Comparison of Complex Thinking Skills between Students from Public and Private Institutions in Mexico

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the results of a study conducted on a population of students from two technological universities in Mexico. The intention was to contrast the perceived achievement of the complex thinking competency and its sub-competencies among students in the last levels of their training. Then, to identify areas of opportunity for developing professional competencies it was applied a sample of 551 Engineering and Business school students from two higher education institutions in this Latin American country. In this manner, 60,61% corresponded to public universities while 39,39% remaining corresponded to private universities. Methodologically, a statistical descriptive analysis was carried out. The study was conducted with a convenience sample answered by students from technological universities located in western Mexico through Google Forms. After analyzing the results, it was possible to identify a gap in the students' perceived achievement in both institutions, with the private institution having a significantly higher mean. This study raises the importance of guaranteeing the development of professional competencies equitably among all students, intending to avoid differences that impact their perceptions of their abilities. All of this considering that complex thinking as a set of disciplinary and meta-competences should be similarly taught indifferent the type of university or higher education institution. Keywords: professional education, educational innovation, future of education, complex thinking, public, private universities