Her research focuses on the emergence of firms, industries, and technologies around the world. One stream of research examines the emergence of nanotechnology entrepreneurship and the infrastructure necessary to support such activity such as government policies, professional conference, knowledge creation and transfer. A related research stream looks at social entrepreneurship around the world, particularly the areas of social value creation and variation in business models. Dr. Woolley's research has been published in Organization Science, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and Advances in International Management Research Series. She has presented her work at many conferences including the Academy of Management, Strategic Management Society, and Corporate Social Responsibility Americas annual conferences.