Rita Schmutz

I am Ph.D. student in Social Sciences at the University of Lausanne, affiliated with both the Life Course and Inequality Research Centre and LIVES Center.  I have a BA in Public Policy from the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and a Master in Applied Economics from the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland). 

I am interested in advancing the agenda of evidence-based policy, with a keen interest in understanding how policies impact inequalities. My research interests are early childhood development, social policy, and quantitative methods, especially causal inference and computational methods. In my thesis, I analyze different education policies in Switzerland to understand their effect on equality of opportunity. 

I worked for the São Paulo State Government (Brazil), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and other public organizations.