanistic issues (hedonic versus eudaimonic economic paradigms). I stress out the emergency of revisiting western education and economics models to look at the Gandhi and Sen economics paradigms and the role and place of Education as Nelson Mandela quoted “The Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world”, for a better society and sustainabledevelopment and global citizenship issues where the human values and not the market should govern life: toward enabling and emancipitating education.

Introduction

In economics, since many leading economists’ theorists – Herbert Simon, Kenneth Arrow, Amartaya Sen, and others – have pointed out the paradoxes of rationality, the possibility of market failure, the need for a welfare economics dealing with group benefits, and the limits of economic man, Chicago school theorists do not represent the discipline of economics as a whole. And even among economists who share many of the assumptions of the Chicago school there are major controversies and differences of opinion, such as whether one can assume that rational choosers have perfect information or whether individuals who make decision do so within hierarchies and institutions. Gary Becker, for example, allows room for the other social sciences, including sociology – but only if they accept the terrain established by economics. Does this “expanding domain of economics” reflect the efforts of the Chicago school to colonize the other social sciences or/and a permanent shift in the hegemony of the social sciences by using the technique of economics? From the perspective of the Chicago school, there is no behaviour that is not interpretable as economic, however, altruistic, emotional, disinterested, and compassionate behaviours have been neglected and their associated competencies, as emotional competencies not evaluated and including in the economics models for a while. The work and concept of Emotional Capital I developed in 2004 tried to cover this gap and has been honoured by a prestigious Prize at the French Academy in 2006. In this book, I continue my research started in 2000, to give back my advanced research done and outcome since at least 15 years. This book aims at enlarging the impact of Education and the power of the emotional capital on the society by including the transversal skills as emotional competencies neglected and missing in the economics models of education investment that policy makers use. Time has come to rehabilitate the soft skills as crucial transversal competencies that participate to a better and creative ‘society’ in a broad sense. Graduated of a Ph’D in Economics of Human Resource, and of a Ph’D in Psychology and have been doing a post-doctoral research at the Faculty of Education at UC Berkeley and working as nominated adjunct Professor at Burapha University in Thailand, those cultural experiences, western, latin and asian cultures, enriched my research investigation as a Professor of University in France. This book is an attempt to give a feed back of what I learnt and have been researching since 15 years to stress out that there is an emergency to convince policy makers to invest in Emotional Capital. The book, by bringing scientific evidence of the Emotional Capital outcomes and returns, underlines that the psychological part of individual, psychological behaviours and their associated soft and as emotional competencies matter in economics. The educational return and impact of the Emotional Capital are already scientifically probed on education development, academic success, creativity, well-being and citizenship behaviour. It impacts the society and the quality of life of living together, work for a better social cohesion and questions the way and style of teaching as managing people; the Emotional Capital is the new educational investment challenge nowadays.

The emotional capital has to be taken into account in economic theory as it has major returns and impacts in economics derived from health, education, creativity, citizenships, enabling societies outcomes and issues. I will argument this position in the perspective of the Nelson Mandela motto “the Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world”. The emotional capital, as the setof the social and personal emotional competencies, refers to transversal essential basic competencies as crucial life skills. In the first chapter, I will give back a global framework of the place and role of emotional capital among the other capitals as human, social and cultural capitals. First, the definition in social sciences of the Becker’ human capital, and Bourdieu, Putman, Colemann Fukuyama… social and cultural capital will be synthetized. Second, I will introduce and define the Emotional Capital as a booster capital of the former ones. Third, I will show that Emotional Capital through its links with human, social and cultural capitals matters in economics; especially, Emotional Capital is a crucial capital to enable human capital’ building – in its broad sense-, growth and valorisation. I illustrate my point in the field of education and work as the Emotional Capital (EK) conceptual model enable to understand student academic success or failure (as for instance boys’ drop out, and at the opposite girls’ academic success at school) and, concerning the workplace, it can explain the difference between boys and girls regarding occupational and jobs choices and career evolution as females and males salary differences as quality of work and quality of life at work as well.

The emotional capital cannot be developed with a passive teaching style but in an active learning manner activating and working on the executive functions. Thus, the second part will question the pedagogy, the way and style of teaching to stress out the necessity to change toward a heutagogy and positive active learning approach and teaching style. I will show that it stimulates and works at training the executive functions. Some example of Emotional Capital training programs will be given as project management and meditative and mindfulness program. As the emotional capital impacts the society and its personal quality of life and of living together, the Emotional Capital is the new educational crucial investment challenge nowadays.

Chapter I.
The role and place
of the Emotional Capital in the Human,
Social and Cultural Capitals Framework

In this first chapter, the place and role of emotional capital will be given and its links with the human, social and cultural capitals. First, the definition in social sciences of the Becker’ human capital, and Bourdieu, Putman, Coleman… social and cultural capital will be synthetized. Second, I will introduce and define the Emotional Capital as a booster capital of the other capitals. Third, I will show that Emotional Capital through its links with human, social and cultural capitals matters in economics; especially, Emotional Capital is a crucial capital to enable human capital’ building – in its broad sense-, growth and valorisation.

I. Human, Social and Cultural Capitals

The notion of capital is derived from economic discourse. Traditional economic theory generally viewed capital as physical items that are used and useful in the production process. But “capital” has been expanded as a general way of thinking and taken on a broader meaning especially, when some aspects of its definition provide a useful way of thinking in another domain. Since then, economists have focussed on broader forms of capital as investment in education, training and skills as they can be viewed as building up human capital. Therefore, in this first chapter, we will define some different capitals that social sciences contain: human, social and cultural capitals.

I.1. Human capital

Human capital (HK) is a broad and multifaceted concept encompassing many different types of investment in people as health, nutrition, mobility, education… investments which enhance the population’s ability to engage in productive activities. There is a broad consensus in the academic literature that human capital is an important determinant of productivity and other economic outcomes, both at the individual and at the aggregate level, and that its role is particularly crucial in today’s knowledge-driven economy.

The concept of human capital has a long history (Adam Smith, 1776), the term itself was first coined by economists T.W. Schultz and G.S. Becker less than 40 years ago. In his 1964 book Human Capital, G.S. Becker viewed education, on-the-job training and health as components of human capital with consequences for earnings and economic productivity.

The key aspect of human capital has to do with the knowledge and skills embodied in people and accumulated through schooling, training and experience that are useful in the production of goods, services and further knowledge. It can be distinguished between the following three components of human capital:

-General skills related to basic language and quantitative literacy and, more broadly, to the ability to process information and use it in problem-solving and in learning.

-Specific skills are those related to the operation of particular technologies or production processes.

-Technical and scientific knowledge, finally, refers to the mastery of specific bodies of organised knowledge and analytical techniques that may be of relevance in production or in the advance of technology.

Such terms reflect a wide consensus that nature and society both function in such a similar manner as traditional industrial infrastructural capital, that it is entirely appropriate to refer to them as different types of capital in themselves. In particular, they can be used in the production of other goods, are not used up immediately in the process of production, and can be enhanced (if not created) by human effort.

Also, number of research and available empirical evidence shows that human capital contributes significantly to productivity growth, both at the individual and at the aggregate level. Its role is particularly crucial in today’s knowledge-based economy as it plays a key role in fostering technological change and diffusion and the raise of quantity and quality of the stock of human capital is compatible with increasing social cohesion.

I.2. Social capital

While human capital is embodied in individuals, social capital is embodied in relationships. Social capital is increasingly seen as a useful concept tool for understanding the role of relations and networks in social and economic development. A multitude of definitions and understandings of social capital is possible ranging from those that emphasize the value to individuals of resources in the form of social relations in families and communities, to others that emphasize the role of networks and norms in civil society. For the most part, social capital has been defined in terms of networks, norms and values, an inherited culture, traditions of a given society and the way these allow agents and institutions to be more effective in achieving common objectives.

If there are many subtle aspects to defining social capital (SK), the term social capital was rendered popular by the contributions of Coleman (1988, 1990), Putnam (1993a and 1995b), Bourdieu (1997), Fukuyama (2000), World Bank (2002). Putman (1996) defines the “social capital (as)… features of social life-networks, norms, and trust that enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives”.

For Bourdieu (1986) “social capital – at last – is defined as the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition… which provides each of its members with the backing of collectively-owned capital”.

Exploring the relations between social capital and human capital, Coleman J.S. (1988) in Social Capital In the Creation of Human Capital, in American Journal of Sociology (S95-S120), defined the notion in the educational context as follows: “social capital is the set of resources that inhere in family relations and in community social organization and that are useful for the cognitive or social development of a child or young person”. More recently, Fukuyama (2000) sees social capital as “an instantiated informal norm that promotes cooperation between individuals. In the economic sphere it reduces transaction costs, in the political sphere it promotes the kind of associational life that is necessary for the success of limited government and modern democracy. Although social capital often arises from iterated Prisoner’s Dilemna games, it also is a by product of religion, tradition, shared historical experience, and other types of cultural norms.”...