Congratulations to Dr. María Elena Ortega Hesles for winning the Economics Award for her study titled “Mechanisms of Assignment and Educational Opportunities: The Process of Admission to Middle School in Mexico City.” This is the third time the award is given.

In her study, Ortega examines the equality of educational opportunities in the access, admission and graduation of middle school students in the metropolitan area of Mexico City. In her study, Ortega notes the stratification of students in different institutions according to socioecomical factors. She found that their surroundings “are as related to behavior as are the choices made during the admission process.”
Dr. Ortega holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from ITAM, and she has a master’s and a doctorate from Harvard University in education with a focus on quantitative analysis of educational policy.
Ortega Hesles has worked as a research analyst at the Bank of Mexico and as a consultant on educational projects in Mexico and other countries. She is a principal investigator for a study of reading in Mexico as part of the second round of the international challenge, “All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development,” which is sponsored by USAID, World Vision and the Australian government.