Download or read book Essays on Inequality of Opportunities in Education written by Ana Carolina Trindade Ribeiro and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is generally accepted that education is a powerful enabler of social mobility in the modern world. However, access to quality and specialized education is still highly unequal, creating pathways for some groups of people and barriers to others. This dissertation explores three approaches to understanding and addressing inequalities of opportunity in three separate chapters. The first chapter examines the importance of test design, in particular the time limit component, as a driver of gender gaps in performance. The second chapter evaluates the potential of a growth mindset intervention for narrowing gender gaps in challenge-seeking and competitive behavior. The third chapter investigates the educational attainment and labor market outcomes of an affirmative action policy for college admission that targets low-income and underrepresented racial minorities. Respective results show that changing the time limit of a test may increase female representation in competitive programs, teaching growth mindset may help some women become more challenge-seeking and competitive, and that affirmative action can more than double the chances of black low-income students entering a prestigious career without negatively impacting the prospects of students displaced by the policy. In summary, these studies provide evidence that informs the potential of an institution, a practice, and a policy to open pathways for more equitable opportunities in education and the labor market.