Rita Schmutz

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Social Sciences at the University of Lausanne, where I blend research and practical experience to understand how policies shape social inequality. My expertise lies in quantitative methods, with a particular focus on causal inference and computational methods. My research interests include education and early childhood policies, child development, and social stratification.

My research focuses on how policy evaluation can reveal the disconnect between policy design and implementation, uncovering gaps that lead to differing outcomes. My thesis explores education and early childhood policies to understand how they can mitigate inequalities over the life course. My goal is to turn these insights into evidence-based policymaking, ensuring that policies achieve their intended effect rather than producing unexpected outcomes that widen inequality gaps. 

With hands-on experience in government roles in Brazil and Switzerland, as well as within United Nations organizations, I have monitored and evaluated policies across various fields. These experiences have informed the questions I study and their real-world implications, fueling my commitment to fostering social equity through informed policy decisions.