Abstract:Data from over 21,600 students who had left Catalan higher education institutions during the academic years 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 has been analysed in order to describe the academic and personal profiles of university dropouts. Additionally, a telephone survey and face-to-face interviews with a pilot group of leavers were undertaken to gather additional qualitative information on the reasons for their decision. The influences on non-completion can be reduced to three main factors, among which dissatisfaction with the quality of the students' experience, family and work responsibilities, as well as economic difficulties, are prominent.Analysis conducted showed no significant differences among Catalan higher education institutions, the dropout percentages ranging from 28% to 33%. These rates should be understood within a context of broad access to higher education. Within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) scenario, the findings have triggered institutional endeavours to improve the quality of the students' and teachers' experience.
questionnaire has been prepared and the opinions of 1,162 undergraduates have been analyzed. The reasons given by each population differ in hierarchy and motivations.
Science parks are institutions that support the creation and development of high technology-based companies. They are designed to provide value-added services together with high-quality space and facilities and to promote interaction amongst universities, R&D institutions, companies, and markets. Although Spain is among the countries that have been investing heavily in these institutions, there is lack of feedback from the tenant companies' perspective with respect to the value added that they receive from science parks. The objective of this study is to evaluate the services that the Barcelona Science Park offers to its tenants by gathering information from the companies currently located in the park and those that have graduated. By comparing the results obtained from the two groups of companies, incubated and graduated, we examine whether the opinions differ about their appreciation of the services that they benefited from during their stay in the Park than those currently remaining.
The sports center sector is undergoing a complete transformation. Knowing users’ behavior regarding sport expenditure is needed to be able to act in terms of the future of the sector. This study analyzes the expenditure of people in Spain who are members of sports centers. Adult members were asked about their sport expenditure in several defined categories. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a multiple logistic regression analysis were carried out. The results show that the variables of time of participation, federation membership, and income have predictive value in terms of sport expenditure. Age and educational level also explain the significant differences in sport expenditure in its different categories. This study suggests the importance of identifying the behavior of sports center users with reference to sport expenditure as an essential component of the future strategy of the sector.
The aim of this study is to identify and analyse the most important reasons that influence absenteeism in university classrooms from the students' perspective. Data has been gathered through a questionnaire answered by 1,896 students from the Business Administration, Economics and Sociology degrees of the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. Both a difference of means and exploratory factor analyses have been applied.Findings show that students differ on these reasons regarding their year and degree of study. The results of the factor analysis reveal five dimensions of reasons for absenteeism: (1) students' own planning, (2) teaching methodology, (3) learning methodology, (4) course characteristics, and (5) external sources available. These factors call for effective action lines that eliminate the inefficiencies of public resources.
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