Francisca Bustamante is a PhD student at the Department of Sociology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) and a Sociology Professional Degree from the Universidad Central de Chile (UCEN). Her research focuses on the sociology of education, particularly on student transitions and social inequalities regarding access to higher education. At present, her doctoral project analyzes persistent horizontal admission disparities resulting from the implementation of the university admission system following the reform of the 2010 Organic Higher Education Act in Ecuador.
Currently, she is part of the LEARNER project team as a research assistant at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
With extensive experience in the design and execution of public policy, as well as in the administration of higher education reforms in Ecuador, she has held government positions such as Under Secretary of State for Professional and Academic Training at the National Secretariat for Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT) and Director of Evaluation and Accreditation of Technical and Technological Institutes at The Higher Education Quality Assurance Council (CACES).
Her career also includes the role of Head of the Student Welfare Department at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Ecuador (PUCE), where she managed and designed programs aimed at enhancing the inclusion of underprivileged students.
In addition, she has taught in Chilean universities, delivering courses on sociology of education and educational research at the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (UMCE) and Universidad de Playa Ancha (UPLA).
Globalisation, Education and Social Policies 