Self-Efficacy in Coworking-Spaces: An Analysis of the Sense of Community and Permeability

Coworking spaces enable coworker from different professional backgrounds to work together. Initial empirical findings suggest that coworking spaces provide a sense of community among professionals without a common professional affiliation. Our study is based on surveys of 208 users and 29 coworking space providers and by using structural equation modelling, we empirically analyze the relationship between the perceived sense of community, perceptions of its permeability, and the self-efficacy of its users. Additionally, we test the moderating effect of user-provider alignment in perceptions of sense of community on user self-efficacy. In this paper, we contribute to the seemingly contradictory notions of community and permeability in coworking spaces and how misaligned perceptions between users and providers lead to diminishing self-efficacy.