Mario Small
Associate Professor
Carleton College, 1996
M.A. Harvard University, 1998
Ph.D. Harvard University, 2001
Office: Social Sciences 408
Phone: 773-834-5313
Email: mariosmall@uchicago.edu
Homepage: http://home.uchicago.edu/~mariosmall/
CV: Curriculum Vita
Professor Small’s research interests include urban poverty, inequality, culture, networks, case study methods, and higher education. He is currently working on several projects dealing with urban conditions, organizations, and networks.
One is a study of how the ability of low-income women to access to resources—information, goods, services, social networks—is shaped by their membership or participation in organizations. Based on survey and ethnographic research among parents in childcare centers, the study examines the organizational embeddedness of social inequality. A second project investigates the availability of day-to-day organizations—such as pharmacies, banks, grocery stores, hardware stores, childcare centers—in neighborhoods of different poverty levels. A third project, still in its early stages, examines how friendships are shaped by the social contexts in which they are formed and sustained.
Journals
Dr. Small is currently on the board of Social Science Quarterly. Next year, he'll be on the boards of the Social Psychology Quarterly and Sociological Forum.
Research Interests
Urban Sociology, Culture, Organizations, Education.
Selected Publications
Small, Mario L. and Christopher Winship. Forthcoming. "Black Students' Graduation From Elite Colleges: Do Institutional Characteristics Matter?" Social Science Research.
Small, Mario L. 2006. "Neighborhood Institutions as Resource Brokers: Childcare Centers, Inter-Organizational Ties, and Resource Access among the Poor." Social Problems. 53(2):274-92.
Small, Mario L. and Monica McDermott. 2006. "The Presence of Organizational Resources in Poor Urban Neighborhoods: An Analysis of Average and Contextual Effects." Social Forces. 84(3): 1697-1724.
Small, Mario L. and Laura Stark. 2005. "Are Poor Neighborhoods Resource- Deprived? A Case Study of Childcare Centers in New York." Social Science Quarterly. 86(s1):1013-36.
Small, Mario L. 2004. Villa Victoria: The Transformation of Social Capital in a Boston Barrio. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Small, Mario L. 2002. "Culture, Cohorts, and Social Organization Theory: Understanding Local Participation in a Latino Housing Project." American Journal of Sociology. 108(1):1-54. (Lead article)
