Dropout in engineering: a study from the view of academics of an IFES

Abstract

This work aims to conduct a survey about the main factors that contributed to the decision to abandon the undergraduate course in four engineering courses at the Federal University of Technology - Paraná (UTFPR) Campus Campo Mourão. For this, the research was structured from a qualitative approach, being elaborated in the form of a descriptive research and based on a case study. Data collection took place from institutional documents and the application of online questionnaires to students who had dropped out of the analyzed courses. With the information collected from the research subjects it was possible to identify the main factors that were most relevant to the decision to evade these students. As results, it was observed that factors related to the individual characteristics of the student, especially the discovery of new professional interests, disenchantment and demotivation with the course and early choice of the profession, as well as factors related to financial difficulties, lack of job opportunities and difficulty in reconciling work with studies, in addition to factors related to the curriculum and management of courses are very relevant factors in the  decision to evade the students participating in the research, evidencing the importance of a more active participation of higher education institutions in the monitoring, control and prevention of dropout.