Alejandra Mizala holds an economics degree from the University of Chile and a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the Provost of the University of Chile, Professor with the Center of Applied Economics of the Department of Industrial Engineering and researcher of the Center for Advanced Research in Education also at the University of Chile. She is fellow of the International Academy of Education.

 

She was founder and the first Director of the Institute of Education (2017-22) and Director of the Center for Advanced Research in Education (2015-22) both at the University of Chile.

 

She has written articles, chapters in books and two books on a wide range of education topics. Her research is on the Economics of Education, with a focus on the impact of institutional arrangements and reforms on the outcomes of the Chilean school choice system, teachers’ labor market, and gender equality in education.

 

Other past appointments include, Vice-chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chilean National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT) (2017-19 and member of the Board of Directors of CONICYT (2015-17), Chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering (2011-15), member elected of the Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Association’s Executive Committee (2011-15), President of the Chilean Economic Association (2004-05) and member of the Science Council of the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) (2006-09).

 

She has been a member of the group of international experts in charge of the Global Education Assessment, MGIEP-UNESCO (2019-21). She was member of the International Panel of Experts of the Admission System to Chilean Universities (2017-19) and (2021), advisor to the Ministry of Education (2014-15). She served as a commissioner on the Minimum Wage Committee (2010-11), the Presidential Labor and Equity Council (2007-08), the Presidential Pension Reform Council (2006) and the Presidential Education Reform Council (2006).

 

She has received the Energía de Mujer Award for her contribution to Chilean Education ENEL 2017; the Amanda Labarca Award in 2015, awarded by the University of Chile in order to recognize academics who have excelled in their profession, in the field of culture or in service to the country, and the 2015 ComunidadMujer Award for her research on gender gaps in education. Since 2015, she is part of the Circle of Honor of the Faculty of Economic and Business at the University of Chile. She has also received the distinction of Women Leaders 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2017, granted by El Mercurio and Mujeres Empresarias, and the XXI Century Women Generation a recognition from the University of Chile in 2004.

 

She has worked as a consultant of international organizations (World Bank, IADB, UNESCO and ECLAC), foreign governments and the Chilean public sector, mainly the Education Ministry.