Factor and meanings of school dropout at the higher level. Case: Facultad de Odontología of UACH

Abstract

In Mexico as in other countries, the growing social demand for admission to higher education has resulted in the growth of enrollment and the diversification of the system at this educational level. In the case of the state of Chihuahua, in 2011, a decisive element was implemented in the political discourse of the state executive that focused on the total coverage of enrollment, progressively and accelerating increase school dropouts, which it has reached levels never before raised and that constitutes the object of study of the present investigation, centered in the deserting students of Dentistry majoratAutonomous University of Chihuahua (UACH). This problem has been analyzed from various theoretical-methodological approaches that have led to the identification of the fundamental aspects that lead students to make the decision to abandon their professional studies, among which personal, family, socioeconomic, and curricular aspects stand out. Institutional methodologically research in process is ascribed to the qualitative approach based on hermeneutics as a method and the in-depth interview and biographical narrative as research techniques. The initial transcripts were analyzed in the Atlas ti program, where two categories were identified: a) The transition from the intermediate education to higher education b) Academic stress, these categories constitutethe first findings and highlight some aspects relevant to the search of the factors and meanings of student desertion in higher education.