The Barcelona Economics Institute (IEB) has just published IEB Report 4/2023, coordinated by University of Barcelona (UB) professor Andreu Arenas. The issue looks at effective policies for quality and equality of opportunity in education.

The presentation took place at an event featuring several speakers, including, in addition to Professor Arenas, Mr. Antón Costas, president of the Economic and Social Council, Ms. Mónica Nadal, research director and a member of the executive team of the Bofill Foundation, Mr. Oriol Escardíbul, general manager of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Ms. Cristina García-Herrera, director of studies at the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IEF), Professor José Montalbán, from the Swedish Institute of Social Research, and Mr. Martí Parellada, president of the IEB.

The IEB Report addresses the issue of inequality as it relates to education, building on the premise that inequality persists across generations and poses a challenge for society. A key question, therefore, posed by the various researchers is how to reward the merits of the current generation, with the ensuing increase in social welfare, without conditioning the development of subsequent ones. Education institutions – i.e. the provision and funding of education by governments – play a vital role in answering this question. A crucial aim of education policy is thus to eliminate the barriers that might prevent students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds from realizing their full potential.

IEB Report 4/2023 includes 3 articles. The first was co-authored by five academics: Sven Resnjanskij (Konstanz University), Jens Ruhose (Kiel University), Katharina Wedel (University of Munich), Simon Wiederhold (Halle University), and Ludger Woessmann (University of Munich). It is entitled “Mentoring Helps Highly Disadvantaged Adolescents.” The second, by Professor Gill Wyness, of the UCL Centre For Education Policy and Equalising Policy Opportunities (CEPEO), is entitled “Designing Higher Education Finance.” Finally, the third, by Profesor José Montalbán, of the Swedish Institute of Social Research, is entitled “Need-based Financial Aid and Academic Requirements.”