Gema Zamarro

Gema Zamarro (Ph.D. Economics, CEMFI & UNED, Madrid (Spain), 2006) is a Professor in Education Reform and Economics at the University of Arkansas and 21st Century Endowed Chair in Teacher Quality at the Department of Education Reform. Before joining the University of Arkansas, Zamarro was a Senior Economist at the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (2013-2014), an Economist at the RAND Corporation (2007-2013), and an assistant professor at the Department of Econometrics at Tilburg University in the Netherlands (2005-2007). Dr. Zamarro has performed research in the areas of education and labor economics. She has completed studies on heterogeneity in returns to education, teacher quality and student performance, the effect of school closing policies on student outcomes, the properties of teacher value-added methods, and the effects of dual-language immersion programs on student outcomes, among others. Her current research focuses on teacher labor markets, teacher recruitment and retention, teacher quality and teacher pensions issues, measurement and development of socio-emotional skills, determinants of gender gaps in STEM, and gender and education impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Zamarro’s work has been featured numerous times in the media and has helped inform policy at the state, national, and international levels.