Dr. Martha Martinez-Firestone is an associate professor of Sociology. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses that focus on a sociological view of economic issues, including topics like global labor markets, organizational dynamics, social capital, entrepreneurship and modern capitalism. She is also a quantitative sociologist, teaching both basic and advanced statistics and research methods. She received her BA in Communications Sciences from Monterrey Institute of Technology, in Monterrey, Mexico. She obtained her MA and PhD in Economic Sociology by Duke University. Her research includes the topics of the role of social networking on the entrepreneurial success, evolutionary organizational theory and industry transformation, market dynamics on urban housing and global trade. Her current project is a textbook entitled The Employable Sociologist: A guide for undergraduates, where she aims to help students use sociological thinking to achieve their professional goals. Her work has been published in the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, Entrepreneurship Research Journal, Case Research Journal, the Handbook of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: Multilevel Linkages, the Handbook of Family Businesses, and the Handbook of Organisational Entrepreneurship, as well as edited volumes and encyclopedias.
Research Interests
- Economic Sociology
- Career Development for Sociologists
- Entrepreneurship
- Social Capital
- Sociology of Organizations, Work, and Occupations
- Globalization and Technology
Publications
Martinez,
Martha. (2017) “Chapter 9: Neighborhood Impacts of the Foreclosure Crisis.” Neoliberal
Chicago, edited by Larry Bennett, Roberta Garner and Euan Hague. Chicago:
University of Illinois Press.
Aldrich, Howard and Martinez, Martha (2015), Why Aren't Entrepreneurs More Creative? Conditions Affecting Creativity and Innovation in Entrepreneurial Activity, Oxford Handbook of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: Multilevel Linkages, Christina Shalley, Mike Hitt, and Jing Zhou (editors), Oxford University Press.
Martinez,
Martha A. and Aldrich, Howard.
(2013)“Sociological Theories in the Study of Family Business” for
Handbook of Family Businesses, Leif Melin, Mattias Nordqvist and Pramodita
Sharma (editors), SAGE.
Martinez, Martha A. and Aldrich, Howard E. (2011). Networking Strategies for Entrepreneurs: Managing Cohesion and Diversity, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, Vol. 17, Issue 1, pp. 7-38.
Martinez, Martha A. (2009). The Housing Crisis and Latino Home Ownership in Chicago: Mortgage Applications, Foreclosures, and Property Values. Series the State of Hispanic Housing, Institute for Latino Studies at University of Notre Dame.