Determinantes para la elección de la educación técnica y tecnológica: caso de estudio en la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

Technical and Technological Education has experienced constant growth in Ecuador, as well as in the city of Cuenca. This type of Higher Education has established itself as an alternative for those people who require specialized and technical professional training in a shorter time than traditional Higher Education. The present research work analyzes the determining factors of choosing Technical and Technological Education in the city of Cuenca. To carry out this analysis, a descriptive analysis of the current situation of Technical and Technological Education at the national level and in the city of Cuenca was carried out, a multivariate Logit model was used to estimate the factors involved in the choice of Education Technical and Technological and its impact was quantified; in addition, a qualitative methodology was used through focus groups to examine the students' perception of the Institutes. The main results of the research revealed that the number of children, personal income and the type of secondary Education have a significant impact when choosing Technical and Technological Education. In a complementary way, the qualitative analysis highlighted the main advantages of this modality of Education, such as costs, time, teacher-student relationship and practices; Thus, some limitations on the perception of employers and society towards this type of Education were also identified. Finally, the importance of formulating public policy in Education that promotes and strengthens mechanisms that support this type of Higher Education is highlighted.