Institutional Strategies to Improve Postgraduate Graduation Rates: The Case of the MBA at UES21
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56294/sctconf20251758Keywords:
Graduation Rate, Postgraduate Education, Thesis Completion, Educational Strategies, Academic WritingAbstract
Introduction: postgraduate programs face a growing demand for accountability, where graduation rate becomes a key quality indicator. This study explores strategies to increase the graduation rate in the MBA program at UES21.
Methods: a mixed-method design was applied, combining a descriptive cross-sectional analysis of the 2018 cohort graduation rate with surveys and interviews of students and faculty.
Results: only 8.58 % of students graduated within the expected timeframe. Main barriers identified include difficulties in academic writing, weak theoretical frameworks, and low engagement with thesis advisors.
Conclusions: institutional actions such as mentorship programs, writing workshops, and flexible assessment criteria are recommended to improve graduation outcomes.
References
1. Valencia Quecano LI, Guzmán Rincón A, Barragán Moreno S. Dropout in postgraduate programs: A scoping review. Cogent Education. 2024; 11(1):2326705. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2326705 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2326705
2. Ramírez Heredia L, Carcausto-Calla M. Factors associated with student dropout in Latin American universities: Scoping review. 2024. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378765187_Factors_Associated_with_Student_Dropout_in_Latin_American_Universities_Scoping_Review DOI: https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2024-0026
3. Linares F, Suoni M. Análisis de la tasa de graduación de los posgrados: el caso del MBA de la UNCUYO. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; 2022. Available from: https://bdigital.uncuyo.edu.ar/objetos_digitales/18649/linaresysuoni-analisisgraduacionmba.pdf
4. Rivas A, Vera A y Bezem P. Radiografía de la educación argentina. Buenos Aires: CIPPEC; 2017. Available from: https://www.cippec.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1508.pdf
5. Muthukrishnan P, Gurnam KS, Hoon TS. Key Factors Influencing Graduation on Time Among Postgraduate Students: A PLS-SEM Approach. Asian Journal of University Education. 2022;18(1):51-64. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358617739_Key_Factors_Influencing_Graduation_on_Time_Among_Postgraduate_Students_A_PLS-SEM_Approach DOI: https://doi.org/10.24191/ajue.v18i1.17169
6. Aparicio M, Bacao F, Oliveira T. Persistence and dropout in higher online education: A systematic literature review. Front Psychol. 2022;13:902070. Available from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.902070/full DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.902070
7. Finamor L. Labor market conditions and college graduation: Evidence from Brazil. 2022. Available from: https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.11047 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102403
8. Cañete Aranda E. El egreso en el posgrado: trayectorias educativas de la Maestría en Educación de la UNLP (2016‑2021). Mem Acad UNLP; 2023. Available from: https://www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/tesis/te.2616/te.2616.pdf
9. Dall’Igna C, Moritz MEW. Academic writing in higher education: focusing on graduate programs of a public Brazilian university. Linguagem & Ensino. 2020;22(3):577‑594. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336268797_Academic_writing_in_higher_education DOI: https://doi.org/10.15210/rle.v22i3.16670
10. Hodges A, et al. Negotiating Writing for Publication in Tutoring Latin American Postgraduates: Concerns and Communicative Functional Skills. ERIC; 2024. Available from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1468376.pdf
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mariana Constanza Frandino, Laura Andrea Bustamante (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Unless otherwise stated, associated published material is distributed under the same licence.
