Remedial Actions in Higher Education Institutions as an Alternative for Student Dropout, Failure and Backwardness Volume 62- Issue 3

Martha Patricia de la Rosa-Basurto, Martha Patricia Delijorge-González, Laura Susana Rodríguez-Ayala, Georgina del Pilar Delijorge-González, Blanca Gabriela Pulido-Cervantes and Jesús Rivas-Gutiérrez*

• Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico

Received: June 11, 2025; Published: June 17, 2025

*Corresponding author: Jesús Rivas-Gutiérrez, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2025.62.009732

Abstract PDF

Higher education in this new millennium faces one of its main credibility crises due to the excessive growth of desertion, failure and student, school and academic backwardness, this situation hits them when they are subjected to certification and accreditation processes by internal and/or external evaluation bodies, running the risk of not being accredited or losing accreditation and being considered as institutions and programmes of poor quality, this situation even leads to the disqualification and rejection of society towards the educational institution. When this happens, its effects and consequences are wide and varied, internally and externally, affecting funding, increasing poverty and social inequality and in many cases affecting the physical, physiological and mental health of young people.

Keywords: Dropout; Failure; Backwardness

The virtual disappearance of borders as a result of the phenomenon of globalization, the opening of the labor market together with the massification of education and the reduction of financing and investment in education in general (among many other factors), has caused more problems and challenges than benefits to higher education, a situation that has gradually delayed its physical growth and development in many cases worldwide. therefore, in this new millennium, a real stop must be made in its path and a deep analysis of its status quo must be carried out and an analysis must be made and respond to whether the current educational processes respond to the diverse realities of the present that are lived day by day, mainly in Latin American countries such as Mexico, for example. Efficiency and effectiveness, considered as two of the main indicators of quality of higher education programs, can be measured basically by contrasting and/or crossing several indicators such as dropout, failure and student lag against terminal efficiency, graduation rate, employment, underemployment and unemployment of graduates. This analysis would make it possible to determine the professional, social and economic impact of these programmes. This has resulted in some of the main indicators that the internal and/or external evaluation bodies of the academic programs of the Higher Education Institutions use as part of the discernments and reasoning to measure and determine the quality of the academic programs is the terminal efficiency and the general degree rate and by generational cohort. indicators that serve as the main point of observation and analysis, which is complemented by the study and assessment of the indicators of dropout, failure and lag and their subsequent cross-referencing (Benítez Lima, et al. [1]).

In this evaluative context, educational research (or research in education for others) begins to take a new boom from the end of the twentieth century and takes the school and academic paths of students as the cornerstone to study the diverse, complicated and critical problem that was already beginning to appear at that time in the academic programs of several Institutions of Higher Education such as failure, school and academic dropout and lag, in order to have objective information to design policies and plan strategies and actions that would counteract this educational phenomenon; thus, the first studies and results regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of school and academic programs, general terminal efficiency and by cohort, began to be published. the performance of the students and the evaluation processes applied, all of which intersected with the dropout, failure and lag of the students. Gradually, as the pressures from the federal and state educational authorities towards the Institutions of Higher Education grew, the particular educational administrations of the educational institutions began to design programs consisting of various tactics and remedial work as alternatives to address and counteract mainly dropout , failure and lag among the student population focused on institutional tactics to improve the academic and academic performance and retention of those who were in Higher Education Institutions, these programs included strategies and actions of tutoring, academic advice and mentoring, psychological, medical and nutritional support to failed students, economic, housing and food scholarships and complementary activities to reinforce skills and knowledge. Therefore, it was necessary to develop and establish along with these programs the necessary, concrete, objective and general concepts so that they could be used in the same tenor among the Institutions of Higher Education and thus avoid ramblings, biases and misinterpretations and understandings.

In this order of general ideas, we will say that the school trajectory is considered as the school and academic behavior of a group of students with similar characteristics (cohort) during their educational journey or stay, that is, from their admission to the conclusion of the total credits established in the curriculum of the academic programs where they are enrolled. as well as compliance with the academic-administrative requirements defined by the institutional curriculum; this concept also includes the set of factors and data that affect and account for the behavior of students during their transit through Higher Education Institutions. This notion addresses a set of issues ranging from the school’s internal efficiency, terminal efficiency, and achievement to students’ academic behaviors during their school life (such as academic achievement, failure, success, achievement, approval, failure, repetition, and dropout). The school trajectory, therefore, constitutes a set of factors and data that affect and show the school behavior of students during their stay in Higher Education Institutions; these factors can be psychological, sociological, cultural, economic, and even affective and can provide accurate information and data on students’ academic results (Secretary of Public Education SEP, [2]).On the other hand, school performance refers to the degree of educational success or failure set according to the achievement of academic goals in terms of learning objectives achieved and individual or group grades obtained. In other words, academic performance can be defined as the average of the grades that students obtain at the end of the school year and is an important factor in the analysis of the quality of the training process of a Higher Education Institution, since it offers an approximation to its educational reality, so the studies of school trajectories that among other things include school performance become an excellent opportunity to the application of remedial actions in search of improvement and achievement in terms of objectives, strategies and curricular changes that allow dropout, failure and backwardness to be addressed as complex and critical problems, and of great international scope in some cases (Edel Navarro R [3]).

Another important and fundamental concept to understand this phenomenon is school dropout, meaning that refers to a situation in which the student is repeatedly absent from classes until he or she finally leaves the educational system, this dropout can be temporary or permanent, understanding that temporary refers to absence for a certain time in agreement and with the endorsement of the administration in turn. following the provisions of the institutional regulation in this regard and the definitive one is when the student withdraws and stops attending definitively with or without notification to the school administration. There are several causes for student dropouts, among the most common are economic and family problems, academic situations that do not meet the student’s expectations, harassment and school and administrative harassment (school and social bullying) (Heredia V [4]). School failure, which is associated with school dropout and backwardness, refers to not passing one or more subjects or subjects at a given educational level, which prevents progress to the next grade, semester or year of study. This can have various causes, including individual, social, family and economic factors, as well as lack of motivation or study habits; failure can generate consequences such as the need to repeat grades, an increase in school groups, increased academic and social pressure, in some cases as a final result school dropout or dropout (Corzo Salazar C, et al. [5]). Student school lag refers to the situation in which a student has not been able to advance in their training and education according to their age or the expected educational trajectory due to not accrediting the subject or subjects they are studying, or to temporary dropout and as a consequence does not advance to the next grade. semester or year having to retake the failed one; This lag is due to a myriad of factors, among the main ones are socioeconomic factors, family factors, school factors, individual factors, health problems, learning difficulties, etc. This lag can occur at different levels or degrees of progress, from not having completed training to having fallen behind in a course or grade (Cruz Vargas MS [6]).

The problem of student dropouts, failures and lag in Higher Education Institutions in Latin America is worrying, because in addition to being a major problem for educational institutions, over time it has begun to generate greater social inequality at a high and critical level; in general terms, the average dropout rate in these countries ranges between 40% and 70%. becoming a serious setback that generates conflicts of poverty, crime, underemployment and unemployment, which contributes to widening the inequality gap between those who can live peacefully in society and those who are relegated. It has been found that students from the most vulnerable groups are more frequently involved in dropout, failure or lag and that they usually do not finish their studies, causing the economic investment made by the State for their professional training to be socially recovered.In terms of school dropouts, this constitutes, due to its magnitude, a major problem in the national education system; the high rates of school dropout that occur generate a negative impact on the political, economic, social and cultural processes of growth and development of countries (Salmi J [7]).

The difficulties faced by Higher Education Institutions in Mexico have to do with the fact that they do not have enough capacity in infrastructure and human resources to absorb and meet all the demand for admission within the accepted parameters of number of students per school group; the quality of the academic program, the level of professionalization of the teaching staff, the quantity and quality of academic production, are affected by these causes, making this phenomenon a real and broad challenge for higher education in Mexico. According to other studies, the particular figures of the dropout indicator report that Colombia has a 5.8% effectiveness in addressing this situation, which places it as the Latin American country with the greatest progress in the educational system in terms of remedial actions to address the situation compared to European countries such as the United Kingdom, which is at 8.6%. Brazil 18% and the United States 18.3%. The general and cohort dropout rates at the higher education level, which indicate the number of students who drop out of every 100 who enter Colombia, has reached 45.3%, in Mexico 42% and in Argentina 43%, there are also countries such as Venezuela with 52%, Chile with 54% and Costa Rica with 62%, Latin countries that occupy the first places in the American continent in student dropout at this educational level (Espinosa Castro JF, et al. [8]).

Analyzing the average age of university students who are lagging behind, it has been found that the age range of students who drop out ranges between 24 and 29 years old, so it is notorious that the delay in the completion of studies and graduation from the educational institution in a timely manner, as well as the entry into the labor market is delayed by almost four years in some cases. At the National Autonomous University of Mexico, particularly in the academic programs of Psychology, after studying the school and academic lag of students, it has been concluded that both lagging and dropping out are phenomena that go hand in hand and that they affect each other in a complicated way, that both have basically the same multifactorial causes. therefore, the alternatives to reduce these rates and improve the quality of education require the joint and coordinated participation of the sectors involved in the educational process: students, administrators, and teachers (Rodríguez Pérez I, et al. [9]).

As already stated, the factors and causes that cause both the desertion as the Failure and the Lag of Students are multiple, varied and complex, for example, among the general causes that produce the Student Dropout There are individual factors and causes such as poor school and academic performance, difficulty learning, lack of motivation, psychological problems such as anxiety, depression or low self-esteem and social pressure or peer influence. Among the social factors and causes have been found the lack of family support, family conflicts or communication problems and the absence of a role model or authority figures. Economic factors identified economic difficulties, lack of resources or access to education, and the need to work to support the family. On the other hand, among those attributable to the Higher Education Institution and the academic program are the low quality of teaching, lack of resources or personnel, curriculum that is not relevant or detached from the student’s reality, lack of personalized attention or lack of support for students with special needs. Among the consequences that can be generated by the Student Dropout There are the following: For the student, the limitation of opportunities for personal and professional development, greater difficulty in accessing a job or better working conditions and a greater risk of falling into poverty or situations of vulnerability. The social consequences can be the persistence of cycles of poverty and inequality, a lower level of social and economic development in the country, and greater difficulty for innovation and progress.

Regarding the causes or factors that determine school failure are those related to learning problems such as difficulties in understanding content, lack of study habits, difficulties with reading or writing, among others, then there are social and family factors, including family disintegration, economic problems, the lack of interest of parents in supporting the student and the influence of negative social groups. Psychological factors such as anxiety, stress, depression and lack of self-esteem are among the most common. Problems in school as an ineffective teaching method, the lack of educational and didactic resources and the presence of poorly prepared teachers are also among the most common factors and causes. Among the consequences that can generate school and academic failure are the following: Academic delay, low self-esteem, difficulty in continuing studies and school dropout. Regarding school lag, it can be caused by factors of different types, including economic problems, family difficulties, problems at school, individual problems and external factors. Economic factors can be: Poverty, unemployment, low family income; on the other hand, the family factors detected are the low schooling of the parents, family disintegration, lack of family supervision; the factors attributable to the Higher Education Institution are the quality of teaching, deficient infrastructure and bullying. Regarding the causes inherent to the student are learning problems, psychological problems and lack of motivation; the factors external to the student are social inequality, pandemics and delinquency among others. Among the main consequences of academic lag are fewer job opportunities, social and economic inequality and low economic growth in the country (Castillo Sánchez M, et al. [10]).

Some of the most common strategies and actions that have been applied to counteract student dropout, failure and lag in some Higher Education Institutions and that have shown good results are the following:

In the case of student dropout, the Institutions of Higher Education have applied, after carrying out a review, analysis and considerations, the following: curricular reengineering with the main intention of improving the type and form of teaching with the intention of making it more professional and of higher quality, involves aspects of a more personalized, relevant and pertinent teaching for the real life and work of the student. This new type of teaching also aims to further encourage the active participation of students in their learning. Provide greater support to students, offering more and better tutoring sessions, mentoring and individual and collective workshops of support and professional psychological care to students who are in Higher Education Institutions, in the same way promote and encourage even more family support during school life; at the same time, manage and increase a greater number of economic scholarships, lodging, food and transportation, complementary to these strategies and actions achieve alliances and agreements with federal, state, municipal and local organizations that can provide some type of support to students. Because school dropout is a serious problem for the educational institution and for the State itself, comprehensive and coordinated responses are required in plans and programs of strategies and institutional actions in the short, medium and long term.

Regarding the strategies and actions that can be applied and carried out to reduce student failure, there is in the first moment the reliable identification of the subjects or subjects where there are the highest failure rates, assesses the professional profiles of the teachers who teach these classes and identifies the individual needs of the failed students and in a second moment, to encourage and promote active, practical and relevant learning in students in general, to create a department or section responsible for attending to the school and academic trajectories of students as well as the coordination of tutorials, mentoring and psychological support and thirdly to plan extraordinary remedial courses for failed students, promote communication between teachers and the student’s parents; Finally, plan and leverage technology to personalize learning. Regarding what to do? to eliminate the student lag in Higher Education Institutions, it would be the comprehensive application of almost all the same strategies and actions that would imply preventing and counteracting student and school failure and dropout. Personalization of learning, identifying the individual and general needs of students through diagnostic assessments, adapting teaching strategies to each student’s learning styles, and offering differentiated learning opportunities where students can progress at their own pace. Regarding individualized support, providing personalized tutoring to students who are facing difficulties, creating an emotional support environment where students feel comfortable to express their concerns, offering psychological support to students who may be experiencing mental health problems. Along with the above, it is essential to seek and achieve collaboration between parents, teachers and students, establishing regular communication between parents and teachers to address students’ difficulties, encourage the active participation of parents in their children’s school life, create a school environment where students feel valued and supported.

The use of technology to improve learning is of vital importance, so taking advantage of online platforms and interactive educational applications to make learning more attractive and dynamic, using multimedia resources to complement traditional classes, offering school management tools that allow parents and students to be aware of academic progress, All of the above will be of vital help and importance today. To promote student participation and interest in learning, to organize extracurricular activities that complement the school curriculum, to encourage participation in research projects and community service activities, to create a school environment where students feel challenged and motivated, to improve readiness to learn, to promote basic reading, writing and mathematics skills, provide tools and resources that enable students to develop their learning skills, prevent truancy, working closely with families to address factors that contribute to truancy, offer family support programs that strengthen the school-home link, identify students at risk for absenteeism, and provide individualized support, improve the student experience, create a safe and welcoming school environment, encourage active student participation in school life, personalize teaching to meet individual student needs, develop social-emotional skills, promote the development of soft skills such as communication, negotiation, and self-management, identify and address risk factors for dropping out of school, such as lack of motivation, economic problems, family problems or mental health problems, all these are the main strategies and actions that in the three cases (dropout, failure and student lag) must be implemented in Higher Education Institutions and in academic programs (Valdez Zepeda A, et al. [11]).

One of the main, major, critical and multifactorial problems that currently afflict INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION is the desertion, failure and lag of students who enter to pursue a bachelor’s degree or professional career, this situation has repercussions both inside and outside the educational institution itself, among the main ones are the mark of being considered as academic programs of poor quality and therefore consequently little demand by young people to enter them, little or no economic support, in infrastructure and/or human resources from their central authorities (Rectory), stigmatization of their teaching staff as of poor quality, increase in the number of students per group decreasing in it and therefore the quality of the teaching-learning process and the institutional curriculum is considered inadequate, impertinent and outdated on the part of internal and external, national and international evaluation bodies. On the other hand, the investment made by the State in education is affected because this situation delays or inhibits the growth and development of the country because it causes a greater widening of the economic and social gap of families, increases social inequality in general; in young people who fall into this situation, it affects their physical, physiological and psychological health. As a consequence of this educational reality, some Higher Education Institutions in Mexico internally have established quality parameters to apply them by measuring their results found during their endogenous studies on the phenomenon and applying remedial actions such as those that have been cited in this work hoping to reduce the situation, the first step to work on this situation is to become aware of this educational reality. To have political and administrative availability to deal with it and not to think that it is a simple problem, it is necessary to be clear that work must be done in the short, medium and long term, but first of all to have a clear diagnosis of the extent and the causal factors that produce it in order to then act accordingly.

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