Kathia Serrano Velarde
Research Profile
Political Sociology | Organizational Sociology | Sociology of Knowledge & Science | Qualitative Methods
I am an organizational and political sociologist interested in how science, work, and public policies are structured, justified, and lived in practice. My work centres on three interconnected themes: the organization of scientific work, the dynamics of precarious careers, and the discursive practices through which institutions make sense of themselves. Trained at Centre de la Sociologie des Organisations in Paris, I approach organizing as an inherently political activity and view political action itself as an organizational problem.
Methodologically, I draw on a wide range of qualitative approaches. My work includes the analysis of large textual corpora through qualitative and computationally assisted discourse analysis, in-depth and semi-structured interviews, comparative case study designs, and ethnographic fieldwork. This combination allows me to examine how institutional categories emerge, stabilize, and shape actors’ identities, opportunities, and practices.
Selected Publications
- Hamann, J., & Serrano Velarde, K. (2024). Academic socialization: On a neglected effect of competition in science. Higher Education, 90(2), 321–336
- Clegg, S., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Serrano Velarde, K. (Eds.). (2024). Sociological thinking in contemporary organizational scholarship (Special Issue Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 90). Emerald.
- Bode, I., Jungmann, R., & Serrano Velarde, K. (2023). Mechanismen des Krisenmanagements in staatlichen Organisationsfeldern. Eine vergleichende Heuristik und resultierende Hypothesen. In I. Bode, R. Jungmann & K. Serrano Velarde (Eds.), Staatliche Organisationen und Krisenmanagement (Leviathan, 41, pp. 280–301).
- Hamann, J., & Serrano Velarde, K. (2023). The emergence of the academic candidate: Evaluation as textual dramaturgy. Valuation Studies, 10(1), 58–89.
- Serrano Velarde, K., Behrendt, K., & Dahl, P. (2023). „Ablehnungen gehören halt zum Geschäft.“ Lernprozesse in wissenschaftlichen Drittmittelbiografien. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 33(1–2), 137–162.
- Besio, C., Du Gay, P., & Serrano Velarde, K. (2020). Disappearing organization? Reshaping the sociology of organizations: Editorial. Current Sociology, 68(4), 411–418.
- Serrano Velarde, K. (2020). Informal learning in formal organizations: The case of volunteer learning in the hospital. Current Sociology, 68(4), 572–591.
- Serrano Velarde, K. (2018). The way we ask for money: The emergence and institutionalization of grant writing practices in academia. Minerva, 56(1), 85–107.
- Serrano Velarde, K., Hölz, M., & Schwarz, M. (2018). Zuschreibungsprozesse in der wissenschaftlichen Antragstellung: Eine historisch vergleichende Untersuchung der Antragsrichtlinien zur Drittmittelförderung. Soziale Welt, 69(4), 427–461.
Current Research Projects
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Curriculum Vitae
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Since 2014 | Full Professor of Political Sociology (W3), Max Weber Institute of Sociology, Heidelberg University |
2024 – 2026 | Member of the ATLAS Collaboration |
2013 – 2014 | Visiting Fellow PACS, Stanford University SCORE, Stockholm University |
2008 – 2013 | Assistant Professor (Sociology of Culture and Organization) Centre for Social Investment (CSI), Heidelberg University Max Weber Institute of Sociology, Heidelberg University |
2007 – 2008 | Post Doctoral Fellow, Sciences Po Paris |
2004 – 2007 | Doctoral Fellow, Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin, Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin |
External Functions
- Elected member of the senate at Heidelberg University
- Board Member of the DGS group on organizational sociology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie)
- Vice-President of RC 17 “Sociology of Organizations” at the ISA (International Sociological Association)
- Associate Editor of the Journal of Organizational Sociology (JOSO).