Éxito académico de colectivos vulnerables en entornos de riesgo en Latinoamérica

We are all aware that the university sector has left the 20th century with an identity crisis. This has been precipitated by the numerous pressures exerted on higher education, largely as a result of the major changes affecting society in general. In addition to the tensions inherent in a change of model (elite university versus university open to all citizens), there are those specific to and linked to the different contexts in which it is located. The university seeks a certain internationalisation of learning and research, while at the same time demanding that it attend to local and national interests. The concern to adapt the university to the new reality is growing and is reflected in the intensification of meetings to debate the role and functioning of universities. All of them diagnose the reality and present options related to a greater connection between the university institution and the socio-cultural and economic reality. The contributions that make up this publication are part of the ACCEDES Project, “The access and academic success of vulnerable groups in risk environments in Latin America” (DCI-ALA/2011/232), coordinated by the Organizational Development Team of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and in which more than 30 institutions from Europe and Latin America actively participate. The Project, aligned with the development of current educational policies in response to an unsatisfactory reality, thus tries to help promote and encourage clear and stable university policies that contribute to substantial social improvements, which is the workhorse in most of today’s democratic societies. Unfortunately, institutions continue to reproduce inequalities and are not always a factor of social cohesion. In this context, it is forgotten that institutions are social structures created in and for society and that, in this regard, they should do something. The following text is intended to serve this purpose, and includes the proposal and most significant results of the ACCEDES Project in its first year of operation, which can be completed by visiting the project website. The first chapter presents the project design and the most relevant data on its development during its first year of life. The second chapter describes the problems addressed, trying to clarify the vocabulary, the approaches and the option adopted. Chapters III and IV summarise the reports produced by the different countries on the transition through university of vulnerable students, while Chapter V presents tools for the diagnosis and identification of vulnerable groups. Finally, Chapters VI, VII and VIII compile intervention strategies, references and good practices that can guide the development of intervention programmes.