Draft:Mark Frederick Figueroa

Figueroa is the son of the Jamaican poet and educator John Joseph Maria Figueroa and Dorothy Grace Murray Alexander Figueroa. He is one of seven children, being the brother of pediatrician D. Anna Figueroa Jarvis,^[5] public health professor and epidemiologist J. Peter Figueroa,^[6][7] author and independent filmmaker Esther Figueroa,^[8] and Robert Figueroa. He was also the brother of Catherine (Katy) Figueroa, a religious sister of the Order of Servants of Mary who died in 2022,^[9] and Thomas Figueroa, who died in 1975.^[10]

Figueroa pursued his higher education at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Economics, followed by a Master of Science in Economics.^[3] He later obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.^[3]

Figueroa pursued a forty-three year academic career at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, serving as a member of the staff within the Faculty of Social Sciences until his retirement in 2017.^[3] For the majority of his tenure, he was a member of the Department of Economics.^[3] He was promoted to the academic rank of Professor in 2011.^[1]

In addition to his teaching and research roles, Figueroa held multiple leadership positions at the university. He served as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences for an eight-year period spanning from 2004 to 2012.^[3][1] During the final three years of his active faculty tenure leading up to his retirement, he joined the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES).^[3]

Following his retirement from active faculty duties in 2017, Figueroa spent six years serving as an honorary fellow with the UWI Museum and Archives.^[3] He subsequently re-joined SALISES, where he serves as an Honorary Professor.^[3]

Mark Figueroa's research covers Caribbean political economy, specifically the history of regional economic thought, gender and socioeconomic outcomes, and Jamaica's electoral system.^[1] His work includes analyzing W. Arthur Lewis's insights and examining male academic performance in Jamaica, arguing that relative declines stem from the persistence of historic privileges rather than modern marginalization.^[11][12]

His research on "garrison communities" in Jamaica used electoral data to map political and socioeconomic impacts.^[13] Additionally, he contributed to regional migration studies with the Caribbean Diaspora Economy Research Group.^[1]

At the University of the West Indies, Mona, Figueroa initiated structural reforms, including developing summer schools, weekend degrees, and the Committee for Students with Disabilities. He also created new academic courses in Caribbean economic thought and sustainable development.^[1]

• Figueroa, Mark (1985). "An Assessment of Over Voting in Jamaican Elections". Social and Economic Studies. 34 (3): 71–106.
• Figueroa, Mark; Sives, Amanda (2002). "Homogenous Voting, Electoral Manipulation and the 'Garrison' Process in Post-Independence Jamaica". Commonwealth & Comparative Politics. 40 (1): 81–108. doi:10.1080/713999580.
• Figueroa, Mark (2004). "Male privileging and male 'academic underperformance' in Jamaica". In Reddock, Rhoda E. (ed.). Interrogating Caribbean Masculinities: Theoretical and Empirical Analyses. Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 978-976-640-138-2.
• Figueroa, Mark (2018). "W. Arthur Lewis: Mild Afro-Saxon or Militant Anti-racist?". In Hutton, Clinton; Thame, Maziki; McCalpin, Jermaine (eds.). Rupert Lewis and the Black Intellectual Tradition. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers. pp. 250–279.
• Figueroa, Mark (2019). "Towards an Accurate and Comprehensive Understanding of W. Arthur Lewis's 1950s Caribbean Prescriptions". Social and Economic Studies. 68 (1/2). Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies: 5–43. JSTOR 45288265.