Chilean Students’ Perceived Difficulties Associated With Their College Experience

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating Barriers to Academic Performance

Abstract

Attrition rates in Chilean public universities have increased over the past few years reaching a national average of 23%. This situation involves costs both for universities and students. This paper explores, from students´ voices, the main difficulties experienced by them at some point of their trajectory that made them consider withdrawing or staying in college. Content analysis of an open-ended question-part of a larger study on student persistence conducted with 254 Chilean students-showed that the the difficulties were mainly personal but contextual components also appeared as relevant. Considerations for college remedial initiatives currently performed in Chilean universities to improve retention rates were discussed.

Authors

• Maria Paz Gomez-Arizaga, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

• Leonor Conejeros-Solar, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso