About
María Villares-Varela is an Associate Professor in Sociology and Admissions Tutor of the Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology Department at the University of Southampton, and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Migrant entrepreneurship
- Work and employment relation in small firms
- Family businesses
- Gendered and class-based experiences of work
- High-skilled migration and Latin American migration
Current research
Maria is currently carrying out research on the links between migration, entrepreneurship and alternative forms of business support.
Research projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
Maria teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, such as:
SOCI2031 Social Theory
SOCI2020 Qualitative Research: Foundations, Principles and Skills
SOCI6043 Understanding Social Change
SOCI1001 Understanding Everyday Life
SOCI2008 Race and Ethnicity
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
María's research explores work and employment relations in migrant firms, with a particular focus on gendered and classed-based experiences of work. Prior to her role at Southampton María was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME), University of Birmingham, where she contributed to the Centre’s research in the area of migrant and ethnic minority entrepreneurship. Before that she was based at the International Migration Institute (IMI), University of Oxford, where she worked as a Research Officer in the projects ‘The Drivers and Dynamics of High-Skilled Migration’ and ‘The Determinants of International Migration’ (DEMIG).
She has published her research in a wide range of journals. She is member of the Editorial Board of the journal Work, Employment & Society and member of the Associate Board of the journal Sociology.
She has been a visiting scholar at COMPAS (University of Oxford); IMES (University of Amsterdam); ISET (London Metropolitan University); School of Social Sciences and Law (Oxford Brookes); and ERCOMER (University of Utrecht).
Prizes
- Negotiating class, career and femininities: Latin American immigrant entrepreneurs in Spain (2015)
- 2018 Highly Commended Award (2018)