Concepts and measurement of dropout in higher education: A critical perspective from Latin America

Fernando Acevedo
Universidad de la República, Uruguay

This study identified the main explanatory factors of dropout in higher education in Rivera, Uruguay, and showed that the limitations and methodological implications related to the polysemic nature of the concept of dropout should be addressed by studies on this subject. Through a systematic search of the international scientific literature, the results showed that the main barriers were: (i) the absence of consensus of dropout in higher education in the international scientific literature; (ii) measurement of dropout rates according to individual research interests using the predominant methodological strategies and the available data (which are usually unreliable and difficult to access), instead of adopting a more conceptually and methodologically consistent definition; (iii) the nature of the data and the absence of a unique definition of dropout in higher education prevents its generalisation and/or comparison with data from other institutions and countries.
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Author: Dr Fernando Acevedo (corresponding author) holds a PhD (summa cum laude) from the International University of La Rioja, Spain. Dr Acevedo is currently a full-time professor and Academic Head of the Centro de Estudios sobre Políticas Educativas, Universidad de la República, Uruguay [Centre for Educational Policy Studies, University of the Republic, Uruguay]. His research focuses on policy studies with an emphasis on critical approaches to how higher education centres provide quality education and promote student success. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0815-7980 Email: face@cur.edu.uy Please cite as: Acevedo, F. (2021). Concepts and measurement of dropout in higher education: A critical perspective from Latin America. Issues in Educational Research, 31(3), 661-678. http://www.iier.org.au/iier31/acevedo.pdf