Fernanda Ramirez-Espinoza

My research

I am an Assistant Professor at College UC and the Department of Industrial Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and an invited researcher at J-PAL LAC. My research is focused on Latin-American educational policies and interventions, studying gender bias and its effects on educational outcomes. In particular, I am interested in understanding why women are underrepresented in STEM areas, how peers' gender affects women and men differently, and what interventions can be implemented to close the gender gap at all levels of education.

I received my Ph.D. in Education with a concentration in Education Policy and Program Evaluation in 2022 and a a Master of Public Policy in 2017, both from Harvard University. Prior to joining PUC Chile, I was a postdoctoral research fellow at JPAL-LAC.

I was a founder of Educación 2020, a Chilean educational advocacy NGO. I worked at the Ministry of Education in 2012, and then transferred to work in public policy analysis and fundraising for Educación 2020. In 2014 I  worked at America Solidaria Haiti as its Executive Director, based in Port au Prince, and then studied an MPP at the Harvard Kennedy School.