Abstract

SANTOS, Monique Matsuda dos; PEDROSO, Isabela Gomes Ferreira  and  OLIVEIRA, Sandra Cristina de. Student perception of the Agricultural Sciences and Humanities undergraduate courses at São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil. Educ. Pesqui. [online]. 2021, vol.47, e227954.  Epub June 09, 2021. ISSN 1678-4634.  https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-4634202147227954.

In the scenario of Brazilian Higher Education Institutions, the justifications for dropout or permanence of students vary according to the school and its courses, given their peculiarities, as well as those of their students. However, studies and governmental actions on school dropout are still scarce, which shows the lack of innovation on this topic. Thus, the general objective of the present work is to evaluate the perception of graduates and student dropouts in relation to their undergraduate courses in the areas of Agricultural Sciences and Humanities, from the Experimental Campi of the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil. Specifically, it is intended to show a methodological procedure that can identify which specific elements have influenced the students’ decision to evade or to stay in the referred courses. Thus, a survey was carried out through a structured questionnaire with 40 multiple choice sentences, which was applied by email and through social networks to a probabilistic sample of 243 respondents. Finally, the multivariate clustering analysis associated with testing nonparametric hypotheses was used to verify the existence of a difference between the perceptions of graduates and dropouts that indicated influence on their decision. The results showed that, in general, graduates and dropouts have positive perceptions regarding the chosen course, as well as with respect to the general infrastructure conditions of the campi. For two courses, one in each area, significant differences were observed between the perceptions of graduates and dropouts, with mainly intrinsic characteristics related to students and their well-being, such as identification with the course; motivation and persistence to achieve the objectives; personal and / or family health and stability; and socio-academic integration with other students were those that directly or indirectly interfered in decision-making.

Keywords : School dropout; Student residence; Higher education; Brazilian universities.

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