Matthew Martinez (2026) | Sociology
Matthew Martinez’s SURF project examines the gap between corporate promises of workplace wellness and the lived realities of retail workers. Focusing on major corporations, his research explores how race, class, and job precarity shape access to mental health resources and work-life balance initiatives. Through a systematic literature review, Matthew challenges dominant narratives about corporate well-being programs and highlights structural inequalities within the retail industry.
How did your research question or process change over the course of the summer?
During my summer research, my question took a different direction than originally anticipated. I was digging for information on mental health, well-being, and work-life balance, and how major retailers help employees with these needs. Unfortunately, most of the information I was finding focused on companies and how they use third-party organizations to meet these needs. My initial approach was to see how accessible and involved the company was, and how this impacts workers affected by mental health and work-life balance issues. Discovering what actions were taken by companies to help these individuals, and how accommodating these companies were to workers. But my research did not take me in that direction; it opened up an additional avenue to help explain mental health, well-being, and work-life balance within the retail industry.
What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
The challenge I faced was not finding enough information to support my original approach to my research question. It was frustrating at the time, as I was wondering how I was going to complete my project or get the information needed to make my claim valid. Luckily, through some guidance from my SURF mentor, I talked through what I was experiencing. They asked me one simple question: “What was the information I was finding instead of the information I wanted to find”? I told them that I concluded there is a need for studies in the area I wanted to research, and that the information I did have led me in a different direction, to consider and help explain the main topic of mental health, well-being, and work-life balance within the retail industry.
What was one of the most exciting aspects of your research project that you were able to pursue?
Something that I found exciting during my research was that the unpredictability of employee schedules was a major factor when it came to employees who may suffer from mental health and well-being and work-life balance issues. The fear of not being able to work enough hours or the potential to be scheduled outside of their availability to work amplified mental health and work-life balance issues for employees. This showed potential for research on which demographics, genders, and other social and environmental factors contribute to mental health, well-being, and work-life balance in the context of unstable work schedules. Also, how does this affect employees’ work performance, drive, and willingness to work in the retail industry?
Did your research entail any travel? Fieldwork? Use of new technology, novel equipment or methodologies?
My research consisted of a systematic synthesis of academic literature and corporate policy data to identify significant gaps and contradictions in retail work. It analyzes economic inequality and employee burnout and evaluates the effectiveness of mental health policies at major firms such as Macy’s and Target. A central focus is the misalignment between corporate messaging and workplace reality, particularly regarding the role of managerial discretion in shaping racial disparities within the workforce.
What skills did you develop that you didn’t have before?
What I developed during this research project was how to review articles and complete an annotated bibliography of the articles that I was reading. I had never done an annotated bibliography before, and it was quite the task. It took a while to complete, as I sent it out to peers and my mentor for review. Making sure that my annotated bibliograph was set up to help me later on, rather than leave me with questions such as “why did I keep this article,” and “what methods were used to complete this article’s analysis.” I also learned to navigate archives more efficiently to find journal articles, corporate databases, and other materials essential to completing my project.
Have you had any opportunities emerge for you as a result of your summer research?
As of now, no major opportunities have emerged from my research, but I made some new connections within the sociology department and others outside of my discipline. These are are definite opportunities to collaborate and partner with other individuals. I do plan to apply to the sociology honors thesis program in the fall of 2026 and use the research I conducted during my SURF program as a steppingstone to get in. If I get into this program, I will submit my honors thesis for publication upon completion.
Are you thinking about or currently applying to graduate school or scholarships to support future research?
I have thought about graduate school as I know anything within sociology will be research heavy and I feel I have the tools to accomplish graduate school. I will also be looking into other scholarships to help support future research, whether it be this project or another in the future.
How did participating in the SURF (specifically the programming–the research cluster meetings and workshops) support your research process or feelings of preparedness?
The SURF program was amazing in offering workshops to help prepare you for your research project. I specifically liked that each college had its own mentor who could speak to issues across our departments. For instance, as I was in the L&S group, I spoke with other students and my SURF mentor, who understood the specific language and phrasing used within our departments and helped us brainstorm ideas, collaborate, and discuss wins and opportunities throughout our research project. Overall, the mentors and workshops prepared me to analyze academic journals and collect data from databases much more easily than if I had tried to complete that 100% on my own. The SURF program really prepares students who want to get into research with the tools to help them complete their current summer project and develop essential skills for future research.
What was it like working with your faculty mentor/ research advisor?
It was great working with both my faculty mentor and my research advisor, as both were supportive of my research project. It was reassuring that both of them found my project interesting and supported my development of research on my topic. Also, feedback was given to help me expand how I was approaching the project, instead of being so narrow-minded and almost biased, as I have a background in the retail industry for 20+ years. This helped me remove bias from my research and focus solely on the data.
How did being part of this program support or shape your research experience?
Being part of the SURF fellowship program has allowed me to become more confident in conducting research. Giving me the skills to obtain data from several different resources, and bridge the language gag of academia, which has allowed me to further develop my research in a multitude of directions. It also eased my shyness about asking for help and understanding that, though research can be done by yourself, even the work you do on your own requires a collaborative team for support, guidance, and feedback to improve your overall findings for final reporting.
What resources or opportunities provided by the program were most valuable to you?
For me, the best resources were the multitude of workshops available. There were workshops on every facet of conducting a research project. I didn’t understand how simple it would be to collect thoughts about your project by simply keeping a log and writing down ideas daily as they come up, then going back through those notes to jog your memory of the ideas you had one day, three days, or even 3 months ago. By doing this, I was able to reference things I had written days or weeks before and incorporate the ideas or try to answer the questions I had written down. This was just an example from one of the many workshops that were available during the fellowship program. It was empowering for me and I wish I had done a few more workshops, as I found them to be very insightful.