Análisis de los factores que contribuyen al índice de deserción en la carrera de Hospitalidad y Hotelería de la Universidad de Cuenca durante el periodo 2020 - 2022

Abstract

This research analyzes the factors that affect student dropout in the Hospitality and Hospitality career at the University of Cuenca during the period 2020–2022. A qualitative-descriptive approach was applied, structured in three phases: theoretical review, analysis of academic indicators and interviews with dropout students and institutional authorities. The results show that dropout responds to personal, academic, social, and economic factors, intensified by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the main causes are lack of vocation, demotivation, academic pressure, economic difficulties and poor adaptation to virtuality. Cohort analysis shows an increasing trend of dropout, with a rate of 48.57% in the 2022 cohort. It is concluded that dropout is a multifactorial phenomenon that requires institutional strategies of academic accompaniment, vocational guidance and socioeconomic support, especially during the first semesters, in order to reduce early dropout and improve student retention.