Bridging the Education Divide: Comparing the Socioeconomic Disparities that Shape PISA Performance in Spain and Mexico

This article is part of our collaboration with International Policy Review at IE University. Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons.

Abstract

Educational inequality has been and continues to be a prominent hurdle to achieving economic growth and social mobility, especially in countries with significant socioeconomic disparities. This paper examines the impact of these disparities on students’ educational performance in Spain and Mexico, utilizing the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as the point of reference. Despite the two countries’ historical connection and shared language, Spain consistently accomplishes higher results than Mexico. Through a comparative analysis, this paper highlights the main factors that have led to Spain’s relative success, including, but not limited to, better allocation of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), ECE (Early Childhood Education) investment, and enhanced classroom curriculum. The research not only demonstrates which policies have contributed to Spain’s success but also analyzes their potential to be implemented in Mexico. The data indicates that through various policy interventions, such as bettering teacher salaries and training, minimizing dropout rates, promoting ICT accessibility, and developing educational governance, education becomes more equitable. By drawing upon insights from Spain’s educational programs, Mexico can implement policies and restructure institutions to conceive a fairer learning system, thus facilitating social mobility and long-term economic growth.

1. Introduction

Plato once stated, “The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.” He believed that a just society could only exist if all social classes had access to the same quality of education. To him, education was the foundation of fairness and social order, highlighting its transformative power.

Yet the problem in today’s society is that education does not utilize its power as a great equalizer because most students from marginalized communities remain trapped in endless cycles of poverty, unable to acquire the level of education they deserve. Can we truly reduce inequality without first ensuring that every person, regardless of background, has access to the same high-quality education? Today, a student’s socioeconomic status largely dictates their educational opportunities, creating lifelong disparities in wealth, career prospects, and social mobility. If we are to build a more equitable society, we must start by addressing these educational inequalities. 

1.1 The Great Equalizer

Education is often called the Great Equalizer because it is a vital factor in creating a fairer society, as well as bridging the gap of the existing socioeconomic disparities across most countries today. Today, the reality is that those countries that have flourishing educational systems tend to also be the countries with more economic, social, and political success. This is because education is the most important force that drives society forward, leading to a productive workforce, technological advancements, economic development, and happier people. Educational equality isn’t the reality for most societies across the world, however. For example, according to UNESCO, only 13% of the lower class in Sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school, a stark contrast to 70% of the upper class. And, due to late enrollment in Haiti, 17% of nineteen-year-olds remain in primary school. These are a few examples of patterns that occur in most, if not all, low and middle-income countries in the world. A pattern of educational inequality that only reinforces economic stagnation, an unskilled and unproductive workforce, and a society that continues to be plagued by poverty.

Furthermore, those who come from low-income backgrounds or live in underfunded communities have worse performance in education systems. In Latin America, for example, there is a strong, positive correlation between a child’s test scores in mathematics, language, and science, and their family’s socioeconomic status. Essentially, the better the socioeconomic status of a family is, the higher the test scores of the child (IADB). This can be attributed to better access to educational resources, more funding for schools, higher quality instructors, the student’s expectations of themselves, and more. Different socioeconomic inequities, such as poverty, race, ethnicity, and gender, all intersect to create unequal education systems in which students from marginalized backgrounds receive less and lower-quality education. These disparities are incredibly crucial to address, as quality, equitable education sets a nation up for future economic, social, and political success.

1.2 Human Capital Theory

To further understand the broader implications of the effects of socioeconomic disparities in education, one must understand Human Capital Theory, first coined by Gary S. Becker, an economics and sociology professor at the University of Chicago. First, we must define the term human capital. Human capital refers to the skillset, knowledge, and education that an individual or worker holds. Individuals typically acquire this ‘capital’ through years of formal schooling, vocational training, or job experience. The human capital theory views the conglomeration of skills as capital that contributes to higher productivity and economic output, just like financial capital or physical capital. A more dedicated focus on producing quality human capital can lead to higher long-term economic growth, as the workers who uphold the economy are better equipped to be the most productive. In fact, according to Becker, human capital is one of the most important factors in driving forward an economy through technological advancements. This is because the implementation of technological advancements depends upon the prominence of skilled workers in a given economy who can operate these new technologies. This is where human capital comes in. If the workers of an economy are not sufficiently skilled, then new technologies cannot be implemented, thus stunting the possibilities of economic growth. 

Having established the crucial role that human capital plays in driving forward an economy, it is plain to realize the importance of quality, equitable education in a society. Solid educational institutions provide uniform, consistent learning experiences for everyone, across all socioeconomic standings. Unfortunately, this isn’t the reality in most countries across the world. Those born and raised in wealthier environments will receive higher quality education and be able to produce higher income skillsets, therefore set up to be more successful economically than those in disadvantaged socioeconomic environments. Essentially, those who can access high-quality primary, secondary, and tertiary education will have more human capital than those who aren’t able to, which will reinforce pre-existing socioeconomic inequalities.

1.3 Reducing Inequalities

Given how socioeconomic inequalities affect educational outcomes, this paper aims to address Sustainable Development Goal #10, Reducing Inequalities, by analyzing why making quality education accessible to all is crucial to closing the socioeconomic gap. More specifically, the objective will be to answer the question: How do socioeconomic disparities in Spain and Mexico affect student performance on the PISA exam, and what policies could help bridge the achievement gap? 

2. Methodology

2.1 Comparative Analysis

First and foremost, this paper employs a comparative educational analysis, which is a research framework where a comparison involving the educational systems and practices of two or more countries is utilized, to evaluate their similarities and differences. In this case, Mexico’s and Spain’s educational systems were analyzed and compared, making Spain a point of reference for policy recommendations and for what Mexico should strive to achieve in terms of reducing inequalities. Mexico and Spain were compared in four aspects:

• GDP allocation to educational institutions
• Access to early childhood education (ECE)
• Teacher salaries and qualifications
• Dropout rates

Most importantly, the comparative analysis seeks to understand the cause and effect of each of the categories in both Spain and Mexico. Specifically, the socioeconomic inequalities and disadvantages that affect marginalized communities. This comparison is critical to offer effective policy recommendations for each country. 

2.2 PISA Exam

As a base for this comparison, this paper utilizes scores from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The PISA is an international exam given to 15-year-olds in math, science, and reading in more than 80 countries, testing the students’ abilities to use problem-solving and critical thinking, drawing on real-world situations. Rather than focusing on memorization of facts and concepts, the PISA exam attempts to test students’ capacities in more realistic problem resolution- a big reason why the PISA exam is highly valued in analyzing education systems. 

The OECD has found that high-scoring PISA countries tend to have higher-performing, more successful economies. This can be explained by the simple idea that higher quality education leads to better-prepared, more productive workers and thus a more successful economy. The PISA has consequently become an indicator of economic success as well as a point of reference for countries seeking to reform their education systems, by analyzing the policy-making of high-scoring PISA nations.

Essentially,  this paper will employ Mexico and Spain’s scores from the PISA exam as a benchmark for identifying their educational systems’ strengths and weaknesses, to guide policy reforms, and determine what areas need improvement. 

2.3 Interview

In addition, to gain further knowledge on how socioeconomic factors affect the quality of education students receive and their educational achievement, an interview was conducted with Emma Ingrid Naslund-Hadley, the Principal Education Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank, in Washington DC. Throughout her career, she oversaw the design and execution of various education sector projects and reforms throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The interview, which was conducted online through a video conferencing platform, was semi-structured as an interview guide was used that allowed for follow-up questions. She shared insights on the key issues in educational equity, pulling examples from programs and interventions she managed to help students from marginalized communities. This interview provided valuable guidance on how this paper should be structured and what it should focus on. 

2.4 Secondary Sources

Lastly, this paper employs data from OECD reports, PISA scores, and academic literature. It also employs a descriptive and explanatory approach as it examines ways Mexico and Spain can decrease socioeconomic inequalities in their education system, and a normative approach as it provides policy recommendations tailored to Mexico. 

3. Comparative Analysis

3.1 Overview of Mexico and Spain’s education systems

To lay the groundwork for comparing Mexico’s and Spain’s educational systems, it is imperative to comprehend how each country structures its education. 

Up front, the Mexican education system, like many others, has undergone various reforms and changes in the last 40 years in hopes of providing universal, equitable education to its diverse society. Historically, the Mexican education system was characterized by a highly centralized organization, in which the federal government took charge of policymaking. However, because of Mexico’s stark heterogeneity, the government’s reforms began to take a more decentralized approach as the decades passed, to ensure marginalized groups received a higher quality education.  Moreover, the public education system is structured into three parts: basic education, which includes pre-primary, primary, and lower secondary education; upper secondary education, which prepares those who seek tertiary education and vocational education; and tertiary education.

Today, Mexico falls behind international standards and comes up short in education in comparison to other OECD countries. However, the government and its reforms have led to increased expenditures on education, pre-primary enrollment, student-teacher ratio, and other positive metrics, such as instruction time. So, despite not yet being able to match up to international standards, Mexico’s continued reforms have shown promising improvements in its education systems.

On the other hand, Spain’s education system evolved in a very different context, shaped by its transition to democracy in 1975, after Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. The Constitution of 1978 guaranteed the right to education for all Spanish citizens, as well as the right of parents to choose the religious and moral education of their children. Spain’s educational structure is divided into four stages: pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary. And, there are three different types of schools within the system. There are private schools, public schools, and also concertados, which are state-funded private schools that are less expensive than traditional private schools. The government also requires every village to have a public school, whereas concertados tend to be in larger cities where education is in higher demand. Concertados are a great example of how Spain’s government has responded to the need to create educational equality by federally sponsoring and regionally funding partly private schools to lower costs for low-income families.

To synthesize, Mexico and Spain have distinct educational systems and have implemented reforms to fit different needs. Mexico aimed its reforms towards decentralizing to help marginalized groups, while Spain centered its reforms on offering diverse educational opportunities. 

3.2  PISA Score Trends and Interpretation

Having outlined both education systems, this section will now analyze and compare both countries’ PISA scores utilizing Figure 1. While the PISA  exam assesses mathematics, science, and reading, this paper will only interpret data from countries’ performance in mathematics, as that is enough for a meaningful comparison. 

As stated above, Figure 1 displays the mathematics scores for Mexico and Spain in comparison with each other, along with the OECD average, Singapore (highest score in 2022), and Cambodia (lowest score in 2022). Overall, Spain’s scores have remained at the same level as the OECD average, with little to no increase, while Mexico continuously scores well below both, again with almost no increase. This graph also demonstrates that the gap between Spain and Mexico has not diminished, meaning that neither country has been able to accomplish long-term improvements. This graph also depicts Singapore, which ranks well above Spain, and Cambodia, which ranks well below Mexico.  This contextualizes where Spain and Mexico stand on a global scale, to understand the disparities in global education systems, which indicate a need for educational policy reforms. Singapore’s scores are a likely product of a highly developed education system with proper allocation of resources. On the other hand, Cambodia’s and Mexico’s scores underline the disadvantages that lower-income countries have to overcome, especially those with restricted educational infrastructure.

 Fig. 1. Chronological evaluation of PISA scores from 2000 to 2022.

Source: PISA Scores by Country 2025.

3.3 GDP Allocation on Educational Institutions 

One of the principal factors to explore when analyzing how a country can reduce inequalities is how much of its GDP it allocates towards education. This displays how much a government is interested in human capital and providing equal opportunities for everyone. In other words, if either Mexico or Spain wants to close their socioeconomic gap, allocating enough resources to a quality education is essential. As of now, Mexico spends 4.5% of its GDP on education while Spain spends 4.9%. While those numbers are almost the same, Spain can get higher scores on the PISA exam, so clearly, there are disparities in educational quality and accessibility, which suggest that efficiency and strategic allocation of educational resources are key. In other words, it is not just about how much each country spends on education, but where that money is spent. More specifically, Mexico should prioritize early childhood education, teacher salaries and qualifications, and lowering dropout rates. 

3.4 Early Childhood Education (ECE)

As previously stated, early childhood education is deeply connected to reducing inequalities in education and socioeconomic status, as it provides children with a strong educational groundwork. In the case of  Mexico and Spain, access to ECE displays significant discrepancies, which demonstrates the broader disparities in public investment and social priorities. In Mexico, only 39% of 3-year-olds are enrolled in early education, while in Spain, a favorable 64% 3-year-olds are enrolled. This gap gets increasingly larger as just 8% of 2-year-olds in Mexico enroll in ECE programs. What these percentages reveal is a lack of government funding in ECE, with Spain allocating 0.8% of their GDP to ECE and Mexico only 0.5%.  These figures emphasize the gap present in early childhood development, especially in children from marginalized communities. While Spain recognizes the role ECE plays in reducing socioeconomic disparities, Mexico has struggled to provide ECE access to disadvantaged students. If Mexico wants to close this developmental gap, it is clear they must invest in providing quality early childhood education to lower-income families, otherwise, they will continue to perpetuate cycles of poverty.

3.5 Teacher salaries and qualifications

While it is evident that investing in ECE will help minimize socioeconomic gaps, another component that is crucial to analyze is the teacher salaries in both countries and their implications for reducing socioeconomic inequalities in education.  Intriguingly, Mexico pays higher salaries to teachers on average than Spain, as teachers in Spain receive USD 33,529.92 on average, and in Mexico, teachers earn USD 62,681, surpassing the OECD average of USD 53,456. Nevertheless, Mexico has continuously ranked lower than Spain on the PISA exam. This amplifies the notion that the issue isn’t that teachers don’t get paid a sufficient amount, but rather in teacher qualifications,  training, and classroom structure. For instance, Spain employs a low student-teacher ratio method, where they have 12 students per teacher in primary education, 11 in lower secondary, and 10 in upper secondary, which is interesting given that the OECD averages are 14, 13, and 13. These smaller class sizes contribute to better learning outcomes by allowing teachers to provide more individualized attention. 

In addition, Emma Ingrid Naslund-Hadley was able to share noteworthy insights about educational models in Latin America and how current curricula are too long, leading to superficial learning, and seizing the opportunity for students to connect with the material on a deeper level. And while students from wealthier backgrounds can compensate for these learning and curriculum gaps through private tutoring and additional academic support, low-income students face barriers in achieving upward social mobility.

In brief, large class sizes, outdated curricula, and insufficient teacher preparation contribute to persistent learning gaps, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Investing in reforms geared towards optimized classroom structure and teacher training will only enhance human capital, which is the goal. 

3.6 Dropout rates

Lastly, it is apparent that the way countries allocate their GDP for education impacts how early students enter the system and whether or not students obtain conceptual knowledge in areas such as mathematics and science. Yet there is one last component that is greatly influenced by socioeconomic factors: dropout rates. Mexico has a dropout rate of 2.7% for middle and high school, but in Spain, compulsory education ends at 16 so the early education dropout rate, which includes 18-24-year-olds,  is 13%. 

In this case, students from marginalized communities in Mexico are at higher risk of dropping out of school due to teen pregnancies, substance abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault.  In addition, Emma Ingrid Naslund-Hadley also stated that there is a significant infrastructure issue as there are almost no schools to send these students to as they live far away. Above all, a major factor in the dropout rates is the lack of quality education, especially when coupled with the exposure to the vulnerabilities mentioned above. 

In Spain, dropout rates are a product of various factors such as academic difficulties, lack of motivation, peer pressure, socio-economic hardships, family-related issues, and systemic educational challenges.

4. Policy Recommendations

Overall, Spain has accomplished tremendous progress in reducing dropout rates and improving education quality, leaving Mexico with many lessons and policy reforms. Some of these are: 

• Reducing Student Dropout Rates in Mexico Through Targeted Incentives: In-school feeding, night school, and building schools closer to underserved communities. 
• Reducing Student Dropout Rates in Spain through financial aid incentives, school meals, and counseling support. 
• Learning Inequalities Reforms: intercultural and bilingual education, curriculum modernization. 
• Strengthening Education Governance and Parental Involvement: Pamphlets, workshops, and school meetings, to inform parents about the long-term benefits of education
• Enhancing Teacher Qualifications: Spain has made strides in improving pre-service and in-service teacher training, so Mexico should strive to employ a similar system. 

5. Conclusion

To recapitulate, this paper delves into reducing inequalities by analyzing the socioeconomic disparities that influence PISA performance scores in Spain and Mexico.  Linking SDG#10 with SDG#4, emphasizes that educational disparities are at the root of the gap between low and high socioeconomic statuses. A strong foundation of equitable education is key to closing broader socioeconomic gaps and increasing economic mobility. 

As explained in Human Capital Theory, investing in knowledge, skills, and education will increase economic prosperity, therefore closing socioeconomic gaps. Thus, Mexico needs to make equitable education its top priority and focus on early childhood access, modernized curricula, comprehensive teacher training, and targeted interventions to prevent dropout. 

In short, Spain was able to provide great insights into how Mexico can address the socioeconomic inequalities that marginalized students face.  However, there are still loads of improvements to be made on both sides, as time is of the essence if the goal is to prevent more generations from being trapped in cycles of disadvantage. To reinforce the words of Plato, education is at the heart of fairness in society, so the time to employ its transformative power is now. 

6. List of Figures

Figure 1: Chronological evaluation of PISA scores from 2000 to 2022 ……..………………………………………..…………….. 7

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