Mariana Estrada-Robles

Dr. Mariana Estrada-Robles is a Lecturer in Enterprise at the Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, within the Department of Management and Organisations. She is affiliated with the Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Studies and holds international affiliations as an Affiliated International Researcher at the Institute of Enterprising Families of Mexico and LATAM (IFEM), Tecnológico de Monterrey, and as Visiting Faculty at Audencia Business School.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Management (Entrepreneurship), University of Sheffield
• MBA, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
• BA in Marketing, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
• PGCAP, University of Leeds (Fellow of the Higher Education Academy)

Her research is centered on family entrepreneurship and family business, with a focus on how family dynamics and institutional contexts shape entrepreneurial behavior. She explores topics such as enterpriseness, resource flows within entrepreneurial families, and the role of human, social, and financial capital. She has expanded her work into third age entrepreneurship and digitalisation in SMEs, particularly examining knowledge transfer from education to practice. Her methodological expertise lies in qualitative research methods.

The most recent article reflects strong interdisciplinary engagement in entrepreneurship and family business, emphasizing structural coupling and resource mobilization. The work bridges family systems theory with entrepreneurial outcomes, showing how multi-generational and multi-business families sustain and propagate enterprising behaviors.

She is an active member of the academic community, serving on the editorial review board of the Journal of Family Business Management and as a reviewer for several journals including Journal of Management Studies and International Small Business Journal.

Dr. Estrada-Robles supervises PhD research, including Charles Zhuwau, and has secured research funding as Co-I on a £10,000 BA Leverhulme Small Research Grant titled "Mind the Gap: Investigating the Transfer of Digital Capabilities from the Classroom to the Business in SMEs". Her teaching spans postgraduate and undergraduate programmes across the UK, Mexico, France, and international summer schools, with extensive experience at EGADE Business School in Latin America. She has led academic trips to institutions including Yale School of Management and Texas A&M.

She actively disseminates her research through podcasts and blogs hosted by Entrepreneurship & Regional Development and LUBS Research and Innovation, focusing on digital transformation and familial support in entrepreneurship.