University desertion in the Colombian context: diachronic journey between 2018 and 2022

Abstract

The objective of this reflection article is to analyze with a diachronic approach the crisis of higher education in Colombia between the years 2018 and 2022, a period that brings together three moments of relevance for education in the national context: before the Covid- 19, during the pandemic and the return to face-to-face. It corresponds to a descriptive level study that is framed in the interpretive paradigmatic perspective, the qualitative approach and the hermeneutical approach called discourse analysis. Secondary sources are used: scientific articles published in different databases such as Dialnet, Redalyc, Latindex, Scielo, Scopus, among others. Documentary analysis was used as an information collection technique supported by an analytical systematization matrix. The results show that university dropout is not a phenomenon that is only reduced to the economic factor, but rather incorporates others of an objective and subjective nature. Even so, the economic capacities of students and their households played a fundamental role in the context of the pandemic regarding university dropout, as well as information and communication technologies. It is concluded that the responses of the State and higher education institutions have been valuable to face the limitations imposed by the pandemic and reduce the risks of an increase in university dropouts.

Keywords

• university crisis
• school desertion
• pandemic
• information and communications technology (ict