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About
Research topic:
Early childhood mechanisms of inequality and their implications for life-course trajectories
Daniela is an ESRC-funded PhD student in the Department of Social Policy. She holds a master's in Public Administration (MPA) from the London School of Economics and a BA in Sociology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her research examines how socioeconomic inequality shapes children’s developmental trajectories, with a broader interest in early human capital formation, early-life risk, and the accumulation of disadvantage across the life course. Her doctoral project investigates how family, neighbourhood, and institutional mechanisms jointly contribute to the emergence of early skill gaps in Chile.
Before starting her PhD, Daniela worked as a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Justice and Society at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she focused on childhood and state intervention. Her work examined the experiences and life-course trajectories of children in contact with child protection and juvenile justice systems, and she led multiple quantitative and qualitative projects on residential care reform, drug treatment programmes for justice-involved youth, and early-life vulnerabilities among children entering state care. She later worked as a research fellow at SUMMA, an education policy lab supported by the Inter-American Development Bank, where she contributed to impact evaluations of education programmes across Latin America. Daniela has also worked as a consultant for UNICEF, the World Bank, Chile’s Child Protection Service, and the Ministry of Social Development, supporting the design and evaluation of early childhood and youth policies.
Research interests:
Early childhood development; Human capital formation; Childhood inequalities; Social policy and early-life interventions; Life-course processes
Supervisors: Professor Kitty Stewart, Dr Tania Burchardt
Expertise details: Social movements, NGOs, Environmental politics, Alliances, Humanitarianism