Sonia SIRAZ

Assistant Professor

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Research topics

1. Legitimacy and Legitimation Dynamics

2. Inclusive/Minority Entrepreneurship

3. Community-based enterprises

4. Business failures and recovery

5.Conjoint Experiments

Prizes and awards

Nomination for the Best Paper Award
2023
Diversity, Equality & Inclusion and Entrepreneurship
Best Paper Proceeding
2019
Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC)
Best Paper Proceeding
2017
ENT Division, Academy of Management (AOM)

Publications

Communications & Seminars

  • 2025: Co-organizer & Expert speaker 3rd Annual Legitimacy Workshop, Emlyon Business School, France
  • 2024: Keynote Speaker and Facilitator, 2nd Annual Legitimacy Workshop, VU Amsterdam, Netherlands European Academy of Management (EURAM) Annual Conference, Bath, UK: “Community socioemotional wealth in the realm of community based enterprises”, Siraz, S*.; Claes, B.; Sanchez-Preciado, D. ; Theodorakopoulos, N.
  • 2023: Academy of Management Annual Conference, Boston, MA, USA
  1. “The effect of ethno-racial stereotypes and familiarity on funding worthiness: Evidence about Latinx entrepreneurs in the United States”, Siraz, S.*; Claes, B.
  2. “Not All entrepreneurs Are Equal”, Siraz, S.*; Alvarez, S.; Claes, B. • Nominated for Best Paper Award for Entrepreneurship and Diversity, Equality & Inclusion

Invited Presentation 1st Organizational Legitimacy Workshop, The Next Decade of Legitimacy Research, “The influence of multiple validity cues on evaluators' propriety judgments”, HEC Lausanne, Switzerland

  • 2022: Invited Presentation at The Brookings Institution, Washington D.C, USA: "Understanding the root causes of the challenges faced by ethno-racial minority entrepreneurs in the United States"; Siraz, S.; Alvarez, S.; Claes, B. Academy of Management Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, USA: “All entrepreneurs are equal, but some are more equal than others” Siraz, S., Claes, B.
  • 2021: Diversity Forum “Dismantling Oppressive Systems: Building Just Communities”, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA: “All entrepreneurs are equal, but some are more equal than others: The effect of ethno-racial stereotypes on legitimacy perceptions” Siraz, S.*; Alvarez, S.; Claes, B.
  • 2019: Academy of Management Annual Conference, Boston, MA, USA: “Let's do the fracking talk! An experimental approach to understanding legitimacy perceptions” Siraz, S., Claes, B.; De Castro, J. European Academy of Management (EURAM) Annual Conference, Lisbon, Portugal: “Getting up after falling down: A tale of three communities,” Siraz, S.; Claes, B.; Sanchez-Preciado, D. Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC) and Diana International Research Conference, Wellesley, MA, USA: “Of course, I am fair...but it depends on your gender and on your origin: Legitimacy perceptions of entrepreneurial failures,” Siraz, S.* • Best Paper Proceedings
  • 2018: Academy of Management Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, USA: “Legitimate or Illegitimate? Insights into validity cues, core values, and legitimacy judgments,” Siraz, S.; Claes, B.; De Castro, J. European Academy of Management (EURAM) Annual Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland: “What is the quack about? Legitimacy struggles in the foie gras industry,” Claes, B.; Siraz, S.; De Castro, J. Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC), Waterford, Ireland: (two papers) “All entrepreneurs are equal, but some are women and immigrants: Legitimacy perceptions of business failures,” Siraz, S.; Giones, F.; Delgado-Marquez, L. “Getting up after falling down: A tale of three communities,” Siraz, S.; Claes, B.; Preciado-Sanchez, D.
  • 2017: Academy of Management Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, and European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS) Annual Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark: “The Foie Gras Wars: An exploratory study of divergent legitimacy in controversial industries,” Siraz, S.; Claes, B.; De Castro, J. Academy of Management Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA: “Getting up after falling down: A tale of three communities,” Siraz, S.; Claes, B.; Preciado-Sanchez, D. • Best Paper Proceedings
  • 2016: Academy of Management Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, USA: “The rise of the Phoenix: APROPESCA - A case study of community-based venture resurrection,” Siraz, S.; Preciado-Sanchez, D.; Claes, B. European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS) Annual Conference, Naples, Italy: “So you messed up...Now what? Making sense of post-scandal legitimacy,” Siraz, S.; Claes, B.; De Castro, J.
  • 2015: Academy of Management Annual Conference, Vancouver, Canada: “Disentangling legitimacy: Toward a typology of legitimacy states,” Siraz, S.; Claes, B.; De Castro, J. Iberoamerican Academy of Management (IAM), Santiago, Chile: “Neither Dr. Jekyll nor Mr. Hyde - Further understanding legitimacy: Dealing with indecision and divergence,”, Siraz, S.; Claes, B. • Award: Best Paper
  • 2014: European Academy of Management (EURAM) Annual Conference, Valencia, Spain: “Legitimate or Illegitimate: Do we agree?” Siraz, S.*; Claes, B.