Barriers for the professional development of students from indigenous communities in Southern Mexico
Published 2025-05-13
Keywords
- grupos étnicos,
- interculturalidad,
- lengua materna,
- profesionalización
- ethnic groups,
- interculturality,
- native language,
- professional development
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2025

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Educational barriers for people with disabilities have been widely studied, however, barriers to professional development for indigenous students in university remain underexplored. This study aimed to identify the factors contributing to student dropout at Intercultural Universities (UI). To collect empirical data, three focus groups were conducted in the following UIs: Oxolotán, Villa Tamulté de las Sabanas Academic Unit and Villa Vicente Guerrero Academic Unit, all of them located at the Southeast of Mexico. Information was collected from 21 students who were at risk of failing, repeating a course or undergoing a special evaluation of a course. The study showed that the most frequently reported barriers were: work, economy, single-parent families and native language. The study concluded that the barriers limited economic resources and the need to contribute to household income, single-parent family structures and native language.
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