Profile
Maria Carmen is a Ph.D. Candidate in Business-Society Management. After working in several international non-profit organizations focused on gender equity and reproductive health, she joined ERIM in September 2019. In her research she takes an organizational lens to uncover the ways in which inequalities are reinforced and perpetuated through organizational discourses and practices, policies and regulations. Specifically, her research starts from the recognition that while menstrual health has been proven to affect women’s opportunities, health and inclusive participation in society, it is widely missing from existing work for gender equity. Bringing together literatures on social entrepreneurship, social movements and institutional change, she studies how different stakeholders organize around menstrual health, competing, collaborating and constructing new meanings around it.
On the side of her research, Maria Carmen is the Innovation Advisor at the Menstrual Health Hub and is regularly consulted across the Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) space for her expertise in MHH related business innovation.
Maria Carmen obtained her Master of Science (MSc) degree in Global Business and Sustainability from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (2017) and her Bachelor degree (BSc) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (cum laude) from LUISS University, Rome (2016).
Publications
Chapter (1)
Academic (1)
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Punzi, M. C., & Werner, M. (2020). Challenging the Menstruation Taboo One Sale at a Time: The Role of Social Entrepreneurs in the Period Revolution. In C. Bobel, I. T. Winkler, B. Fahs, K. A. Hasson, E. A. Kissling, & T. A. Roberts (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (pp. 833-851). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0614-7_60
Featured in the news
Featured on RSM Discovery
Are free tampons enough? Actually, there’s a lot more that organisations should consider for employees’ well-being.
This edition features Maria Carmen Punzi who contributes to worldwide gender equity by focusing on menstrual health.
