Resumen

The rapid expansion of higher education in countries such as Colombia is allowing access to university a wide range of heterogeneous studentss who increasingly see education as a key for improving. However, High dropout rates are a barrier to progress towards these objectives, especially for those populations with cumulative disadvantages such as ethnicity, gender socioeconomic status, residing in rural areas, among other factors. The objective of this study is to determine the factors that lead to dropout among these vulnerable groups, based on a mixed study, combining quantitative and qualitative data, obtained based on a survey completed by 343 students and interviews with 19 students, employing a multinomial logistic regression model and the systematic quantitative analy-sis of interview content. In this way, it has been possible to establish how, among other variables, the quality of the contents, the technological infrastructure, or the difficulties with the platform, along with other factors closer to the economic sphere, are factors that condition the decision to persist for those students in the education system. These factors can be useful indicators for Higher Education Institutions to deploy strategies aimed at providing an equitable and quality educational response, that caters especially for the most vulnerable students and contributes to improving retention and completion rates.

Palabras clave