Rosalina Alcalde

Education

PhD in Sociology, awarded cum laude, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), and a Master’s in Public and Social Policy from Pompeu Fabra University and Johns Hopkins University.

Professional experience

She has devoted more than fifteen years to university teaching and research in the field of educational inequalities. She has also worked on a range of social consultancy projects and has advised on and designed socio-educational initiatives aimed at children and young people at risk.

“If I am who I am today — someone deeply committed to tackling social and educational inequalities — it is because I was once an early school leaver myself. I was born in Palma de Mallorca many years ago, into a family where no one had ever had the opportunity to study beyond the most basic education. I am the granddaughter of grandparents who could read but not write; the daughter of parents who attended schools where they were made to sit at the back of the classroom simply because they were the children of those who had been on the losing side of the war; the niece of aunts and uncles who spent their lives working; and the cousin of their sons and daughters, many of whom experienced the same educational failure that could so easily have awaited me.”

Having escaped this form of social determinism motivates her every day to continue working on projects that seek to drive educational change and transformation. This is why she has taken on the challenge of leading Equitat.org’s strategy to tackle early school leaving, seeking effective solutions and responses to one of the most pressing challenges facing educational equity.

Selected projects and publications

• Zero School Leaving Platform
• Zero School Leaving Week 2025
• 300 Letters to the Parliament Against Early School Leaving
• Towards a Country That Leaves No One Behind: Foundations for Leading Action During Zero School Leaving Week
• Comprehensive Support and the Prevention of Early School Leaving: Beyond Academic Support