I am Fernando Carvallo Arrau, a PGR in Education at Moray House School of Education and Sport. My research focuses on the relationship between higher education expansion, public policy, and social inequality in Chile.
My PhD examines how the expansion of higher education has been conceptualised by policymakers and how patterns of participation in higher education have developed across different social groups. It also investigates longer-term changes in Chile’s social class structure alongside the expansion of the tertiary education system. By bringing these dimensions together, the project seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between higher education expansion and social inequality.
For the past decade, I have worked as both a lawyer and social researcher across Parliament, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Development, NGOs, and academia, contributing to policymaking and debates surrounding higher education reforms in Chile. These experiences have strengthened my commitment to producing rigorous research that can inform evidence-based education policy.