Dropout from vocational technical education

The thesis prepared by Pedro Sotomayor Soloaga, entitled "Explanatory factors of academic dropout in technical professional higher education. A multi-case study in Chilean institutions", has been directed by Dr David Rodriguez-Gómez. The thesis has been defended before the tribunal formed by Mercedes Torrado Fonseca (University of Barcelona), acting as President, Antonio Navío Gámez (Autonomous University of Barcelona), acting as secretary and Julio Meneses Naranjo (UOC), acting as member.

Professional Technical Education is currently considered a priority and one of the great challenges for Chilean education, since it is conceived as a strategic area for the development of the country. The great growth that enrollment in Higher Education has experienced as a whole has unfortunately been accompanied by worrying dropout rates, a situation that becomes even more complex in a context of deficit of professional technicians and where, in addition, research is scarce . In this framework, this research has aimed to analyze the factors that explain academic dropout in Chilean Higher Technical Professional Education, in a study of multiple cases where four Chilean higher education institutions that teach careers of a professional technical level have participated, selecting as key informants to managers, teachers and students.