GMD-‘M‘FES OF NATéQNAL UNIVERSITIES r~ Uni CENTRAL AfiéEREGA Thesis for the Degree of Ph. D. MiCHIGAN STATE UNIVERSWY gamma! Kirkwaod Yarman, Jr. Wfié .n... This is to certify that the thesis entitled GRADUATES OF NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA presented by Samuel Kirkwood Yarman, Jr. has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. degree in Education /1/ LIB} f. /1 I? Y Michigan State University Major professor Date September 1, 1966 0-169 WK ABSTRACT GRADUATES OF NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA by Samuel Kirkwood Yarman, Jr. The five Central American countries began twenty years ago to cooperate closely to achieve greater economic unity and progress. Since economic development not only provokes, but only comes after, social, political, cultural and educational changes, such changes ought to be anticipated by the light of present institutional organization. The five national universities enjoy strong direct and indirect power in these largely illiterate nations: most of the national leaders (aside from the military) have been universitarios--university students--or are graduates. It was proposed to study the graduates, not only to ascertain their characteristics, but to use the information for insight into the administration and organization of their glmg maters. An ecological, cross-disciplinary approach was applied to the cross-cultural and cross-national data acquired, which are comparable with reference to Specific points in time for the 1,133 graduates of the National universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua, who formed the population for the study. Samuel Kirkwood Yarman, Jr. Types of data and representative specific items included: A. Personal data--sex, age, civil status, number of dependents; B. Educational-~high school attended, year of first enrollment, year of graduation, degree, 2nd or 3rd degrees, changes of faculty, and calendar years attended; C. Financial--scholarships held, average annual undergraduate income and its source, number of present positions and total income in 1963; and D. Opinion-eliciting questions about undergraduate preparation, problems of the university, improvements and services that could be made. Delineating the actual population of graduates was difficult, since university records were incomplete; and there were difficulties in delimiting the Specific population to insure a proportional repre- sentation for selected aggregate components of the general population. The population represents 17.00 percent of the total known graduates (1941-1963); half of the graduates were graduated after 1954; and the Physical, Medical and Social Sciences are represented by 18.00, 28.51, and 43.49 percent, reSpectively. Costa Rican graduates numbered 598, Guatemalans 303, and 202 were from Nicaragua. The graduates did not enter the university until age 19; and 70.80 percent came out of the public schools. More than a quarter of the graduates had some sort of university financial aid, although it Samuel Kirkwood Yarman, Jr. averaged only five percent of their annual undergraduate income. As a group, these students needed less time than their colleagues to graduate. The graduates invested 1.46 calendar years to complete one academic year of study. The result of this mean "time-and-a-half" was that Economists needed 10.4 calendar years to graduate, Lawyers 9.1 (more than Medical doctors), and Engineers 8.0. In not one sub-group studied--university, faculty, field of training, period of training-- did more than half of the graduates earn their degrees within the pro- scribed academic time (or with but one ”extra" invested calendar year). There has been a decided, upward accelerating trend in the last 15 years in the number of calendar years spent by undergraduates toward their degrees. After graduation, 99 percent of the graduates worked in the pro- fessional field for which they were trained; nearly fourteen percent worked also outside their field. Over thirty percent pursued post- graduate studies, and a quarter hold two or more university-level degrees (of which half are in the Medical sciences). The graduates' Mean 1963 Income was $5,218, an increase of 348.58 percent over the average of their undergraduate income. Graduates who worked solely in their professional field had the highest percent of income increase, although those graduates who also worked outside their field reported the highest actual 1963 incomes. Central American Economists and Medical professionals appear to be highly valued, monetarily: Educators-~teachers and professors--, Samuel Kirkwood Yarman, Jr. lowly valued. Teachers in this study reported a mean 1963 income of $1,476: the Economists' mean was $7,778, greater by 427.02 percent than the teachers. Teachers in Costa Rica, graduates of the Faculty of Education there (which produced more than half of all its university's graduates 1950-63), do not even earn half the mean amount reported by all Costa Rican graduates. In general, the universities graduate a ratio of three and a half percent, graduates to matriculants. Far too few teachers, agronomists and economists are produced. Presently planned academic programs are unrealistic.£e the actual number of years the graduates must Spend for their degrees. In the opinion of the graduates, improvements were called for to alleviate two serious university problems, the lack of sufficient economic resources and the need of a well-prepared, full-time teaching staff. Courses in professional specialization were requested by three- fourths of the graduates. GRADUATES OF NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA By Samuel Kirkwood Yarman, Jr. A THESIS Submitted to IMichigan State university In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Education Department of Administration and Higher Education 1966 .a.’ I fl.‘ / . ) /d ///\7\/1/ j -, / /-/ / . I ' - LI ST OF TAB 135 O O O O O O O O O O O O . CHAPTER 1 II III TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. . o o . . o o . o o . Statement of the Problem The Purpose of the Study Importance of the Research Review of the Literature Source of the Data Scope of the Study Overview of the Study METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY. . . . . . Sources of Data Design of the Instrument Data Problems Currency conversion Verification and Validation Distribution Papulation Extent of Official Data on Population Delimitation Delimitative Analyses CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GRADUATES: Summary of the Characteristics Demographic Data Amount of Income, 1963 Sources of Income Amount of Income by Position IN 1963. . Amount of Income--Period of Graduation and Field of Undergraduate Study Amount of Income-~Professional Area of Primary Position Amount and Source of 1963 Income: and Non-Teaching Graduates ii Teaching [.1 H O‘OGO‘U’IWN £3 37 37 38 41 47 51 58 61 CHAPTER IV CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GRADUATES: THE GRADUATES AS IJNDERGRADUATES O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Secondary School Origins Age at University Matriculation Change of Faculty or Program Non-University Studies Pursued During Under- graduate Career University Becas Received During Undergraduate Career Undergraduate Programs of Study--Academic Years Required Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degree or Title Extra Calendar Years Invested Relationship of Extra Calendar Years Invested “~to Other Factors Significance of Calendar Years Invested Prospects for Future Graduates Amount and Source of Undergraduate Income Source of Undergraduate Income: Relationship to Extra Calendar Years Invested Level of Undergraduate Income: Relationship to Extra Years Invested Source of Undergraduate Income: Relationship to Level of 1963 Income ' Extra Calendar Years Invested: Relationship to Level of 1963 Income Graduates' Age at Graduation and Year of Graduation Summary of Analyses of Calendar Years Spent to to Obtain“Degrees CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GRADUATES: POST-GRADUA- TION ACTIVITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Years Since Graduation (to 1963) Classification of Post-Graduation Activities The Activities as Undertaken by the Graduates Type and Combination of Activities Compared to 1963 Income Percent of the Graduates' Income Increase After Graduation Comparison of Income Increase to Area of Under- graduate Training The Value of Post-Graduate Study to the Graduates iii 65 65 68 7O 72 75 80 86 92 97 99 100 105 110 112 114 117 121 122 125 125 127 128 130 132 141 CHAPTER (Cont.) VI VII Page Additional University Degrees or Titles Earned by the Graduates 143 Level of Additional Degrees of Titles 144 Additional Degrees Earned.by Major Science Areas 148 Geographic Areas Where Additional Degrees Were Earned 150 Summary of the Graduates'Post-Graduate .Activities 152 OPINIONS OF THE GRADUATES. . . . . . . . . . . . 155 The Efficiency of Undergraduate Preparation 156 Opinion of Efficiency: "Old Grads" and More Recent Graduates 159 Opinion of Efficiency Compared to Other Factors 160 Opinion of Efficiency Compared to Extra Calendar Years Invested by the Graduates for Their Degrees 164 Summary: Efficiency of Undergraduate Preparation 165 Qualitative Coding of "Open-Ended" Questions 166 The "Most Serious Problem" of the University 167 Most Serious Problem of the University as Expressed by Various Groupings of the Graduates 172 The "Most Important Improvement" the University Could Make 176 The "Service of the University" Most Requested by the Graduates 180 Summary of the Graduates' Opinions 183 RESUME AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 The Value of a University Education to the Graduates 186 Society's Relative Evaluation of the Graduates 187 The Efficacy of the University as a National Institution: Production 189 Possible Reasons for Non-Production 191 Lack of Program.Variety 192 Unrealistic Present Academic Programs 193 The "Cost" to the university of Producing a Graduate 194 The "Cost" of a University Education to the Graduate 197 iv CHAPTER VII (Cont.) Relationship of the University to the Public School System 199 The Use of Graduate Data in University Reform 201 Implications for Cross-Cultural Research ElseWhere 202 BIBIoImRA-H'IYO O O O O O O O O O O O O O C O O O O 0 O O 2 05 APPENDICES. O O O . O D O O O . O O . C O C O O O O O O 212 Encuesta De Graduados De La Universidad 213 Degrees, Titles, Diplomas and Certificates Offered 217 Survey of University Graduates, National Universities of Central America Panel of of First Classification ~ Problems, Improve- .ments, Services 224 Table 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 LIST OF TABLES Matriculants and Graduates, 1950-1963: By University and Faculty, with Relative Percentages General Graduate Population, Questionnaire Responses and the Specific Population . . . . . . . . . . . . General and Specific Populations: By Period of Gradua- tion and by Major Area of Undergraduate Training, with Percentages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General and Specific Graduate Populations--1954-1963: By Period of Graduation and Major Area of Undergraduate Training, with Percentages. . . . . . . . . . . . . General and Specific Graduate Populations--l954-l963: Proportions by Major Science Area of Undergraduate Training. . . . . . . . . Specific and General Graduate Populations: By Fields of Professional Training and University, with Percent of Specific to General Population . . . . . . . . . Specific and General Graduate Populations: Proportion Represented by Each Area of Undergraduate Training. Graduates: Sex, Age, Civil Status and Number of Dependents in 1963. Graduates: Age, Civil Status and Number of Dependents in 1963, by Sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Range of Total Income - 1963. . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates' Sources of Income: Relationship Between Positions and Field of Undergraduate Study. . . . . . Graduates: Mean Total Income, 1963: By Number of Positions Held. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates by Period of Graduation: Mean 1963 Income. . Graduates by Three Major Science Areas of undergraduate Training: Mean 1963 Income . vi Page 18 23 25 30 31 32 35 39 40 42 46 48 51 52 Table 3.8 Graduates: Relation Between Professional Field of of Primary Occupational Position and the Amount and Sources of Income in 1963 . . . . . . . . . . Graduates: Rank Order of 1963 Incomes by Field of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Teaching and Non-Teaching Graduates: Number of Positions Held and Income Received, 1963. . . . . . . . . . Graduates: Secondary School Origins, in Percent. . . . . Graduates By Field of Undergraduate Preparation: Percent who Attended Each Type of Secondary School. . . Graduates: Mean Age at First University Enrollment . Graduates: Change of Faculty After First Enrollment. Graduates: Other Post-Secondary School Studies Made Concurrent with University undergraduate Studies. . . Graduates: Summary of Data on Becas (Any Official Uni- versity Financial Aid) Received in Last Three Years of Undergraduate Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates: Undergraduate Programs-~Academic Years of Study Required: Number and Percent of Graduates by University. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates: Undergraduate Programs--Academic Years of Study Required: Number and Percent of Graduates by Period of Graduation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates: undergraduate Programs--Academic Years of Study Required: Number and Percent of Graduates by 3 Major Areas of Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates: Average Number of Calendar Years Spent to Complete Programs of From 2 to 8 Academic Years . Graduates: Average Number of Calendar Years Spent to Complete Programs in Each Field of Undergraduate Preparation . . . . . . . . . . Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs: Number of Extra Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degree or Title By University (In Number and Percent) . . . . . . . vii 56 60 62 66 67 69 72 74 76 82 83 84 88 91 94 ~. Table 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs: Number of Extra Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degree or Title, (By Length of Program) (By Number and Percent) . Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs: Relation Between Number of Extra Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degree or Title and A. Type of Secondary School Attended B. Recipiency of University Financial Aid (Becas) C. Pursuance of Post-Graduate Studies. . . . . . . Graduates: Undergraduate Academic Progress Compared to the "Average" 1963 Re-enrolled University Student in Guatemala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates: Mean Annual Undergraduate Income and Prin- cipal Source of that Income . Graduates: Relation Between Level of Mean Annual Under- graduate Income (During Last Three Years of Study) and Principal Source of that Income . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs: Rela- tion Between Source of Undergraduate Income and Number of Extra Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degree or Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs: Relation Between Level of Mean Annual Undergraduate Income and Number of Extra Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degree or Title. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduates: Relation Between Level of 1963 Income and Principal Source of Undergraduate Income. . . . . . . . Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs: Relation Between Number of Extra Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degree or Title and Level of 1963 Income. Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs: Number and Percent of Graduates by Number of Extra Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degree (More or less than four) Compared to Their A. Level of Undergraduate Income (During last three Years) B. Level of 1963 Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii Page 96 98 104 106 108 112 113 115 118 120 Table 4.23 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6.1 6.2 6.3 Page Graduates: Mean Age at Graduation and Year of Graduation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Graduates: Years Since Graduation (to 1963) by Univer- sity and Major Science Field of Undergraduate Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Graduates: Type and Number of Activities Engaged in Since Graduation in Percent by University . . . . . . . 128 Graduates: ‘Mean 1963 Income by Type and Number of Activities Engaged in Since Graduation. . . . . . . . . 131 Graduates: Percent That 1963 Income is to Mean Annual Undergraduate Income (During Last Three Years of Study), by Type and Number of Activities Engaged in After Graduation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Graduates: ‘Mean 1963 Income and Percent of Income Increase Over undergraduate Income by Area of Undergraduate Training, in Rank Order of Area by Country. . . . . . . 137 Graduates: Influence of Post-Graduate Study on 1963 Income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Graduates: Possession of Additional Degrees, Title or Diplomas; in Number and Percent, by University. . . . . 144 Graduates Who Hold Two or More University-Level Degrees: Level of the Degrees and Percent of Degrees in Each Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Additional Degrees Held by Graduates: Percent Earned by Geographic Areas, for Each University and all Three Universities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Additional Degrees Held by Graduates: Percent Earned in Each Major Science Area, by Geographic Area . . . . . . 152 Graduates: Opinion of the Efficiency of Their Undergrad- uate Preparation, in Number and Percent by University . 158 Graduates: Opinion of the Efficiency of Their Under- graduate Preparation--"01d Grads" Compared to More Recent GraduateS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Graduates' Opinion of the Efficiency of Their Under- graduate Preparation, in Percents, by A. Secondary School Origins B. Three Major Science Areas of Training C. Level of Mean 1963 Income. . . . . . . . . . . . 161 ix Table 6.4 Page Social Science Area Graduates: Opinion of the Effi- ciency of Undergraduate Preparation: 5 and 6 Year Academic Program Graduates Compared Those of 2, 3 and 4 Year Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs: Opinion of the Efficiency of Their University Preparation Compared to the Number of Extra Calendar Years Spent for the Degree or Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 "Most Serious Problem" of the University: Consensus of Opinion Based Upon Multiple Responses of the Graduates, in Rank Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 "Most Serious Problem" of the University, in the Opinion of the Graduates: By University, with Percentages. . . 171 "Most Serious Problem" of the University, as Expressed in Various Groupings of the Graduates . . . . . . . . . 173 "Most Important Improvement" that the University Could Make, in the Opinion of the Graduates: By University, with Percentages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 "Service of the University" Most Requested by the Graduates: by University, with Percentages . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION "The Ancient and Royal Kingdom of Coathemala, Sovereignty Per- petual of His Highness Charles I, Arch-diocese Eternal of His Holiness Pope Clement VII" (as reads in Spanish the reproduction of an old scroll at the University of San Carlos, Guatemala), extended in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries from what is now the southern Mexican states of Yucatan, Chiapas and Campeche, in the north, southward through lush tropical valleys, majestic mountain ranges, and broad costal plains, to that peak of Darien in Panama where Balboa, not Keats' Corteg, first gazed upon the Pacific Ocean. Modern Central America contains five independent countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and each supports an autonomous national university. The university of San Carlos of Guatemala was founded in 1676, and the other four early in the nineteenth century--Nicaragua, 1812, El Salvador, 1841, Costa Rica, 1843, and Honduras, 1847. All five national universities until recently followed traditional European organization and administration--dispersed, strong separate faculties; weak central administration; triparte all-university governing board (faculty, graduates, students)--and produced a relatively small grad- uate body, prepared chiefly in the professional areas of Law, Medicine and the Humanities. Changes in curriculum since 1940 have meant a growing number of graduates in Education, Engineering and Pharmacy. All five universities enjoy strong educational, economic and political power in their respective countries. In nations largely illiterate, most of the national leaders (aside from the military) have, at one time or another, been universitarios--university students-- and, as such, influenced by their alma mater. To be a university student is automatically to be among the nation's select, since but one of every thousand in the population progresses so far, and to be a graduate, a Licenciado or Doctor, means even higher status and pres-‘ tige. Since universitarios or graduates occupy a great number of the nation's economic, social and political positions, the national insti- tutions of higher learning influence greatly the future of the Central American people. Statement of the Problem From a distance, a forest is a forest, a mountain a mountain, a jungle a jungle. Only upon close inspection can one determine the type of forest, mountain or jungle, and this may be done not only by analyzing the trees, rocks or under-growth, but by studying the characteristics of the inhabitants, and in the case of humans, ascertaining their opinions concerning their milieu. The five Central American countries began some twenty years ago to c00perate more closely in an effort to achieve greater economic progress. One of the crucial tasks of economic development is to de- termine the conditions under which human resources will be forthcoming for the new productive goals which the developing economy sets itself. Lucian W. Pye recently wrote: In most developing societies there is room...for general studies of the social and economic groups which are politi- cally important or which appear potentially significant. For many years there has been the need for more systematic case studies of such groups as students, intellectuals, journalists...and...more formally established organizations.1 It is a fact that underdeveloped countries need not only indus- tries but also other political, social and educational innovations. Many times the institutions of these countries need renovation before new processes or activities are introduced. Since economic development not only provokes, but only comes after, social, political and cultural organizational changes, such changes ought to be anticipated by the light of present institutional organization. It was therefore proposed to study the graduates of the national universities of Central America to determine their personal, socio- economic and professional characteristics, (1) as of the present (1963), and (2) while they were in school as undergraduates: and to ascertain the graduates' opinions about (1) the adequacy of the uni- versity preparation, (2) the present problems of the university, and (3) the improvements and services in the university they deem necessary or worthwhile. The Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to aid in the understanding of Central American universities by analyses of data concerning the graduates, and to provide basic information relative to the following questions: 1Lucian W. Pye, "The Developing Areas: Problems for Research" in Studying Politics Abroad, Robert E. Ward, ‘gg..§1., Little, Brown and Co. (Boston, Mass., 1964), pp. 20-21. What kinds of persons are graduates? a. What proportion of the graduates (l) are female? (2) were from public, or private, high schools? (3) were "part-time" or "full-time" students? b. How was their university education financed? c. What was the principal source and average amount of their annual undergraduate income? d. In what professional fields were the graduates prepared? What was the length of their academic programs? How many calendar years did they invest before they earned their degree or title? e. What do the graduates do after graduation? (1) What kind of work? How many different positions? (2) What was their income in 1963? What amount of increase did this represent over the undergraduate income? How do the graduates view their university education? How efficiently do they think they were prepared? What do the graduates consider to be a. the major problems of the university? b. the improvements necessary in their alma mater? c. the services that should be offered by the university? How efficacious are the universities in the production of graduates? In the efficiency and effectiveness of production? lgportance of the Research No form of international study aimed specifically to obtain answers to such questions has yet been attempted in Central America. And no extensive, adequate data concerning their own graduates exist at any of the five national universities. This study provides the first set of comprehensive data on the graduates of the universities, which, according to the international agreement on educational unification of the Organization of Central American States (ODECA), "ought to actively participate in the planning of Education..." (Article 11), assisting in its evaluation "in a manner that will permit establishing a relation between the economic and human resources that are destined for education, and its production" (Article 13).2 Planning must include evaluation, and since part of the evaluation of any university, or of higher education in general, ought to be an examination of university graduates, this study, which contains volumi- nous new data both national and regional in scope, should serve to stimulate further institutional research. To some extent, a cross-disciplinary approach has been applied to the cross-cultural and cross-national data here presented. In the study of social organization, the ecological approach, as Otis Duncan and Leo Schnore have pointed out,3 is not merely composed of "studies of the environment in strictly geographic terms... or exercises in I 2ODECA (Organizacidn de los Estados Centro Americanos), Boletin Informativo, (San Salvador, El Salvador, Agosto, 1962) Mimeograph, pp. 3-4. 3Otis Dudley Duncan and Leo F. Schnore, "Cultural, Behavioral and Ecoiogical Perspectives in the Study of Social Organization", The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. LXV (Sept., 1959), pp. 132-146. formal demography." It is also concerned with the concept "of a popula- tion as a system with emergent properties" to be viewed in its "collec- tive adaptation...to its environment...". A population, an environment, and the technological development thereof and therein, are important concepts of human ecology, and they may be treated territorially and temporally to provide convenient and invariant reference points for the observation and study of social organizations. The data on the population of university graduates in Central America should form part of the background material for future, more specific studies of bureaucracy, stratification or urbanization in the area. Researchers attacking the problem of power groups in organizational studies could also use the information, since the body of educationally "elite" university graduates, as presently organized in the three countries studied, constitute distinct power groups. Review of the Literature In any review of literature dealing with Latin America, Franklin Parker's writings and bibliographies must be consulted. In the PHI DELTA KAPPAN of January, 1964, he wrote of "U.S. Doctoral Dissertations Dealing with Latin American Education", stating that of 269 dissertations, Few were critical of class structure and institutional status quo; few dealt with university reform or the influence of the universitarios in social, economic and political improvement. Few dealt with education for economic diversity and few were comparative studies of catalytic factors which...enab1e . people to leap forward. 4Franklin Parker, "U.S. Doctoral Dissertations Dealing with Latin American Education", Phi Delta Kappan, January, 1964. Five of these studies provided some background material for the present study, although but one of them touched upon university grad- uates in Central America: 1. 5 Robert Clark Aden in "Teacher Training in Guatemala" found that it was inadequate and unrelated to the needs of the people; George H. Herrick in "American and Spanish-American Litera- ture in Californian and Central American Higher Education", 1960, analyzed the content and teaching method in survey courses in four institutions of higher education in Central America; Luis Beltranena-Valladares in "Attempts to Form a Union of Central America", 1942 discussed a plan of education includ- ing the organization of a Central American university; Juan ESpendez-Navarro in "A Critical Appreciation of the Educational Programs of Central America", 1941, surveyed and compared all levels of education in all five countries, covering just the period 1930-1940; and Solomon Lipp in "The University Reform in Hispanic America", 1949, included Costa Rica and Guatemala in his analyses, and concluded with five weaknesses of university education: too much "cultural" emphasis, excessive professionalism, excessive governmental control, lack of national awareness, and a narrow social and ethic student base. 5Complete bibliographical data on these dissertations may be found in the Bibliography of this study. There do exist various papers, reports and documents which per- tain in some way to university graduates in Central America. The university registrars in Costa Rica and Guatemala have published bulletins containing data on the number of graduates produced, and the degrees earned from the several facultades. Similar data can be obtained from the University Secretaries at the other institutions. Yet these data go back no further than 1941 (in the case of Costa Rica), and are incomplete ge sex, degree or faculty origin of degree. No university has significant personal, occupational, professional, or post-graduate academic data on its graduates. 1§Qurce of the Data The data used in this study were gathered while working at IIME (Instituto de Investigaciones y Mejoramiento), in Guatemala City, Guatemala. IIME, the Institute for Educational Research and Improvement, is jointly operated by the University of San Carlos, Guatemala, and Michigan State University. As a hypothesis- generating study, this thesis can be considered alone, but should be read in the context of all the IIME research and publications pertain- ing to higher education administrative problems in Central America, the most relevant of which are listed in a bibliography. The graduates are of the Spanish-American cultural and Ladino or Meseta Central regional traditions, coming from families in the population components of the Emergent Middle, Local Upper, and Cosmo- politan classes--using the terminology of a proposed classification 6 of Central American people first suggested by Richard N. Adams. The 6Richard N. Adams, "Cultural Components of Central America", American Anthropologist, V01. 58, Oct., 1956, pp. 881-907. Specific population of graduates to be Studied--as representative7 a selection of university graduates as possible at this time--will be treated in the aggregate and sub-divided to obtain its emergent academic, demographic, economic and occupational properties. The aggregate approach--framed neither in terms of the individual nor of value systems--holds great promise for exploring problems of university organization. By studying demographic, occupational, terri- torial, financial and academic aggregates of its graduates--a university's product--the university can analyze its own administration and organiza- tion--the machine which produces the graduates. ‘§cgpe ofgghe Study The study is limited to the graduates of the national universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The University of El Salvador did not participate, and there was no way to verify the adequacy or reliability of the responses from Honduras. The data were drawn from a four-page questionnaire (in Spanish) which was sent to all known graduates of the three national universities with the cooperation of university officials and the graduates' colegios, or professional associations.8 Some 1,300 responses were received, of which l,l33--or approximately 17.00 percent of all known graduates of the three universities-~are represented in the study. It was possible to verify, through university and colegio records, back 7Excluded are Central American nationals who may have attended their national university at some time but who were graduated only by a foreign university. Many upper class residents were educated abroad, hence are not represented here. 8A colegio is an occupational coalition, one of several organiza- tion properties that the graduate "population" has evolved and sustained in the process of adaptation to its environment. 10 to the years 1953 in Nicaragua, 1949 in Guatemala a1d 1941 in Costa Rica, that over two-thirds of the reSponses came from actual graduates. It was assumed that £11 responses did, Since the professional associa- tionS provided the mailing lists of accredited members which were used. The accuracy of the data was likewise assumed, since no com- parable data existed for confirmation, and Since the respondees, the academic and intellectual elite in each country, had been assured that their answers would be confidential. A copy of the questionnaire, a list of all degrees, diplomas and titles offered in 1963 by the universities (158 in total), and other pertinent documents are included in the Appendices. Overview of the Study There will be three major parts to the study: the characteristics of the graduates; their opinions concern- ing relative university matters; and the efficacy of university pro- duction. The overview of the entire study is as follows: A. Chapter Two--Methodology B. Chapter Three--Characteristics of the Graduates in 1963 C. Chapter Four--Characteristics of the Graduates as Undergraduates D. Chapter Five--Post-Graduation Activities of the Graduates E. Chapter Six--Opinions of the Graduates F. Chapter Seven--Summary of Conclusions G. Bibliography H. Appendixes 11 Some of the data already shown are findings of the present study, yet have not been indicated as such. It was felt that the methodology of selecting the specific population Should be emphasized, rather than the originality of data, only with which the methodology could be employed. The data used in the delimitative analyses originated with the present investigation. In subsequent chapters, findings are given in either number and/ or percent, in tables and graphs, as the results of comparative calcula- tions and Chi-square analyses. The data are comparable with reference to specific points in time for the graduates of the national universi- ties in each of three Central American countries--Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The study is intended primarily to be hypothesis- generating in nature. CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY S urces Data There are two major sources of information about university graduates in Central America: university records and records of the several faculty-related professional associations.9 University records may be centralized, as in the Registrar's Office in Costa Rica (Since 1950) or Guatemala (since 1961); they may be dispersed among all the different colleges that make up the university, as they are in Nicaragua, and were in the other two universities before their records were centralized. Many gaps appear in the records kept by colleges and professional associations through the years; and neither record system reflected occupational or financial data of the gradu- ates, nor solicited their opinions on university matters. The professional associations maintain fairly up-to-date files on their present membership, but the data therein is considered privileged and confidential. Several association secretaries indi- cated that they have very little personal data on their members, and practically no financial or academic information. Since these two sources could provide, at best, only rough ggggegg of graduates in any given year, and incomplete information on degrees earned or the sex of the graduates, it was decided to design a question- naire that would elicit from the graduates the data needed, and to 9Comparable in the United States to such organizations as State Bar, Medical or Dental Associations. 12 l3 put the questionnaire in their hands, using the membership lists kept by the professional organizations. Design of the Instrument Qggg In the design of the instrument Encuesta g; graduados, a copy of which is included as Appendix A, several problems of construc- tion arose. In the selection of data, first the kinds of data desired had to be defined; then an estimate had to be made of the possible extent to which the graduates would provide accurate and reliable re- sponses. The following types of data and representative specific items illustrate what was solicited: A. Personal data--sex, age, civil status, dependents; B. Educational data--high school attended, year of first college enrollment, year of graduation, degree, 2nd or 3rd university degrees, other universities attended; C. Financial data--scholarships while in school, average annual undergraduate income, source of such income, number of pre- sent incomes, total income in 1963; and D. Questions eliciting opinions about--undergraduate courses, problems of the university, improvements and services which the university could undertake. Prob1ems There was also a problem of phrasing the questions with a "tolerance" for some language variation, so that the graduates would interpret the questions as desired. Even though Spanish is the official language in all Central American countries, there exist, as between British and American English, slight differences from country 14 to country in the denotative or connotative meaning of common words. For example, the word graduado itself may mean only a person who has studied and earned a degree from the specific national university, or it may be used to include graduates from other "recognized" univer- sities who have been academically "incorporated" into the national body of university graduados. Again, high school may be either escuela "media" or "secundaria"; ocnpacidn means type of work as well as Specific position within a type; and ggg§g_may be interpreted not only as a Specific course but as a plan of study including several courses. Spanish-speaking university professors from each of the three countries were consulted, and their judgment was relied upon in the precise wording of all questions so as to evoke the most accurate and reliable responses. In regard to the accumulation of financial data, and the sub- sequent coding of responses, two problems had to be considered in the construction of easy-to-answer questions: the selection of ranges of incomes useful in both national and regional interpretation, and the accommodation of those ranges to differing national currencies. Currency conversion In the economic analyses made from the financial data, each medium of exchange--colones (Costa Rica), guetzales (Guatemala), and cordobas (Nicaragua)--was converted to a common mone- tary Standard, the United States dollar. Since these Central American currencies have had a standard relationship to the U.S. dollar for some length of time, it was deemed that the undergraduate financial data presented by graduates who left school some time back would not overly distort comparisons made with data from more recent graduates. 15 Nevertheless, even though the three currencies were easily con- verted into a common denominator, this does not mean that other impor- tant economic factors-~changing wage scales, instability of government, diversification of economy--were worked into the analyses to equalize the income factor. Such factors are very difficult to isolate and measure even in a large-scale economic study, and impossible to achieve in a limited study of this scope. Should Central Americans wish to re-convert the financial figures from the tables for the purpose of local study and analization, the following equivalencies were used: $1.00 (U.S.) 6.625 colones in Costa Rica = 1.00 guetzal in Guatemala = 7.1 cdrdobas in Nicaragua. Coding The responses to the questions were to be transferred to IBM cards; the ease with which answers could be coded and classi- fied was therefore a further consideration in the construction of the data collection instrument. Verificatiog and validation As indicated earlier, no comparable data exist in Central America which would serve to test the reliability of the graduates' reSponseS to the questionnaire. Existing university and professional association records helped to insure as far as possible that only bonafide graduates would receive and return the questionnaire. Returns were verified by checking them against the total numbers of graduates from each faculty, each year, in each university, Since 1953. In no case did the number of replies from one sub-group exceed the true 16 total of graduates comprising that group. In this manner, more than half of the replies could be validated. No item was included in the instrument without a thorough prior review by Central American university personnel of the propriety, wording, purpose, and interpretation of the question. For those ques- tions dealing with opinions, a cross-cultural, international panel of university personnel was utilized to classify hundreds of different answers into a dozen or so major categories. Distribution Questionnaires were mailed to graduates, under the official ranking privilege of the universities, with three official covering letters, one each from the Director of IIME, the Rector of the appropriate university, and the Secretary of the relevant professional association; each letter requested the graduate's cooperation in a study considered of vital concern to the university and the nation. Population Graduates from the National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua are represented in the Study. Two national universities in Central America are excluded from this study: the University of El Salvador and the National Autonomous University of Honduras. In El Salvador, the University was undergoing a reform movement under its new rector, and declined to participate in the Study. In Honduras, two factors mitigated against the possibility of getting adequate data: an internal reorganization revolving around the establishment of a Faculty of General Studies, and an external political problem with the national government. Although some question- naires were sent to graduates in Honduras, the returns were inadequate for use. 17L ‘Egtent of Official Data on Population The national universities of Costa Rica and Guatemala have central registrar's offices, although in Guatemala only since 1961. The registrars encountered some opposi- tion in establishing their offices: historically the several faculties of Latin American universities have considered themselves independent, registering their own students, collecting their own fees, and keeping their own records. Because the creation of a central administrative office to do "their" job was felt by some officials to be an encroach- ment upon that independence, at times there was outright non-coopera- tion with the registrars, some faculty officials letting the registrar know that he was to keep records only "from then on". Even where there was cooperation, the inadequacies of prior record systems or of record-keeping minimized the usefulness of data provided to the regis- trar by a faculty's secretary. Nevertheless, the registrars at Costa Rica and Guatemala have been able recently to publish "official" data about graduates and matricu- lants from their universities, back to the years 1950 in Guatemala and 1941 in Costa Rica. These data are adequate.£g the sex, faculty and year of graduation of graduates during those years. Data in regard to the undergraduate career pursued, and the actual degree or title conferred, are incomplete. In 1963, there was no registrar's office at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. Upon request, nevertheless, the Secretary General of the University was able to obtain (from six of the eight colleges) data which permitted him to compile a list of graduates, by name and faculty of graduation, for the years 1953-1963, as well as 18 .mH owed no one mouoz .mswmumowz one .mwusocom .uoom>Hmm Hm SH kuodow munuouoom can no ooammo mmamfioumso one mafia mumoo cw unnumwwom can no oowmmo "condom Ao.ov Aeemv oxosm.NHV Am.mv .Aemu.av Sammm.smv gages m.m saw mom.SH ram H.m ema.a Sam.wm o.m can wem.ma H.a mam.~ omo.as mg a men wear REESE, - econ ms m.o a mac aoou>umm Haaoom m.o mad Hmm.mH omumuumu\moemaom H.w em Noo.H HS H.m mam sam.~ a.m ma me~.H S.oH awe sea.a Ramayana a.wH on new mawoaounouoaz ~.o can mmo.e OSH m.m Nam mem.0a m.a mam aoa.~ - mace ma Sundanese o.a mos Hum.s mmm o.m Ame wHH.mH m.~ AHA aS~.m m.m o~m som.m sag ONH NEmHHgHDOH msa N.m ASH ~na.n a.o SH meo.~ Namauaeaasm m.o Hm maa.m oam:z\mue< Seam S.N mm oam.H so m.~ Hmu aua.a o.~ ow eeo.a «.0 sea mom.~ weaumaeamcm mace mam s.am mao.a mwa.e meoaumusem cam an H.H Sou mam.a S.o oH ouo.~ m.H Na amo.m mmuaaoeoom N.N SN so~.H NH a.m Sm oma.~ m.a on mmo.H a.HH Sea om~.H Auumauemn I OGOG NOH . H H OHDHUOHHSUH< a.H ea NmS.H t m.a owe www.H aaoaoeme e .935 .22 a. gauge: A. 5.36 .22 .a .35 .2: .a. .936 .2: Ame-ommav Aas-mmaav Ame-omaav Ams-mmaav Ame-ommav asoemaqu memanzom aaazmaaso aoaasgam an i «on Samoa maoomom mo mmHHgsuam mmHHHmem>Hza gazOHaaz mmoHH¢Amm mHHz .MHADUHZD wm "momanomma .mmH¢=nHom Hm .mowm wumou mo moauwmuo>wdb Hmaoaumz H.N oHan 19 Notes to Table 2.1 1Founded in 1959. 2Data on graduates in Nicaragua unavailable. 3Costa Rican data to 1956 from the old School of Pedagogy. Guatemalan education matriculants and graduates are included in the Humanities. Nicaraguan faculty founded in 1962. 4School in Costa Rica founded in 1961. Trained midwives not included in the number of graduates of any university. 5There were graduates in Microbiology before there was a School of Microbiology. The matriculation total covers only the years 1957-63, i.e., Since creation of the faculty, but the number of grad- uates is for the period 1950-63. 6Includes data from the old Schools of Science, and Philosophy and Letters. 7In Costa Rica, founded in 1956. In Guatemala, matriculants are for 1963 only. 8Founded in 1957. 9The three figures in parentheses for Costa Rica are for all schools except the Schools of Pedagogy and Education, and for Nicaragua only for the five faculties for which data on graduates is available. 20 matriculation data since 1950. These data also are incomplete con- cerning the undergraduate major pursued and the degree or title earned. The numbers of graduates 1950-1963 from the five national univer- sities in Central America are Shown in Table 2.1. The number of graduates is compared to the number of matriculated students, by uni- versity and faculty, in order to give an idea of the relatively Small percent of Students who become graduates. The year 1950 is the earliest year for which it is possible to compare matriculants to graduates for the three universities included in this study. In the fourteen-year period 1950-1963, the University of Costa Rica has converted 7.1 percent of its matriculants into graduates, the University of San Carlos of Guatemala 3.1 percent, and the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua 5.8 percent. However, as suggested in the notes to the table, the total universityfigures for a given university may be misleading. The recently-created Faculty of Archi- tecture in Guatemala, for example, had no graduates prior to 1964, yet its enrollment is included in the total, and in the derived per- centage for its university; Similar distortions are produced by includ- ing the School of Medicine in Costa Rica (first enrollment in 1961) and the Faculty of Education in Nicaragua (1962). To get a more accu- rate picture of graduate production in each of the three universities under study, it is best to exclude those schools or faculties (1) which have been in existence too short a time to expect reasonable pro- duction, or (2) for which there are no comparable data. The percent of graduates to matriculants for each university would then be as follows: 21 .Mgtriculggts Graduates % Costa Rical 40,272 2,893 7.2 Guatemalaz 57,121 1,789 3.1 Nicaragua3 12,860 844 6.6 Total 110,253 5,526 5.0 1Does not include the Schools of Medicine or Social Service. 2Does not include the Faculties of Architecture or Veterinary Medicine, or the School of Social Service. 3Does not include the Faculties of Economics, Education, Human- ities, or Journalism. Yet even here figures are misleading. A glance at faculty-by faculty production Shown in Table 2.1 indicates that one school in Costa Rica, Education, has graduated 34.4 percent of its students Since 1950, while another, Science and Letters (includigg graduates of the old Schools of Science, and Philosophy and Letters), has grad- uated only 0.8 percent. The more nearly true percent for that uni- versity, then, is 3.5 percent (all schools except Medicine, Social Service and Education). If we may assume that the percent of grad- uates to matriculants in the areas of economics and humanities in Nicaragua is about the same as that for those areas in Costa Rica and Guatemala (1.3, 1.1, 0.9, and 3.2%), then the 6.6 percent figure for Nicaragua would fall to the level of the other two national universities. There are other data about graduates which pertain to this presen- tation of population: the University of Costa Rica has official data on graduates before l950--back to the year 1941. Since there are no 22 matriculation data for that ten-year period, those graduates--l,123 in all--were not included in Table 2.1. However, they form part of the total known general population of graduates, and are included in all tables and relevant calculations that follow. ‘Qelimitatiog In Table 2.2, the general population is shown in relation to the number of responses received to the instrument and to the final Specific population. In this Study, the term "general pop- ulation" refers to all graduates from the National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua for whom the Registrar and/or the Secretary General had official record as of 1963. The term "Specific population" refers to those of the above general population whose response to the questionnaire is used in this study. In Table 2.2 and other tables, the plus (+9 Sign indicates a probable number of addi- tional graduates, and a minus (-) Sign a probable lower figure. There were 1,180 responses considered possible to use. They were reduced to a Specific population of 1,133 by eliminating the Honduras responses, and by not including any responses from incorporados. (An:incorporado is not a graduate pg; ge of the particular national university; his degree from another institution has been recognized and "incorporated" into the national body of professionals--a legal procedure necessary prior to professional practice.)10 Of the 1,133 1OIn Central American countries, the national university licenses professionals to practice, a public re8ponsibility normally discharged by a state agency in the United States. 23 Table 2.2 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua GENERAL GRADUATE POPULATION, QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES, AND THE SPECIFIC POPULATION _1 GENERAL POPULATION SPECIFIC POPULATION Known graduates Res onses Number of Percent o and period of p Replies all known Uhiver- accurate data ‘ Number Possible actually graduates sity available to use used Costa 4022+' 606 604 598 14.86- Rical (1941-1963) Guatei 1796+ 365 364 333 18.54- mala (1950-1963) Nica- 3 844+' 247 241 202 23.93- ragua (1950-1963) Honduras 528+' 102 47 - _ 4 (1952-1961) TOTAL 7190+ 1311 1180 1133 17.00- 1Includes 42 graduates from the Schools of Fine Arts, Music, and Social Service, none of whom replied to the questionnaire. 2Includes seven graduates from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, of whom none replied. The Faculty of Architecture is not represented, there being no graduates prior to 1964. 3Does not include the Faculty of Economics or the Schools of Education or JOurnalism. Since no replies were received from the graduates of these faculties, it was assumed either that those pro- fessional associations did not mail out the questionnaires, or that, as in the case of the School of Education (established 1962) there had been no graduates. 4Over one-half of the reSponseS from Honduras were from the Faculty of Law; more than half of all replies were sufficiently incom- plete to be unusable; and eleven replies were from graduates 393 of the national university but of the national teacher-preparation normal school, "Francisco Mbrazdn." For these reasons, and to keep the sample from being distorted, the National Autonomous university of Honduras was not included in the study. SOURCE: Registrars' Offices, Costa Rica and Guatemala; Secretary Generals' Offices, Nicaragua and Honduras. 24 graduates, 598 represent Costa Rica, 333 Guatemala, and 202 Nicaragua. The proportions by country within both the general and Specific pop- ulations are as follows: P O P U L A T I 0 N General Specific Cougggy # Z # Z Costa Rica 4,022+ 60.38- 598 52.78 Guatemala 1,796+ 26.95- 333 29.39 Nicaragua 844+ 12.67- 202 17.83 TOTAL 6,662+ 100.00 1,133 100.00 e ’ ‘tat‘ve A al ses ways for two purposes: The two populations were analyzed in two 1. Graduates were sorted by three periods of time--"Old Grads" (1900-1953), Middle Graduates (1954-1958), and Recent Graduates (l959-l963)--to facilitate a check against offi- cial university records for validation of response; and 2. The graduates were divided roughly into three major areas of undergraduate training--the Physical, Medical, and Social Sciences--to facilitate later analyses of university pro- ductivity as well as validation of response. Comparisons of the general and Specific populations using these two analyses are shown in Tables 2.3 through 2.7. A comparison of the general and Specific populations in Table 2.3, by the period of graduation, illustrates that, of the nine cells (three universities times three periods), the smallest reSponse was .uoumofiocw on one moose mucoHom momma emu you dude emu .uoddma oxHH SH .ouamwm uo3oH manmnoua m Mdflunowodw .Auv modes on mowmuaoouoa onu van .moumsumum HoSOMuHuum mo wanes: dsocxdn do ¢+v moan mm oouooflu new we mmmanooma uowuoa ecu How moumspmuw mo nomad: onu common menu you ”mowm wumou Ge Heaa no .madfioumsu ca 25 0mma .mnwwumoez cw «mam ouomon oHanwHuo> me: no oHanHm>m uoc acumen one dude huwmuo>fics Hmwowwon -oo.aa -mm.mm -Sm.wa -Sw.SH e mmma NON mmm mmm onusomam + «see + sew + sane + «Noe amassed aayoa em.NH No.8H Na.HH Hm.NH e mam as ea me saunomam SHSN mum Now SwNH amassed moaa-mmaa No.mH mR.HH wa.mH mw.mH e mam am am mea oaunoaam mama mam wwm was Haemamo wmmH-Smaa -NH.m~ -oN.am -ms.om -RH.SH s New mam mam mow outmomam + omem + HON + cos + mama Hmumemo HmmmH-oomH mowm weedflwua HmUOH commemoflz mHmEoumno mumoo unmouom mo mou< cam moaumnumuo waHmmm>HZD aaonHaz moam .mazmozommmm nee mmeepmamo schemasaom to eosumm mmomHzmomMm mHHS .UZHZHdMH madbnmmOMMQZD mo wea Hmeoeuwz m.N oHan 26 -SH.SH mm.SH -NS.SH -SS.NH e SSS aN SNH SSS SHSHSSSS SmoemHum + SNNS + SSS + SNN + SmHm Hmumemo HSHSSS -oN.SH -NS.SN -NS.SH -NS.SH N mum on mma mm owwauomm moocowom + NSSH + NOS + NHS + SSS HSSSSSS HSSHSSZ -oS.SN -NS.HS -mS.SN -NN.~N e SON NH SN SHH SHSHSSSS + Son + mm + SSN + SHS HSSSSSS SSSSSHSS Hmonhmm deem wcwewmua HouOH mswmumowz mHmEoumso muwoo udwmwom mo mou< waHmam>Hzp HSonaSz moan .mezmnzommmm aze Smeamnemu eoHSSHsaom :mwumwmmww A.aoSS m.N SHSSH 27 11.72 percent in Guatemala, 1959-63. The largest was 59.20- percent, the "Old Grads" in Nicaragua. However, all of the percentages for the period 1900-1953 are "artificial" because the exact number of grad- uates before 1954 is unknown. It is interesting, though, to notice that for this period the percentages progress downward from Nicaragua through Guatemala to Costa Rica (56.20 to 36.45 to 16.17 percent) as the earliest data of reliable data recedes in time (1954 to 1950 to 1941). The figures for the Middle and Recent Graduates (1954-58 and 1959- 63) are "real"; that is, the actual number of graduates and responses from those graduates. For these graduates, the response by university was 13.78 percent in Costa Rica, 13.31 percent in Guatemala, 12.91 percent in Nicaragua, and 13.49 percent overall (see Table 2.4). If the graduates in the last ten years reSponded at the rate of 13.49 percent, and the high "artificial" percent of response from the "Old Grads" seems to fall into perspective in relation to the passage of time, then it is reasonable to assume that 311 graduates responded to the instrument at approximately a 13 percent rate. As Shown in Table 2.3, Slightly more than half of the Specific population graduated in the last ten years (571 vs. 562), thus provid- ing modernity and validity to later analyses of graduates' opinions and monetary reports. In Table 2.3, the general and Specific populations are also divided into three major areas of undergraduate training--the Physical, Medical and Social Sciences. A further division by university pro- duces nine cells for comparison. {$11 of the general population figures here are "artificial", i.e., probably plus (+) an additional number of actual graduates. 28 The highest percent of response (Nicaragua, Physical Sciences, 51.52 percent) came from the smallest general population sub-group, while the lowest percent (Costa Rica, Social Sciences, 12.94 percent) represents the largest sub-group. This is a common arithmetical phenomenon; an inverse ratio between possible and actual responses from a sub-group. In this study, the more graduates, the lower percentage of reSponse; the fewer graduates, the higher percentage of response. The important factor is that the 12.94 percent figure com- pares favorably to the overall 13.49 percent response from all grad- uates in the last ten years. The inordinately large number of Social Science area graduates in Costa Rica is due to the success of the School of Education there. That school has produced some 2,500 graduates (mostly elementary school teachers) Since 1941, roughly 61 percent of all graduates in Costa Rica during this period of time.11 The 12.94 percent reSponse from Social Science area graduates in Costa Rica represents an actual number of 406 respondents in the Specific population, approximately 67 percent of that portion of the Specific population from the Univer- sity of Costa Rica (598)--a figure comparable to reality. The total Specific population in Table 2.3 includes 28.90 percent of all "known" graduates in the Physical Sciences, 19.20 percent of those in the Medical Sciences, and 14.18 percent from the Social Sciences. Within both the Specific and general populations, the percentages are as follows: 11Derived from data provided by the Registrar, University of Costa Rica. 29 1 Area . . General Specific Graduates % Graduates % Physical Sciences 706+ 10.60- 204 18.00 Medical Sciences 1682+ 25.24- 323 28.51 Social Sciences 4274+' 64.16- 606 53.49 TOTAL 6662+ 100.00 1133 100.00 Since the general population figures are "artificial" in nature, it may be that, were the actual number of graduates known, the percent of graduates in each science area would more nearly approximate the percents within the Specific population. The latter may represent the proportions more nearly true in 1963, Since in recent years (as seen in Table 2.5) the universities have been producing a higher percent of Physical and Medical Science area graduates, in keeping with their nations' emphasis on industrial and economic development. Tables 2.4 and 2.5 only contain population data about graduates 1954-1963. For this period, the actual numbers of graduates from the three national universities under Study are known. All figures, therefore, are "real". For the three universities, the Specific pOpulation averaged 13.49 percent of the general population, a figure mentioned earlier to establish the possible validity of response from the "old grads". When the graduates since 1953 were grouped by area of under- graduate preparation, the smallest sub-group was the Medical Sciences in Guatemala--9.77 percent, Specific to general population. The 30 SS.NH SS.HH NS.HN SS.SH SS.NH NS.SH S SNS SSH SSH HNS SSN SHN SHSHSSSS NSSN SSNH ShS NSNS SHSN SHSH Hmuaamo HSHSH SS.NH SS.HH SS SS HS.NH NS.SH SN.HH S SS NS oH SS SS an SHSHSSSS SSN SNS . NN SSS SNS SHS HSHSuSS aswmeaon NS.SH SN.S SS.oN HS.SH NN.HH SS.SH S Sn SS SS SSH SS tww. SHSHSSSS oNS SSS SHN SSSH NSS SSS Hatmctu «HSSSSSSS NS.NH HH.SH SS.oN SN.SH HS.NH SS.SH S HHN NS 0S SSS SSH SSH SHSHSSSS SHSH SHN NSN SSHN SSNH SHS HSuSeSo SSHS SSSoo HSHSSS HSSHSSS HSSHSSSS HSSoS SS-SSSH.. SS-SSSH uoHSSHsaom SSHSHS>HSS mchSoHH mo moH< poewom HmcoSumz mmweHzmommm mHHS.SOZHZH¢xH HHSDnmxomWQZD mo wds HSSOSDSZ ¢.N oHan 31 Table 2.5 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GENERAL AND SPECIFIC GRADUATE POPULATIONS--1954-l963: PROPORTIONS BY MAJOR SCIENCE AREA OF UNDERGRADUATE TRAINING General Specific Area Graduates % Graduates % Physical Sciences 479 11.32 105 18.39 Medical Sciences 1256 29.68 143 25.04 Social Sciences 2497 59.00 323 56.57 TOTAL ‘ 4232 100 . 00 571 100 . 00 largest was 45.45 percent, Physical Sciences in Nicaragua--high because 10 of the 22 actual graduates responded to the questionnaire. The specific population contains 21.92 percent of all Physical Sciences graduates in the last ten years, 11.39 percent of the Medical Science graduates, and 12.94 percent from the Social Sciences. Within the specific population sub-group of graduates 1954-1963 (Table 2.5), the Physical Sciences account for 18.39 percent, Medical Sciences 25.04 percent, and the Social Sciences 56.57 percent--slight1y higher per- centages for the Physical and Social Sciences than in.the total Specific population, and lower for the Medical Sciences. The full known general population and the full Specific population used in the study are broken down in Table 2.6 into ten areas of under- graduate study, and by university. The percent of Specific to general papulation for each area is included. 32 .ouwmddowumonv one On ooSHaou odd: mowmaz paw mun¢ ocwm SS moumaomum mm mopaaode .uoudommou 80:3 «0 duo: .ooS>Hom HoSoom mo Hoomom osu Boom moumsomuw n mopaaodHN .uouoc no one odowmmwao Honuo .eoma on uowud onEouoso GS omoHHoo oar» Eoum woumaomuw to: duo on modem .oH5uoouwsoH4 oanodS uoc SSOQH SSS SSNH NNSS NSSS SS.NH SSHH NSN SSS SSS HSSSH N , N SS.SS maSuHemz SSSSHSSSS> SSH SSSN NSS SS.SH NS S NS SSHSHSSESS Ho muwuuwfl flaw modmfiom SS SSH SSN SSS HS.SH NS SH SN SS .amSSNSSSauSSS SSN NNS SS NHS SH.HN SSH NS SS HH SSoHoSSoSon Ho oaSoSoQZ SSS NSS NSNS SSNH SS.SH SSN NN SS SS SSH SS HSN SSH SSS SS.SN NSH NH NS SS SSHSSSSHSSS HS NNSN SSSN SS.S SSN S NSN SSSSSSSSS NSH SN SSH SS.SS SS NS HS SSHaoeoom SN SS SNH SSN SS.SH SS N SH NH SSSSSSSSS SNS SSN SSN HS.NN NN S SS SHSSHSSSSSS .oSz .mno .m.o HeuOH moumnomuu Hmuoa .oSz .msu .m.o HmdScSmHH cowumasmom kuocou HHS mo N dowumdmmom onSoomm .moum mo oaowm ZOHHHZD nzm OZHZH Dentistry 280 4.21 3.80 43 Medicine or Microbiology 912 13.70 17.03 193 Pharmacy or Chemistry 483 7.26 7.68 87 Veterinary Medicine 7 0.02 - - Economics 185 2.78 5.56 63 Education 2488 37.37 21.89 248 Law 1294 19.43 22.33 253 Science and Letters, or Humanities 307 4.62 3.71 42 TOTAL 6662 100.00 100.00 1133 Not considering for the moment the Education area graduates in the two populations, three of the top four areas in both populations are Engineering, Law, and Medicine--the traditional three "prestige" courses of study in Latin American universities--followed by Pharmacy, a sur- prising fourth, considering that most authorities on higher education in Latin America would have predicted that Economics would have a higher ranking. In fact, the low 2.78 percent which Economics area graduates represent of the total 6,662 general population believes that area's relative importance in the mythology of Latin American university think- ing. It is true that aggriculation in faculties and colleges of Economic studies is very high in Latin American universities, yet_gyaduation, as evidenced in this analysis, is extremely low--so low as to be of 36 great import to the universities and national ministries planning the economic development of this geographic area. In summary, this study of university graduates from three Central American national universities is based upon data from 17.00 percent of the total known general population--l,l33 of 6,662 graduates. No incorporados are included; over half of the Specific population were graduated since 1953; and the Physical, Medical and Social Sciences are represented by 18.00, 28.51, and 53.49 percent of the reSpondents, respectively. The specific population includes the following percents of all known graduates: Graduates by Period Graduates by Major Area of Training 1900-1953 23.12-% Physical Sciences 29.90-% 1954-1958 15.02 Medical Sciences 19.20- 1959-1963 12.34 Social Sciences 14.18- Graduates from Costa Rica comprise 52.78 percent of the Specific pop- ulation, and graduates from Guatemala and Nicaragua 29.39 percent and 17.83 percent, respectively. CHAPTER THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GRADUATES: IN 1963 From the data provided by each graduate it is possible to look at him as he might have appeared in "snapshots" taken at three different periods of his life: (1) in the year 1963, (2) when he was an under- graduate, and (3) sometimerbetween his graduation year and 1963. The three "photographic" observations of each graduate, and the composite pictures created from those observations, furnished a convenient and invariant set of reference points for analyses which may further studies of social organization in Central America. [ngmarv of the Characteristics AS of 1963, the "average" grad- uate of the three national universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua was male, 37.5 years old, and married; he had 5.2 dependents, including himself. His academic record is as follows: after graduating from a public, non-co-educational high school in the capital district, he enrolled at the university at age 18.9; he did not change his program once enrolled, pursued no other post-secondary studies while in college, and did not receive any official university economic aid; he majored in an area of the social sciences, investing 7.5 calendar years to complete a program of 5.4 academic years, and he was 26.4 years old when he was graduated. During the last three years as a student his mean annual income was $1,163. In the 11.1 years that have followed his graduation, the "average" graduate has not studied further toward an advanced degree. He has 37 38 engaged in but one professional practice or activity; in 1963, his total mean income of $5,218 was derived, in 83.96 percent of the cases, from just one occupational position. The "average" graduate's 1963 income represented a 348 percent increase over his mean annual under- graduate income. This and the next two chapters will present the characteristics of the graduates in more detail. The data and the analyses will be used to raise a series of questions pertinent to higher education in Central America. Either to the graduate or to the university which granted the degree, what efforts were involved, what problems were faced, what was the result of a university education? In this chapter, a demographic picture of the graduates is shown, and the amount and Sources of their 1963 income are analyzed. The following are among the questions considered: What kinds of people are being graduated? What is their sex? Age? Civil Status? In what professional fields do they work? What did they earn in 1963? How many different sources of income did they have? Are they working in the professional fields areas for which they were professionally pre- pared? What is the monetary value of a university education to the graduates of different fields? What economic Status does the teaching profession hold among the graduates? Demographic Data The graduates of the national universities of Guatemala and Nicaragua are predominately male--96.70 percent and 98.02 percent respectively. In Costa Rica, however, women comprise 42.14 percent of the graduate body. This, of course, is because the majority 39 of graduates in Costa Rica are from the School of Education, where matriculation and graduation are overwhelmingly female. The influence of the women graduates from Costa Rica in this study is evident also in the overall averages for present age, civil status and number of dependents, as seen in Table 3.1 Table 3.1 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: SEX, AGE, CIVIL STATUS AND NUMBER OF DEPENDENTS IN 1963 UNIVERSITY. CATEGORY Number Sex Male Female Age--average rr e Civil ng e status in vorc percent Widowed Other or N.R. ents--average 4.7 5.8 5.6 5.2 The average graduate in Costa Rica is nearly six years younger than his counterpart in Guatemala or Nicaragua, 34.8 vs. 40.4 years; 25.59 percent of the Costa Rican graduates are unmarried, compared to less than ten percent from the other two universities; and they have an average of one less dependent. Since graduates from the universities of Guatemala and Nicaragua present almost identical data in regard to sex, age, civil Status and dependents, in Costa Rica the sex factor, seven men to five women graduates, must be the variable which accounts for (l) the lower average age, (2) the 17-20 percent fewer married 40 graduates, (3) the higher number of divorced graduates, and (4) the lower number of dependents found among graduates from that university. This is verified when those factors are analyzed by a sex dis- tribution of the Costa Rican graduates, as in Table 3.2. Table 3.2 National University of Costa Rica GRADUATES: AGE, CIVIL STATUS AND NUMBER OF DEPENDENTS IN 1963, BY SEX Men WOmen Number 346 252 Average Age 37.1 31.5 Civil Status in percent Married 80.92 46.43 Single 12.72 43.25 Divorced 2.02 2.78 Widowed - 0.79 Other or N.R. 4.34 6.75 Dependents--Average 5.6 3.5 The male graduates from the University of Costa Rica average 3 to 3.6 years younger than the graduates at the other two Schools, while the female graduates from Costa Rica are 8.6 to 9.2 years younger. The male graduates from Costa Rica have the same number of dependents as graduates from Guatemala or Nicaragua, but the 252 female graduates in Costa Rica have 2.2 fewer dependents.~ The largest demographic differ- ence” however, is in marital Status: 43.25 percent of the women grad- luites from Costa Rica are Single, compared to 12.72 percent of the men frtnn that school. Only 9.5 percent of the graduates from the other two Inliversities are unmarried. From these data it is clear that the influence of the women grad- 11ates from the University of Costa Rica will be a factor of considerable 41 importance in later analyses. As shown in Chapter Two, these women are graduates primarily of the School of Education, and 55.56 percent of them were prepared as undergraduates to become primary school teachers. These two characteristics--female sex and undergraduate training in the social science of education--of 22 percent of the Specific population in this study are bound to bias later frequency distribution analyses and calculations. It is evident when the grad- uates' total income in 1963 in considered. Amount of income, 1963 Usable income and occupational data were reported by 1,085 graduates, or 95.76 percent of the Specific popula- tion. By university, the percentages were: Costa Rica, 96.82; and Nicaragua, 93.56 percent. The range of graduates' 1963 income is shown in Table 3.3. From Table 3.3, the 1963 income averages for the graduates of each university are summarized below: Mean ' Median Income Modal Income University Income Range Range Costa Rica $3418 $2001-2500 $ 1001- 1500 Guatemala 7437 6501-7000 10001-15000 Nicaragua 7010 5501-6000 10001-15000 TOTAL $5218 $4001-4500 $ 1001- 1500 It is obvious that earnings reported by Costa Rican graduates are far lower than those reported by graduates from the other two national universities. The mean income of the Guatemalans is 117.58 percent higher than that of the Costa Ricans, and Nicaraguan graduates earn 105.09 percent more than Costa Ricans. As suggested earlier, one reason for this diSparity could be that all salaries or wages in Costa Rica 42 ownou mHnu anuHs SHHom oEoonH noHooz S onOHoH>Ho oHHuuonv Home: one uoBoH.QW hH SH.moNN SH oo.oomn o oo.nNNm w oo.owom m ooom uHomm mm.meN mm oo.owoN N HS.OHNN SN oo.oo- m comm :HooN mo.mwmo LH.Nm HN.wao NH oo.oqoo SNH NS.SomS mm coon uHomS oo.mSNo SH oo.~Hmo m oo.oN~c m oo.SmHo 0 come uHcoo SS.SSmm on SN.SSSS SSH um.~mmm mm SN.SNmm Nu oooo uHomm So.HmNm mm ow.mmHm SN SS.HNmm mH SN.Soum mm comm uHoom NN.mmNS mm oo.wwo¢ m oo.mmNS om oo.HNwS uon ooom uHomS NS.NSNS too 0S.SNNS OH oo.wN~S SH mm.Nm~S me come uHCOS mH.mwom SS oo.~mwm m NN.omom mm SH.SSNm SH oooo uHomm oo.womm om SN.NHSm .AWNH oo.NNmm N SS.Hon HS comm uHoom mm.momm we oo.omom w oo.SomN m om.mwo~ mm ooom uHomm om.ommu So oo.~m- S oo.owm~ NH Sm.NN~N Son comm nHoou NS.SmNH HH.SN oo.oNNH m oo.mNmH w mm.mmNH no ooom nHomH NH.NmNH SMH oo.wo~H m oo.oomH m m HH.HMNH omH oomH uHooH SS.SSS S NS SN.SNN S S NS.SHS S HNS SSSH -HSSS oomo nHooo we mH SH SH mononoou on Ho 0000 w Hummz «.H. 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MOGH Hmuoa ..onmouoon r. mwoeouonw_ . ooHM ouooo oaoonH euHmHo>HnDlelaownom comm pom oaoonH nooz_ono 6 non noon nH mo“ _onoonw mo nooanz momH I MZOUZH HmHOH mo mozHnD HonOHuoz mum oHooH 43 mwamu mHnu aHnuHs mHHmm mEoocH cmwumz % maome>Hv mHHuumsv mama: mam umsoHulu LR” 4v «m.NHNm w mmoH mm.oHon w me om.om¢n w mHm mm.NH¢m m mum :mmz No.0mmNN MH o¢.onmNN m oo.onNN o oo.N¢HmN N oooomuHOOON ow.NmNNH mH oN.mnmoH m mm.mwMNH m oo.quNH H ooo0NuHoomH oo.om~HH om mn.mmNHH hN n¢.oNHNH Hm oo.mooHH NH ooomHuHoooH om.mmom «N oo.¢Nnm o mn.mmom 0H oo.oNnm N ooooHuHomm «H.mom¢ m oo.Nm¢m KH.N oo.o¢Nm H oo.mmNm d comm uHoom oo.¢mow Nq 00.0N0m NH oo.Hmww NH no.¢wmw wH ooom uHomw oo.mmmw w 0N oo.Nmom w m oo.OOdw m HN oo.onw m N comm nHoow w dam: * anus * amuz * awn: * momH Hmuoa mswmumowz ‘,.uHmawum5U MUHM mumoo msoocH . , ; _{. ‘ g-;‘.{.s -;:.7::;.:.:; . . . mo mmdmm muwmum>Ha= ma .mmamm sowm How maoocH_cmmz can mmawm sown aH mmumscmuu mo nonasz A.=oov m.m magma 44 are proportionately only half what they are in Guatemala or Nicaragua. However, there are three other reasons for the disparity which are evident from analyses of the data in this study: 1. Graduates of the University of Costa Rica, being six to seven years younger than graduates of the National Uni- versities of Guatemala and Nicaragua, have had less time in their profession in which to earn greater income; 2. A larger percent of Costa Rican graduates are women; and 3. Teaching is the main occupation of a greater number and percent of graduates of the University of Costa Rica, and (as discussed below) teaching is a poorly-paid profession. Sources of Income In addition to their total 1963 income, grad- uates were asked to report the number of different remunerative posi- tions they held, the name or title of each position, and the amount of income derived from each. The 1,085 graduates who supplied complete income and occupational data reported one, two, or three or more sources of income as follows (in numbers and percentages): Three One Two or more University position positions positions Total Costa # 521 50’ 8 579 Rica % 89.98 8.64 1.38 100.00 Guate- # 251 50 16 317 mala % 79.18 15.77 5.05 100.00 Nica- # 139 39 11 189 ragua % 73.54 20.64 5.82 100.00 # 911 139 35 1085 TOTAL % 83.96 12.81 3.23 100.00 45 The proportion of informants who reported only one position is higher among graduates of the University of Costa Rica than it is among those of Guatemala and Nicaragua, by 10.80 and 16.44 percent, reSpectively. Contrariwise, only 10.02 percent of the Costa Ricans held more than one remunerative position, while 20.82 and 26.46 percent respectively of the graduates from Guatemala and Nicaragua reported two or more incomes. It has been pointed out that the average Guatemalan and Nicaraguan graduate reported earnings that were more than twice those reported by the average Costa Rican graduate. One can only Speculate about the reasons for this disparity. Perhaps the greater mean income earned by the Guatemalans and Nicaraguans is directly related to the number of additional positions held. The greater number of positions held by Guatemalan and Nicaraguan graduates may indicate a comparative scarcity of professionally-trained personnel in their countries. 0n the other hand, it may reflect a degree of job insecurity felt by those graduates who accept, or actively seek, a second or third position as a form of employment insurance. A total of 1,294 income-returning positions were reported by the 1,085 graduates. Each position held by each graduate was compared to his undergraduate training, to determine whether he was employed within or outside the professional field in the area for which he had been prepared. The results may be seen in Table 3.4. Of all the first positions held, 98.71 percent were within the field of the graduates' professional preparation; of the second posi- tions, 91.95 percent. None of the third or fourth positions reported by the graduates fell outside the areas in which those graduates had 46 Table 3.4 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES' SOURCES OF INCOME: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POSITIONS AND FIELD OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDY UNIVERSITY TOTALS INCOME SOURCES Costa Guate- Nica- Sub- T . otal Rica mala ragua Totals ‘13 Field 574 314 183 1071 lst position: Out/Field 5 3 6 14 1085 Outside Z 0.86 0.95 3.17 1.29 83.85 ‘13 55 63 42 160 2 nd position: Out 3 3 8 14 174 % 5.17 4.55 16.00 8.05 13.44 lg 8 16 11 35 3rd position: Out - - - - 35 % 2.71 .12 637 393 236 1266 All positions: Out 8 6 14 28 1294 % 1.24 1.50 5.60 2.16 100.00 been trained. Although the percent of positions held outside areas of undergraduate training is not high (2.16%), in Nicaragua 5.60 percent of all positions were held outside the major field of study. Graduates from five areas of undergraduate preparation--Agricu1ture, Dentistry, Engineering, the Humanities (Science and Letters) and Pharmacy-- reported that 293; of the several positions they held were outside the professional fields in which they had been trained. These 365 graduates held 435 positions, a ratio of 1.19 positions per graduate. The 720 graduates from the four other areas--Economics, Education, Law and Medicine/Microbiology--held a total of 859 positions (also a ratio of 1.19), yet 28 of these positions, or 3.26 percent, were not related to their college training: 47 1 . . _. ... . .. . «y. Tatal ,Positions . % out Area Graduates positions out of area of area Economics 62 78 1 1.28 Education 241 251 7 2.79 Law 239 289 18 6.23 Medicine/ Microbiology 178 241 2 0.83 Sub-Total 720 859 28 3.26 Other areas 365 435 --‘ -- TOTAL 1085 1266 28 2.16 Mambers of the law profession have the most horizontal mobility of employment, over six percent of their positions being outside their area of training; and medical doctors have the highest ratio of multiple positions, one and one-third jobs per graduate. Nicaraguans held half of the outside positions, and 12 of them were filled by lawyers. All of the outside positions in the field of Agriculture (8) were held by lawyers. In Guatemala, three Doctors of Pedagogy had their primary positions outside their area. In an analysis by positions within each area,.i;g., how many posi- tions in each area are held by graduates not trained in the area, there appeared two areas in which over eight percent of the positions were held by graduates not professionally prepared in those areas--Agricu1ture, 8.79 percent, and the Humanities (Science and Letters), 11.54 percent. Amount of Income by Position The mean amount of income reported by the graduates in total and for each position held is shown in Table 3.5. In that table, the mean income derived from the first, second, and third positions is expressed also as a percentage of total income. 48 mHNmm,Ammucv Hmmam Asgauav mNNNm mmasm mmoH gases oHoN AHHnav mth Homuav smo~ Homo mmH .UHz amen Amanav mama Ammucv maom Hoam Nam .mao maomu mHsmm Amuse NmNHm Ammuav momHm Hemmm mam .m.u -mmom HH< somm mm.mH Hams mm.a~ Hamm m~.~m mass mm Hmuou-m=m mHmm He.o~ mmna Na.om mHmN am.ms HmHs HH .oaz macs ommm Hn.ma mama mm.am mmmm na.~m mmom mH .msm to mmqm qs.mH NmNHm om.m~ Nmma mn.mm smmm m .m.o m Hmmm mm.am mmsm Hm.~m mmms mmH Hmuou-msm smoa mm.am smmm No.mm moss mm .oaz mmam mm.mm smmm mm.om same om .msu N moms so.mm ommam mm.mm mmmm on .m.o mmmq oo.ooH mmms HHm Hmuou-m=m mmmm oo.ooH mmmm mmH .UHz smaa oo.ooH smHh Hmm .mau H Hmmmm oo.ooH Hmmmm Ham .m.o unsoa< N ucooe< N udsoa¢ N ucsoa< moumsvmuw vHom HmuoH moOHuHmom oowuHmom cowuwmom mo .oz pom maOHuHmom .ouo .mu¢ .wum de umH kuwmuo>HdD mo .02 mmmH - mZOHHHmom gqm.zcmm mzoozH zmmz mums monaHmom mo mmmzpz mm “mmmH .mzoozH amaoa zmmz "mmamsnmmo m .m oHan mswmumon can «Hmaouwso .oOHm mumoo mo moHuHmuo>HaD HmGOHumz 49 For graduates with two incomes, roughly two-thirds of total income was derived from first, and one-third from second, positions. Graduates with three incomes earned an average of slightly more than half their total income from their primary position, 27.88 percent from their second, and 19.89 percent from their third. As previously noted, 83.96 percent of the graduates reported that their total income was derived from a single source. The above table appears to indicate that it is financially advantageous in Central America to hold more than one position. Graduates with two jobs earned more than those with one; graduates with three or more earned still more. The financial advantage of a second or third income-producing employment is shown below: Financial Advantage Over University and Graduates One Two Number of y Mean Position Position Positions Held # , % Income Income Income Costa Rica 1 position 521 89.98 $3231 2 positions 50 8.64 4903 51.75% 3+- positions 8 1.38 6438 99.26 31.31% Guatemala 1 position 251 79.18 7164 2 positions 50 15.77 8138 13.59 3+1 positions 16 5.05 9530 33.03 17.10 Nicaragua 1 position 139 73.54 6868 2 positions 39 20.64 7094 3.29 3+- positions 11 5.82 8515 23.98 20.03 TOTAL 1 position 911 83.96 $4868 2 positions 139 12.81 6681 37.24% 3+ positions 35 3.23 8504 74.69 27.29% 50 All graduates who held two positions earned over one-third (37.24 percent) more money than those who had just one income-pro- ducing position, and those who had three incomes almost three-fourths more (74.69 percent). Graduates with three incomes reported average earnings 27.29 percent greater than did graduates with two incomes. For Costa Rican graduates the differences are even more pronounced: two-position graduates reported 51.75 percent greater income than one- position graduates, and three-position graduates 99.26 percent greater than graduates with but one position. Eighty-four percent of the graduates reported only one source of earnings. In all cases, the "first" position is the graduates major income. The gross importance of the first income is indicated in the following summary derived from Table 3.5: Mean First Position University Total Income Mean Income % of Total Costa Rica $3,418 $3,241 94.82 Guatemala 7,437 6,701 90.10 Nicaragua 7,010 6,201 88.46 TOTAL $5,218 $4,768 91.38 However, for the sixteen percent of the graduates who did report having more than one job, their second and/or third position obviously was of considerable importance. Setting first income = 100%, the second job produced a sixty percent increase in total income for those who reported two jobs. Similarly, for those reporting three positions, setting first income at 100%, the second salary raised their total income by 53.38 percent, and with first and second total at 100 percent, the third income raised total income a further 24.82 percent. 51 Amount of Income--Period of Graduation and Field of Undergraduate Study In Table 3.6, the mean income is shown for three groups of graduates from each university: the "Old Grads", Middle Graduates, and Recent Graduates. In Table 3.7, the income data are re-ordered according to major areas of the graduates' academic training: the Physical, Medical, and Social Sciences. It would logically be hypothesized that the "Old Grads" would report having a greater mean total income than Middle or Recent graduates, and that those graduates trained in the Medical Sciences would have greater income than graduates prepared in the Physical or Social Sciences. It would be further hypothesized that all Costa Rican mean incomes would be less than half those of graduates from the other two universities. Table 3.6 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES BY PERIOD OF GRADUATION: MEAN 1963 INCOME PERIOD OF GRADUATION University Number of Graduates Mean Income, 1963 1900- 1954- 1959- Total 1900- 1954- 1959- Total 1953, 1958 1963 1953 1958 1963 Costa Rica 285 142 152 579 $3582 $3892 $2667 $3418 Guatemala 138 89 90 317 8673 7256 5721 7437 Nicaragua 111 36 42 189 7811 7039 4871 7010 TOTAL 534 267 284 1085 $5777 $5438 $3961 $5218 52 mH~.mm mmH.sm osm.mm osa.mm mmoH mam mom sou amaoa oHo.a mma.m smm.m “NH.m mmH mm «OH NH mammumoaz “ms.a mmm.m saw.“ mmc.m Nam NHH “NH mm mamamumso mas.mm ~¢m.~m mmH.sm on.¢m mam mam Na «Ha moms mumoo Hmuoa Hmaoom Hmoamoz Hmoammgm Hmuoa m z“ .. a momH .maoonH one: moumSpmuw mo nonssz muHmuo>HnD mamma muzmaum .258 gauge: .23me HZOOZH momH zHnD HmaOHuuz N.m oHnoH 53 The mean income earned by the younger, Recent graducates (1959-63) was lower in each country than the mean income earned by the Middle and the "Old Grads". The "Old Grads" (1900-53), as anticipated, re- ported the greatest mean total income, except in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica the Middle Graduates of that university earned more than the "Old Grads". The greater length of time that one practices one's profession seems to correlate with a higher total income, except in Costa Rica.12 The average "Old Grad" earned 6.23 percent more than the average Middle Graduate and 45.85 percent more than the average Recent Graduate. Middle Graduates earned an average of 37.04 percent more than those who graduated between 1959 and 1963. "Old Grads" from Guatemala and Nicaragua did earn more than double the amount reported by the "Old Grads" in Costa Rica, 142.13 and 118.06 percent more respectively. However, the Middle Graduates of those two universities did not report double the income of their counterparts in Costa Rica; merely 86.43 and 80.86 percent more. Among the Recent Graduates, the Guatemalans earned 114.51 percent more than the Costa Ricans, and Nicaraguans 82.64 percent more. 12In Central America, one continually encounters the phrase, "except in Costa Rica". Whatever the topic under discussion, be it of philosophy, economics, the military, music, dancing, education, the weather, food, population or money, agreement almost always seems to be complete but for the exception of Costa Rica. All other Central Americans recognize this, and more or less grudgingly reSpect the Costa Ricans' differences. Costa Rica is the only Central American nation that has no military government, no standing army, no large indigenous Indiana population; it is not yet a full participant in the Central American common market, does not follow a foreign policy of "me-tooism", does not consider itself incapable of improvement. The University of Costa Rica has a "University City", not geographically dispersed faculties; it does produce graduates and keep track of them; and it maintains and regularly publishes university academic, political, and financial records. 54 As hypothesized, Medical Science area graduates had the highest mean total income in 1963, reporting 6.51 percent greater income than graduates trained in agriculture or engineering, and 55.75 percent more than graduates prepared in economics, education, law and the human- ities. Graduates majoring in the Physical Sciences reported a 46.23 percent higher mean total income than did graduates who studied the Social Sciences. In the Physical and Medical Science areas, graduauas from Guatemala and Nicaragua did not report incomes double those of the Costa Ricans. Altogether, Guatemalan and Nicaraguan Physical Scientists reported just 76.05 percent more income than their associates in Costa Rica, and the Medical Scientists of those two universities reported 75.97 percent more than their cohorts. In the Social Science area, however, the difference between Costa Rican graduates and those of the two other universities is more pronounced. Altogether, Guatemalan and Nicaraguan social scientists reported 132.70 percent greater income than Costa Ricans trained in the Social Sciences; Specifically, Guatemala, 135.72 percent more, and Nicaragua, 129.71 percent more. The mean total income for all Guatemalan graduates is 117.58 percent higher, and for all Nicaraguan graduates 105.09 percent higher, than that of all Costa Rican graduates, as previously noted. Only the "Old Grads" in Guatemala and Nicaragua, but not the Middle or Recent graduates, reported an average of double the income earned by the Costa Ricans. The Physical and Medical Science area graduates of those two universities did not report double the income of their counterparts in Costa Rica. It therefore appears that the overall low mean total 1963 55 income of Costa Rican graduates may be attributed (a) primarily to the low earnings of the Social Scientists, and (b) particularly to those trained in Education, who comprise 60.05 percent of the Costa Rican Social Scientists. To test this hypothesis, graduates trained in the area of Educa- tion were removed from consideration, and a comparison was made of the incomes reported by all other graduates. Excluding the Education groups, the average graduate of the University of Costa Rica earned 57.06 percent less than the graduate of the National University of Guatemala, and 47.40 percent less than the average graduate in Nicaragua, as seen below: Percent of Financial , Difference in Income: Mean Total Over Over University n Income-1963 Costa Ricans Nicaraguans Costa Rica (less School of Educa- tion graduates) 342 $4,756 Guatemala (less graduates trained in Education) 313 7,470 57.06 6.56 Nicaragua 189 7,010 47.40 TOTAL 844 $6.267 31.78 For graduates whose primary occupational position is in the area of Education, the mean 1963 income was $1,476; this is shown in Table 3.8. 56 HE “fl" “flu" m~.H2 . mo.H Hm.H ma.o m~.H Hm.H ma.H mum a an «mam mH.oH mH.¢H om.“ am.h mm.m m¢.sH mm.m m~.~H mam mousom oH.om Hm.mm sm.¢m mH.Hm am.Hm mm.om oo.ooH Hm.¢m mm.sm Na.nm umH «sooaH “mam m mmHs m Hmmm m smma m Nemm m mmmm m oomH m HaHm m HmHm w somn m Hmuoa mmmH mm om mmH ms moH ONH mmH mum -meooaa Hem Has mum mmn mms «mm muma mmm- mmm mam Hmuou Hoam m mmam m smms m ommm m Hmmm m omsa m coma m mmmn m mHam m mHms m umH emu: ham m mm mm mm am H mm ma m "a mamzmgmso HEEH gnu-"H, mq.o . mm.m m~.o m~.H m~.H mum N :a oh.s mm.N mm.H ma.- mm.m ma.m mm.H mm.m Hm.mH Hm.m mam .oouaom mm.¢m ms.am mm.mm mm.ma NH.em mm.em NH.mm so.mm mm.mm mm.mm 88H maooaH mHsm m momm m mean m mean m mHom m mmmm m mnsH m mmum w amen m wmmm m Haney mmmH 0H NON mH mo m¢. Ion uoaoonH HmH an mm mama mmm mmm RN mam. mmm mmH mam Hmuou Hemm m NmHN m ammm m mums m smmm m mnmm m mssH m nmom m meme m mmam m “ma 888: mam am me HH mm ms mmm om ma mm as mon «ammo moHuH honOHn on ousu 9308 IGmEdm homfi IOHUHZ Ihmwc GOHH m UHEO huu mHu IHDU mMUMDOm MOHUHza momH ZH MZOUZH ho mMUMDom 92¢ HZDQZ< mmH 924 ZOHHHmom . HdZOHH¢mDooo NM¢ZHMH mo QHMHm H420Hmmmmomm zmm3Hmm ZOHH¢HHM "mmH<:nHcD HmnOHumz m.m mHan 57 Ho.H «m.o om.H ow.o oo.H ow.o ww.o wo.H ppm N nH Ho.N ¢N.¢ o¢.m om.m Hw.N wN.o mw.H om.0H mo.o mm.q ocN .mou50m mm.Ha 0N.mm 0N.om m¢.wm mm.Hm oo.Nm NH.wm em.ww no.mm mm.¢m umH osounH mHam m amma m mmms m maaa m mmam m maaa m maaa m maaa m smsa m «mos m Haney mmmH mm oH N¢H em NN No me as mum -msoocH Nam HNH oqq qmo qu mmq NN cow owe quw ch Houou mmas m mmsa m amas m masm m ammm m mmam m ameH m onm m mHmm m mmmm m “ma emu: mmoH ma ow owH HmN NmH wMN No Nm NN nc HHZD a.aouV m.m mHmma 58 .Agount of Income--Professional Area of Primary Position In Table 3.8 nine areas of professional work are listed in alphabetical order; for all graduates whose primary position is in each area, the mean total income is indicated. As noted earlier, graduates of the Medical Sciences reported the highest mean income, followed by Physical and Social Science graduates. An easier comparison by area of income data can be made by condensing the nine professional fields into just three groups that correspond to the three major science areas of under- graduate training; setting the mean total income for all graduates ($5,218) to be equal to 100 percent, the relationship of each area to the others is as follows: RELATION TO OVER- AREA MEAN TOTAL ALL MEAN INCOME INCOME--1963 IN PERCENT Physical Sciences: Engineering $7,273 139.38 figgjculture 4,064 77.88 Mean $6,140 117.67 Medical Sciences: Dentistry $7,434 142.47 Medicine/ $7,289 139.69 Microbiology 7,259 139.11 Pharmacy 4,653 89.17 Mean $6,540 125.34 Social Sciences: Economics $7,778 149.06 $6,643 127.31 Law 6,341 121.52 Science:Letters/ 2,554 48.95 Humanities $1,651 31.64 Education 1,476 28.29 Mean $4,199 80.47 ALL AREAS: OVERALL MEAN $5,218 100.00 59 It is obvious that within each of the three major areas there are disparities between and among each of the Specific disciplines, as reported by the graduates who work in those disciplines. Engineers, for example, reported earnings 78.96 percent higher than Agronomists. In the Medical Sciences, Dentists, Medical Doctors and Microbiologists earned 56.65 percent more money than Pharmacists; and in the Social Sciences, Lawyers and Economists reported income 302.36 percent greater than did graduates working in areas pertaining to Education and the Humanities. Graduates working in Education had a lower mean total income than any other group, only 28.29 percent of the mean total income for all graduates; graduates working in the area of Economics had the highest relationship, 149.06 percent of the overall mean. A comparison of the nine professional areas, for graduates of each university and for all graduates, is shown in Table 3.9. 60 ZOHHHmom Auunsoo CH mou< mo xcmm oo.ooH cm.mm om.OOH H¢.om mo.oHH mm.wN Nm.NmH ow.om moou¢ HHN "can: mo N oHoN m memo w mqu w ammo w NNHw w NNON m ommMHw memo w oaoonH emu: me «H mm om NH H H N "a Hza NQDHm ho QAHHh Mm mszUZH momH ho mmnmo M2HaD HmnOHumz m.m oHnma 61 Amount and Source of 1963 Income: Teaching and Non-Teaching Grad- .gaggg It was stated earlier that 136 graduates from the three uni- versities had incomes in the income range of $1,001-$1,500. Of the 136, 130 were graduates of the University of Costa Rica, 122 of whom were women trained to teach. An analysis was made comparing income and occupational data of those graduates who teach and those who do not. The results, as seen in Table 3.10, further indicate that the low income earned by the Costa Rican women who teach is probably the primary reason why the average Costa Rican graduate has a mean 1963 income less than half that of the average Guatemalan or Nicaraguan graduate. A total of 1,085 graduates presented complete income and occupa- tional data: of these, 318, or 29.31 percent, devote all or part of their time to teaching, and 767, or 70.69 percent, do not teach. Those who teach earned an average of $2,220 in 1963 while the non-teachers earned $6,460. WOmen comprise 71.38 percent of those who teach. In Costa Rica half of the graduates teach, and 79.23epercent of them are women. Teaching is the primary occupation of 236, or 83.10 percent, of the 284 graduates who teach in Costa Rica. In Nicaragua less than eight percent of the graduates teach (15 or 139): and not one of them lists teaching as his primary occupation. In Guatemala just six percent teach (19 of 317), and only one teaches for his primary source of income (see Table 3.8). Those in Costa Rica who teach reported an average income of $1,741, while the non-teaching graduates reported $5,033, a difference of 62 ¢o.Hm od.mw mm.ww mm.om Nm.om 3;. Na.¢N mm.mm mw.Nm nOHuHmom umH . scum vo>Huov maoonH Hmuou mo N 8.86m call; a 31am. cummsm m3. am 8.13 11mg mm 33m aulfioa no mN mOH u Nw mmH NH mH GOHuHmom J, in 11 mum 83 mN¢ oON HNN mom can ¢¢¢4H mHN noH GOHuHmom nmaoonH Ir vnN Hosaa¢ ONm.mw owdew mwN.ow NmNanw on.ow Nom.¢m Howd¢w NH@.Aw aOHuHmom mwmuo>¢ umH Hm.m mm.HN Nm.o No.0 mm.N 0N.m o¢.N mN.mN mHmaom unmouom om NNN H H N H NN mNN oHoaom NmN Hm NNH «H HmN wH mNN mm mHmz mo.0N Hm.mN oo.Nm qm.N Ho.¢m mm.m mm.om mo.m¢ unmouom NoN me ¢NH mH me mH mmN qu Honasz Hooch Samoa nommH zooms Samoa gamma HomoH gummy and on nod 09 i uo: on no: on AmwoaHuaH Ameunv NNHmunv .AmNmunv moaoHmomM MZOUZH nz< umMH¢=n¢mw EZHmuamHszoz nz¢.ozH=U¢MH mswmumon was wstououu .mon oumoo mo moHuHmum>HaD HmdoHuoz 63 $3,292, or an amount nearly double that earned by the teachers. Teach- ing graduates in Guatemala and Nicaragua also earn less than the non- teachers, but the difference is not so great as in Costa Rica. How- ever, it must be remembered that those who teach in Guatemala and Nicaragua do not have teaching as their main source of income. To get a truer picture of the monies earned from teaching in Guatemala and Nicaragua, it is necessary to look at the incomes received from the second and third positions held by graduates who teach in those countries; iggg, $1,444 and/or $199 in Guatemala, and $563 in Nicaragua (Table 3.10). In Costa Rica, the true value of teaching as a primary source of income for 236 graduates was reported to be $1,475 (see Table 3.8). Thus the figure of $1,741 mean total income for the 284 graduates in Costa Rica who reported some teaching (as found in Table 3.10), is $266 higher because the primary positions of 48 graduates who teach (284 less 236) lie outside the area of education. The 236 Costa Rican graduates whose primary occupation was teach- ing, did so at different levels of instruction: primary level, 64.41 percent; secondary level, 34.32 percent; and in higher education, 1.27 percent. The other 48 Costa Ricans who reported teaching, but as a second or third occupation, taught at the same levels, but a greater percent taught at the higher levels as follows: primary, 6.25 percent; secondary, 68.75 percent; and higher education, 25.00 percent. These data account for both (1) the low level of income reported by those whose primary positions were as teachers, and (2) the slightly higher 64 income reported by those graduates whose primary positions lay outside the professional area of education. The data also indicate dramatically the extremely low monetary position in Central America of the education profession as compared to other professions. CHAPTER FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GRADUATES: THE GRADUATES AS UNDERGRADUATES What were the graduates like during their "golden days", while they were college students? Where had they gone to high school? How old were they when they entered college? What academic programs were pursued? What kinds of financial support did they have? Did they work outside of school? What was their average annual under graduate income while in school? How long did it take them to be graduated? What did it cost the graduates in time and money to obtain their degrees? The answers to these questions are quite relevant to the organi- zation of administration of higher education institutions in Central America. The picture here presented of undergraduate college life in Central American universities provides suggestions for different cur- riculum planning and more economical operation. 'The graduates them- selves have presented data which should help university authorities solve such problems as which programs need revision? What professional areas need be emphasized more? or less? How can the graduation process be Speeded up? What amount of economic aid do undergraduates need? In what ways can the university produce more graduates for less expenditure? Secondary School Origins Prior to matriculation at the univer- sity, the graduates completed a secondary school program. It is a part of academic folklore that the great majority of Latin.American university students (1) attend private secondary schools, (2) have predominantly urban, rather than rural, backgrounds, and (3) attend non-coeducational schools. 65 66 A question requesting the graduates to report their secondary school origins tested these assumptions; the results are shown in Table 4.1 Table 4.1 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: SECONDARY SCHOOL ORIGINS, IN PERCENT Type of U N I V E R S I T Y High School Costa Guate- Nica- Attended Rica mala ragua TOTAL n=588 n=323 n=195 n=1106 Public 74.8 66.6 65.6 70.8 Private 25.2 33.4 34.4 29.2 Capital area 61.2 77.7 32.3 60.9 Interior area 38.8 22.3 67.7 39.1 Co-educational 42.0 18.9 69.7 40.7 1 Segregated by sex 58.0 81.1 30.3 59.3 Almost seventy-one percent of the 1,106 graduates who reported had attended a public high school, and only 29.2 percent a private school. This was the case for the graduates of each of the three national universities, although in Costa Rica the percentage of public school graduates were slightly higher--74.8 percent. Nicaraguan graduates proved to be an exception to the second hypothesis: there, 67.7 percent of the graduates attended a high school 32; located in the Capital district of the country (the Managua metropolitan area). This might be attributed to the fact that the university itself is not located in Managua, but in Leon, which is some fifty miles from the capital city. However, the majority of secondary schools in Nicaragua are in the Managus district, and are urban in character.13 13Orr, Paul G. and Hereford, K.T., Characteristicas de los escuelas secundarias de America Central, (Guatemala, IIME, 1964) p.4. 67 In Costa Rica and Guatemala, graduates of urban, capital area high schools out-numbered other graduates two to one. Although the overall figures support the hypothesis that students do not attend coeducational schools (40.7% vs. 59.3%), there were marked differences in this factor between graduates of the three national universities. In Costa Rica the percentage was close to the overall figures (42% vs. 58%). Guatemalan and Nicaraguan graduates, however, reported opposite extremes; in Guatemala, eight of every ten university graduates had attended segregated secondary schools, but in Nicaragua seven of ten graduated from escuelas migtas, coeducational secondary schools. Table 4.2 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES BY FIELD OF UNDERGRADUATE PREPARATION: PERCENT WHO ATTENDED EACH TYPE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL Field of Percent who attended each type of school Undergraduate Boys or Training N= Public Private Capital Interior Co-ed. Girls only Agriculture 70 72.9 27.1 62.9 37.1 41.4 58.6 Engineering 126 57.9 42.1 85.7 14.3 23.0 77.0 Physical Sci. 196 63.3 36.7 77.6 22.4 29.6 70.4 Dentistry 0 52.5 47.5 75.0 25.0 35.0 65.0 Medicine/ Microbiology 186 69.4 30.6 52.7 47.3 44.1 55.9 Pharmacy 87 72.4 27.6 72.4 27.6 25.3 74.7 Medical Science313 68.1 31.9 61.0 39.0 37.7 62.3 —:==; 1===== Economics 62 77.4 22.6 88.7 11.3 35.5 64.5 Education 239 75.3 24.7 45.2 54.8 57.3 42.7 Law 249 72.7 27.3 55.4 44.6 39.4 60.6 Science/Letters (Human), 47 78.7 21.3 63.9 36.1 36.2 63.8 Social Science3597 74.7 25.3 55.4 44.6 45.9 54.1 TOTAL 1106 70.8 ‘29.2 60.9 39.1 40.7 59.3 68 In the table above, the graduates are sub-divided into their professional fields of undergraduate preparation. Graduates who majored in Education were the only group in which more than half attended co- educational schools in the interior of the country. Pharmacists, and especially Engineers, diSplayed the opposite characteristic. Nearly sixty-three percent of the Agriculture graduates came out of urban area high schools. In order downward, a greater percent of Physical Science than Medical or Social Science graduates had attended private high schools: 36.7 percent, and 31.9 and 25.3 percents, reSpectively. The same progression held for attendance at segregated (boys or girls only) schools: Physical sciences graduates, 70.4 percent, Medical graduates, 62.3, and Social sciences graduates, 54.1 percent. It might be said in general, that Social science area graduates tended to more than other grads come to the university from public, co-educational schools in the interior of a country. The implications of this in later analyses of financial income will be apparent. Age at University Matriculation Each university graduate in the study reported (1) his age in 1963, (2) the year in which he first enrolled at the university, and (3) the year he graduated from the university. These data were recorded in the punched card record for each graduate. A simple series of subtractions and calculations was made to obtain (a) the graduate's age at matriculation, (b) his age at graduation, and (c) the number of calendar years Spent to get his degree. For example: 69 (a) 1963 present age ------------------- 40 -1943 year of matriculation 20 -2Q_ 20 age at matriculation (b) 1963 present age ------------------- 40 -1954 year of graduation 9 -9 31 age at graduation (c) 1954 year of graduation -1943 year of matriculation 11 calendar years Spent to obtain the degree These computations were made by machine for each graduate, and also recorded in his punched card record. Table 4.3 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: MEAN AGE AT FIRST UNIVERSITY ENROLLMENT U N I V E R S I T Y Period of Costa Guate- Nica- Graduation Rica mala ragua Total n=598 n=333 n=202 n=1133 1900—1953 18.7 19.7 18.7 18.7 1954-1958 18.6 19.8 18.5 18.9 1959-1963 18.8 19.3 18.7 19.1 ‘Mean 18.7 19.4 18.7 18.9 As seen in Table 4.3, the "average" university graduate in Central America was nearly nineteen years old when he entered college. The ”average" graduate of the University of San Carlos in Guatemala did not begin his university studies until the age of 19.4, while the graduates of the other two national universities began their studies when half a year youngera 70 These differences do not seem to be due to the sex of the gradu- ates. Guatemalan and Nicaraguan graduates are mostly males, 96.70 and 98.02 percent reSpectively (see Table 3.1). Over forty-two per- cent of the Costa Rican graduates are female. Yet Guatemalans enter college one-half year older than Nicaraguans, whose age at matricu- lation is the same as the Costa Ricans. Furthermore, a study of the high school programs pursued by the graduates, based upon conversations with educators and analyses of past programs, does not reveal an appreciable difference of curricula or years of high school study between the three countries.14 Change of Faculty or Program Compared to students in United States colleges and universities, Central American universitarios rarely change their program of studies once they have enrolled. This is due primar- ily to the fact that it is traditional in Latin universities for mat- riculating students to choose their major field of study when they first enroll, and to enter the apprOpriate faculty. Since there is much less variety of program selection, this procedure is not diffi- cult for the students. Many new university students have, in fact,' known throughout their high school careers which faculty they would enter and which program they would pursue, (1) because of family tradi- tion, or (2) because of intense personal desire to follow a particular career which will bring "prestige" or social and economic upward mobility. Two additional factors mitigate against a change of faculty or program by university students. In those universities which have 14Ibid., p.4. 71 established a "program of general studies" for first and/or second year students, the students have an extra year or two in which to decide their major area of undergraduate training, enabling the stu- dents to be more sure of their final choice. Secondly, because of traditional administrative practices, it is difficult for a student to change his program or faculty without losing the credits already earn- ed. Intra- or inter-faculty transfer of credits, although possible, is rare, since each faculty considers itself complete and independent, and "guards" this autonomy. Nevertheless, some students do change their programs. In this study, 58 of 1,133 university graduates (5.12%) indicated that they had made one or more changes during their undergraduate years. In Guatemala just 1.20 percent changed (4 of 333), and in Nicaragua 2.97 percent (6 of 202). However, in Costa Rica 48 of 598, or 8.03 percent, changed their program or faculty. The data for graduates of the University of Costa Rica are shown in Table 4.4. It is obvious that most transfers at the University of Costa Rica are iggg the School of Education, 16.11 percent of whose graduates reported having changed from their original faculty of enrollment. Of the changeé in this faculty, 76.92 percent were women who had first enrolled in a different college. 72 Table 4.4 National University of Costa Rica GRADUATES: CHANGE OF FACULTY AFTER FIRST ENROLLMENT Graduates who changed one or more times Faculty or Number % ; Male Female Sch001 Total % # % i # % Agriculture 66 Dentistry 17 . 9.67 Economics 31 3 00 00 3 100 00 . 16.11 Educatlon 242 39 00.00 9 23.08 30 76.92 2.08 Engineering 48 1 00 00 1 100.00 4.17 Law 95 4 00.00 4 100.00 Microbiology 11 2.00 Hw” Pharmacy 50 1 00 00 1 100 00 Science and Letters 37 8.03 ’ TOTAL 598 48 0.00 18 (37.50 30 76.92L Non-university Studies PUrsued During Undergraduate Career Except at the University of Costa Rica, university study is by and large part-time study. ,Many university students must work, sometimes at two or three jobs, in order to support themselves and/or their families.15 15Recent data, however, suggests that this belief, commonly held in Central American university circles, may be false. In the second student census at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, conducted in 1963, in 69.40 percent of the students enrolled in the Guatemala City faculties reported themselves to be single, widowed or divorced. Furthermore, 42.06 percent of the students in Guatemala City do not work. Such a large number of students, in this case 2,442, could and should be allowed to study on a full-time_basis, thus graduating sooner, to their own and the nation's benefit. ‘LSee Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Segundo Censo Estudiantil Universitario Enero de 1963 (Guatemala: Oficina de Registrgj 1963); mimeograph, 201 pp., from which the above data were calculatedLj 73 Other students enjoy the idea of part-time study, for it gives them more time to pursue social or political interests, and to have the "prestige" of being a universitario longer. Some students no doubt feel that they can further their career, in either their work or university studies, if they take up additional post-secondary school studies. Most such studies reported by the graduates are short-term programs (four to ten weeks in duration), Sponsored by government agencies or private foundations, designed to acquaint the trainee with Specific administrative, economic, language, etc., techniques. A formal certificate of attendance and proficiency upon completion of the course of studies can then be added to one's curriculum vitae. In actuality, only 3.27 percent of the graduates in this study reported such studies. However, there seems to be a trend in recent years for more undergraduates to pursue studies outside the university while still enrolled.ig the university. This tendency is indicated in Table 4.5 in which the data are shown in two ways--by the period of graduation, and by each of the three major science areas of under- graduate training. Considering all the graduates who reported outside studies, the percentage has increased through the years from 1.96 percent (the "Old Grads") to 3.66 percent (Middle Graduates) to 5.37 percent for the Recent Graduates. Nearly five percent of Guatemalan graduates pursued other post- secondary school studies while they were working toward their university degree; and for the Recent Guatemalan graduates (1959-1963) the figure was 10.64 percent. 74 Table 4.5 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: OTHER POST-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDIES MADE CONCURRENT WITH UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES U N I V E R S I T Y Costa Guate- Nica- FACTOR Rica mala ra ua Total n=598 n=333 n=202 n=1133 Number of graduates 18 16 3 37 Percent of graduates 3.01 4.80 1.49 3.27 Percent of all 1900-1953 1.69 2.70 1.68 1.96 graduates in 1954-1958 4.83 2.20 2.70 3.66 each period: 1959-1963 3.80 10.64 - 5.37 Percent of all Physical 5.26 1.37, - 3.43 graduates in each Medical 2.56 2.92 1.85 2.48 major science area: Social 21.74 8.94 1.30 3.63 In regard to the percent of all graduates in each major science area of undergraduate training who undertook outside studies, graduates of the Social Sciences, especially in Costa Rica and Guatemala, reported the greatest number of studies. In Costa Rica 21.74 percent of the Social Science graduates took extra-curricular studies, and in Guate- mala the figure was 8.94 percent. The extent to which the pursuance of outside studies prolongs the pursuit of a university degree can only be conjectured. It may be noted, however, that a study made of the academic progress of university students in Guatemala in 1963 indicated that the future economists, accountants, business administrators, lawyers, educators, and Specialists in the Humanities all had lower course completion averages than the overall university average.16 1611MB Staff (Burton.D. Friedman,.g§..§l), Academic Progress of University Students, University of San Carlos of Guatemala, 1963, (Michigan State University: IIME, 1964). Table A, pp. 2-3. 75 University_Becas4§eceived During Undergraduate Career In Latin American university terminology, the generic term bgggg is used to include such official university financial aid as the remission of fees, scholarship or fellowship monies, or outright study and research grants. The graduates were asked to report whether they had received any form of'bgga during their last three years of college study, and if so, the amount for each year. A summary of all data concerning _bgga§ is presented in Table 4.6 which is sub-divided into four parts for ease of discussion. 1. In all, 26.65 percent of the graduates reported some form of economic aid from their university in their last years of study. At the University of Costa Rica, 41.64 percent of the graduates received such aid; in Guatemala 6.31 percent; and in Nicaragua 15.84 percent. 2. The mean amount of monies received in the "common" unit of Central American pgggg was $59.94 per recipient per year, which represented 5.15 percent of the undergraduate's total mean annual income. Costa Rican and Guatemalan graduates reported the extreme figures; $93.03, or 10.18 percent of the undergraduate income, in Costa Rica, and $8.17, or 0.46 of one percent of undergraduate income, in Guatemala. Graduates of the University of Costa Rica who received bggag reported an annual amount of $93.03, more than double that reported by Nicaraguans, and 14% times greater than the mean of $6.31 reported by Guatemalan 2293 recipients. 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I'm-m: «Hail «Has 3le N noon mousse mumou no ZOHHHn= >H .Hmmmwd no.4mwfimmwmll. .nmm mo moaoaa= amuwoum «nu SH hvaum mo mummh UHamcoud manna o>HumHom n .m. oo.ooH oo.oH m¢.¢¢ mm.¢H mm.m mo.N Hn.mH N NNN.N NmN «on mmN ms mN NNN N amaoa oo.ooH No.m¢ mm.H¢ mm.mH N NON am am Hm N mammumuaz oo.ooH mm.wN Nm.No oH.N om.o 00.0 oo.o N mmm ma oNN N m N N mHmaouosu oo.ooH ¢¢.Nm om.ON mH.o Hm.m om.mm N wmm qu mNH Nm HN HNN N mon mumou HouOH m N o n q n N NuHmuo>HaD I msouwoun osu SH known mo mumom oHEovmud magma o>HumHoM one ouSHOmn< SH .< NaHmmm>Hzn mm mmamsnHuSHom SH .m oo.ooH oo.oH NS.SS mm.SH mm.m mo.N Hm.aH N NNN.N NmN «an mmH as mN NNN N Nance oo.00H NN.m mm.w¢ mo.SH HN.m mo.N NS.SH N me mN SSH NS NH HN NS N momHummmH oo.o0H mm.NH NH.NS Nm.wH mN.m Nm.mH N mNN mS mHH on m on N wmmHnSmmH oo.ooH omuwH SN.mS mo.NH mS.N om.o mN.NN N Non SoH mSN HN SH N wNH N mmmHaoomH HSuoa m N o m S m N SOHumm., aSuwouS SSu SH NSSum mo SHSSN uHaoSSQS . SENSE m>HuSHmm SSS mumflmmmd1mMIldfi. ZOHHSDQHSD HSSOHuSz m.s SNSSN “madam Spam "mmH<:QHuSHmm SH .m oo.ooH oo.oH SS.SS mm.SH mm.m mo.N Hm.mH N NNN.N NmN qom NSH as mN NNN N aaaoa oo.ooH mo.NS NN.S SS.S mN.m NS.Sm N Soc mwN mm mm mN HNN N HSHoom oo.ooH mm.om mo.om oo.mH N mNm NSH mm NS N HSoHsz oo.ooH Nw.wm mo.0S mS.o N SSN SNH mm H N Hmoamaam HSuoa m N o m S m N SSSS ooSmHum aSuwouS o£u SH NSSum Ho SHSSN UHESSSUS .mmuoa S mmflflandmu mo Hzmommm 92¢ mmmzpz ha mudmw UHzmHHSSHSH SSS SSSHOSHS SH .S SawSuSon SSS SHSaSuSSU .Son Sumoo Ho moHuHmuo>HSD HSSOHuSz m.S SHHSH 85 Nicaragua, the only undergraduate programs followed were of five, six or eight years duration, and the "average" program was 6.7 academic years of study. For all 1,133 graduates in the study, the "average" undergraduate program pursued was 5.3 years in length. Only 2.03 and 3.53 percent of the graduates, respectively, followed a two- or a three-year program. A six-year program of study is the most common at these three universi- ties, 44.48 percent of the graduates having pursued such a course of work. In analyzing the courses of study taken by the graduates of differ- ent periods of time, it appears that a higher percent of "Old Grads" took two- or eight-year programs than did Recent Graduates. Two-year programs were followed by 22.78 percent of the "Old Grads", but by only 14.43 percent of the Recent Graduates: eight-year courses of study were selected by 18.50 percent of the 1900-1953 graduates, while just half that percent of the Recent Graduates, 9.73, were in eight- year programs. There was an increase in the percent of Recent Graduates who pur- sued three- to Six-year academic programs, when compared to the percent of "Old Grads" who were in such programs. When the graduates and their undergraduate programs were classi- fied by a division into the Physical, Medical and Social Sciences, the greatest variety of programs was found to be in the Social Sciences-- courses of study from two to six years in length. Physical Scientists took three-, four-, or five-year programs and Medical Scientists five-, six-, or eight-year programs. 86 Most of the Social Science area graduates followed either a two- or a six-year undergraduate program, 36.47 and 47.03 percent reSpectively. Graduates who majored in Human Medicine (56.35 percent of the Medical Science enrollees) took the eight-year program, most Pharmacists and all Microbiologists (13.00%) took a five-year course; and most Dentists (30.65 percent) were in a six-year program. One Physical Scientist, a "Capitgh Topggrafo", followed a four-year course of studies Whagg muchos aHbs" (many years ago), but most of the Engineers were in six- year programs and the Agronomists in five-year courses. CalendargYears Spent to Obtain Degree or Title The mean number of calendar years invested by the graduates in pursuit of their goal-- graduation from the university--is shown in Table 4.10. As noted earlier, a calculation of years invested was made for each graduate; the reported year of graduation minus the year of first matriculation. In the Table, the average number of calendar years Spent before graduation is reported by duration of each academic program for (a) university, (b) period of graduation and university, and (c) the three science areas and university. The mean number of calendar years spent by all graduates in all programs was 7.5. Costa Rican graduates averaged 5.7 years of study, Guatemalans an even ten years, and Nicaraguans 8.4 years. Except for the two-year academic programs, which required 2.5 calendar years of work, and the three-year programs, which represent a special case (see note to Table 4.10), it would appear that the 87 graduates invested from 2.0 to 3.0 additional calendar years to com- plete the number of academic years of study required by their programs. It took, for example, 7.0 calendar years for graduates to finish a four-year program; to finish the most common program offered in the region, a six-academic-year course of studies, graduates needed 8.7 calendar years. From Part B of Table 4.10, in which the data are re-ordered by the period of graduation, it is evident that the number of calendar years needed to complete undergraduate programs has increased through the years. Graduates in the period 1900-1953 took 6.9 calendar years to finish their academic work, Middle Graduates (1954-1958) Spent 7.3 calendar years, and the Recent Graduates (1959-1963) invested 8.7 years of their time before they graduated. This trend in academic life in Central America is evident in each of the three national universities considered in this study. Years Spent by undergraduates in Costa Rica before they graduated have in- creased from 4.8 ("Old Grads") to 5.9 (Middle Graduates) to 7.3 calendar years (Recent Graduates). In Guatemala, the "Old Grads" needed 9.8 years, Middle Graduates, 9.1 years; but Recent Graduates invested 11.1 calendar years to complete their degree programs. For Nicaraguan university students, the time necessary to obtain a university degree or title has moved upward from 8.3 calendar years for the "Old Grads" and the Middle Graduates, to 8.8 calendar years for the Recent Graduates. 88 .umnoSSH Hoonom NHSSSooSm Ho SSHwSS SHH ou wSHSSSH SSHSSHS Ho Smuoou HSHoSSm S SH HHouSS non ou SSuuHEumS Suez .ooSSHHSSSS wSHnoSSu Ho SHSSN HSHS>SS HSuHS .053 uSH .Am00H ou uoHuS SSSSN 0H on N SSHHouSS uSuHH Nona SSHSS HomV aSuwouS Soume HSSHwHuo SHSSu SSHSHH uoS SHS ass mSuSSSSuw HN SHSSSSHSSH SHSNHH SHSHS N.0 S.0H 0.0H S.N H.0 N.0H H.m m00Hu0m0H 0.N 0.0 0.0 N.N 0.0 S.N 000HuSm0H 0.0 H.0H H.0 H.0 0.0 0.N S.N mm0H1000H ISIITIWIIIIIISINISIfillllllllllrlwlllll 0 w H 0H 0 0 N 0 0Hz H.HH 0.0H H.HH 0.0H 0.0H 0.0 .Ssu m00H N.N N.0 0.0 0.N 0.0H H.m .m.0 :000H 0.0 0.0 0.N N.N .on H.0 N.0 N.0 0.0H 0.0 . .Sso 000H 0.0 H.0 N.N 0.0 S.N .m.0 uSm0H 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .on 0.0 m.HH H.0 0.N 0.0 .SSU mm0H 0.S 0.N 0.0 0.0 0.0 S.N .m.0 n000H HSuoa 0 N 0 m S m N aSuwouS SSH SH NSSum Ho SHSSN SHESSSSS Nuamum>ac2|mwm Soauom an .m 0.N 0.0H N.0 N.N 0.N 0.0 .. 0.N H4908 S.m m.m N.m 0.0 mammumon 0.0H N.0H N.0 H.0H 0.0H 0.N SHSESHSSU N.0 0.N N.N N.0 SN.0H 0.N SUHM Sumoo HSuoa N 0 N 0 m S m N ESuwouS SH» SH NSSuS Ho SSSSN UHESSSUS >uHmum>Hap NH, .S mm< "mmHSSHSNU SSwSHSUHz SSS SHSESuSow .Son Sumoo Ho SSHuHSHS>HSD HSSOHuSz 0H.S SHHSH 89 .SSHUSSH Hoosom NSSSSooSm Ho SouwoS SSH ou mSHSSSH SSHSSuS Ho SSHSoo HSHoSSm S SH HHouSS non ou SSuuHauSS Sums .SSSSHHSSNS wSHnoSSu Ho SHSSN HSSS>SS HSSHS .ons uSH .Am00H ou HOHHS SHSSN 0H on N SSHHouSS umuHH NSH» nans HOHV ESuwoum omume HSSHwHuo NHSnu HSHSHH SOS SHS 0:3 SSuSSSSuw HN muSSSSHSSu SusmHH SHSHS N.0 0.0 N.0 0.N 0.0H 0.N .Hom HSHoom 0.0 0.0H 0.0 0.0 .H00 HSoHSSz m.a N.m o.a r o.a .Nom Hmuamaem 0.0 0.0 .qu 0.0H 0.0H H.0H 0.NH 0.N .SSU H.0 H.0 S.0 N.0 SN.0H 0.N .M.0 HSHoom H.0 0.0 0.N 0.0 .on H.0H N.0H N.0 .SSU HSo N.N 0.N S.0 .m.0 uHSSz N.N N.N .on 0.0 0.0 0.N .SS@ HS0 H.a S.a N.0 .m.o -Nmaam HSuOH 0 N 0 m S , 0 N aSuwouS SHH SH NSSHS Ho SHSSN oHaSSSUS wuHSuS>HS0 SSS SSH< SoSSHum Mn .0 A.aoov oH.S oNSmH 90 Through the years, the number of calendar years to complete the eight-year academic programs in medicine has moved from 10.1 to 10.4 years. This represents the smallest average and percent of increase in needed time of any of the several academic programs analyzed. Pro- grams of from two to six years of academic work all required more calen- dar time of Recent Graduates than of "Old Grads". It took Recent Graduates 10.0 years to complete a Six-year program; it took the "Old Grads" 8.1 years. The older Agronomists, Pharmacists and Microbiolo- gists Spent 6.1 calendar years to finish; recent graduates invested 8.4 calendar years. Data from Part C of Table 4.10 Show that graduates whose under- graduate major was in the social sciences invested an average of 6.7 calendar years to earn their degrees; Physical Science majors averaged 7.6, and Medical Scientists 8.9. The two- and three-year programs of study were pursued only by undergraduates in the Social Sciences, and eight-year programs only by those in the Medical Sciences. Both Physical and Social Science under- graduate majors followed four-year programs, and both groups of grad- uates in these areas devoted seven years to their college studies. A comparison of the five- and Six-year courses of study Shows that grade uates of the Social Science programs invested proportionately more calendar years than graduates of Similar length programs in the Medical or Physical Sciences. To obtain a degree or title based upon a five- year course of study, the Social Scientists spent 8.7 calendar years, the Physical Scientists 7.0, and the Medical Scientists 6.3 years. 91 When graduates were classified by nine specific fields of under- graduate preparation, it was found that Economics majors in Guatemala reported the greatest number of calendar years invested for their degrees: 12.4; education majors in Costa Rica, as expected, the fewest: 3.3 years. Figures for the graduates of each area of undergraduate training (which, for all practical purposes, is each university faculty or school), are presented by university in Table 4.11. Table 4.11 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: AVERAGE NUMBER OF CALENDAR YEARS SPENT TO COMPLETE PROGRAMS IN EACH FIELD OF UNDERGRADUATE PREPARATION CALENDAR YEARS INVESTED Costa Guate- Nica- Field Rica mala ragua Total Agriculture 6.9 8.5 6.9 Dentistry 6.2 8.8 7.0 7.6 Economics 8.2 12.4 10.4 Education 3.3 8.0 3.4 Engineering 7.3 8.6 7.2 8.0 Law 8.0 10.1 9.3 9.1 Medicine/Microbiology 6.1 10.7 9.3 9.7 Pharmacy/Chemistry 7.6 8.1 5.9 7.5” Science and Letters] Humanities 6.7 10.4 7.3 Physical Sciences 7.1 8.6 7.2 7.6 Medical Sciences 7.2 10.1 8.7 8.9 Social Sciences 5.1 10.8 9.3 6.7 Since programs in the Medical Sciences generally require more academic years of study than those in the Physical or Social Sciences, one might expect that graduates of Medical Science programs would probably devote more calendar years for their studies than other graduates. This was true for graduates of the University of Costa 92 Rica but not for graduates in Guatemala and Nicaragua. In the letter universities, graduates who majored in the Social Sciences reported more calendar years in study than their compatriots who majored in Physical or Medical Sciences. A comparison of the graduates from each university who majored in the same discipline reveals a wide variance in time needed to complete their programs. Dentists, for example, invested 6.2 calendar years in Costa Rica, seven years in Nicaragua, and 8.8 years in Guatemala. Pharmacists in Guatemala invested half a year more in pursuit of their titles than did Pharmacists in Costa Rica, and 2.2 more years than Pharmacists in Nicaragua. Extra Calggdar Years Igvested The comparison above, however, is misleading, because the length of academic program in a given area of Study varies from university to university. Dentists in Costa Rica follow a five-year course of study, while the dental program (1964) in Guatemala and Nicaragua is of six academic years. A degree or title in Pharmacy requires six years in Costa Rica and Guatemala, but five academic years of study in Nicaragua. Thus, a more meaningful question is: How many calendar years beyond the required number of academic years were invested by the graduates to obtain their degrees? The question is not only the time spent to earn a degree, but the "extra" time invested over and above that required in the university-planned program of study. 93 For example, Dentists in Costa Rica Spent 1.2 mean extra calendar years before graduating; in Guatemala, Dentists invested 2.8 extra years, and Nicaraguans one extra calendar year. In the field of Phar- macy, Costa Ricans Spent 1.6 extra years and Guatemalans 2.1 beyond the required Six academic years of study, and Nicaraguan Pharmacists in- vested an extra nine-tenths of a year to complete their studies. An analysis was made of all the graduates who were enrolled in academic programs of five, six and eight years, in order to determine whether they graduated "on time" or took one or more extra calendar 17 Seventy-five percent of the grad- years to complete their programs. uates in this study were in programs of five, six or eight academic years of study, 44.48 percent of them in the most common length under- graduate program--a Six-year academic course of Studies. The number of extra calendar years invested by the graduates of these programs to obtain their degrees is Shown in Table 4.12 and 4.13. Of the graduates in this study who had been enrolled in under- graduate programs of from five to eight academic years duration, less than half (47.15%) were graduated "on time" or within one extra calendar year. The percentage of graduates of the national universi- ties of Costa Rica and Nicaragua who spent one or less extra years to 17Those graduates who were enrolled in two-, and four-year academic programs were not included in this analysis because, for one reason or another, they constituted a group apart. For example: (1), of the 284 graduates of two- to four-year programs, none were from Nicaragua and only five from Guatemala; (2), 221 were graduates of a two-year course of studies leading to the title Primary School Teacher, and, from Tables 4.7 and 4.8, are known to have taken 2.5 calendar years to get their titles; and (3), several of the graduates in this group are "special" cases (as explained in the footnote to Table 4.10), having interrupted their studies for a number of years and then returned under a different university program. 94 00.00H SS.0 SS.0 NN.mN m0.S0 00.00H 00.0H 00.0H 0N.NS 00.0N NON HH 0H NS HmH SNm H0 0S NmH H0 HSuOH +0 muS muN H10 HSuOH +0 mnS . muN H10 SowSuSon SHSESuSSQ 00.00H 0S.HH Sm.0 Nm.HN Sm.0m 00.00H m0.NH 00.0H 00.0N 0H.NS 0H0 00 NN 00 00H NSO 00H 00 NmN N00 HSuOH +0 mnS muN H10 HSuoa +0 01S muN H10 Uwummxfiufl mummah MHUNO MO .02 SSHSSSSH SHSSN Suuxm mo .oz Son Sumou SSHHHSHS>HSS mouzu HHS SMHNM ho MmHZDZ AuSSoHSm SSS SSHESZ SHV MHHmMH>HZD NH .HHHHH mo mmmwmn ZHSHHO OH Hzmmm mMSHN MSHZHHSU NMZSMUOMH UHZMHHSD HSSOHuSz NH.S SHHSH N N N N 95 obtain their degrees was much higher than the percent of Guatemalan graduates in the same category: 58.54 and 64.85 percent, respectively. In Guatemala just 25.00 percent were graduated "on time" or with but one extra year of investment. Graduates of the University of Nicaragua appear to have Spent much less extra time to earn their degrees than graduates of the other universities. Less than 12 percent of the Nicaraguans invested four or more extra calendar years before graduating; in Costa Rica nearly 20 percent spent more than three extra years to graduate, and in Guate- mala 32.72 percent of the graduates invested at least four extra calendar years. Of the 61 Guatemalan graduates who Spent six or more extra years to graduate, 19 or over thirty percent invested more than twenty extra calendar years of their time before earning their degrees. In Table 4.13, graduates of 5, 6 and 8 year academic programs are compared. Among graduates of six-year academic programs, less than fifty percent (42.71%) were graduated "on time" or within one extra calendar year of investment. Nearly fifteen percent spent two calendar years to complete one academic year of study in their program. More than half of the graduates of five- and eight-year programs finished before more than one extra calendar year had passed, 54.37 and 53.04 percent, respectively. Contrary to what one might have expected, Medi- cal School graduates (those in the eight-year programs) reported the lowest overall ratio of extra time invested: only 11.60 percent of Medical School graduates needed four or more extra years to finish. Of the six-year academic program graduates, 26.95 percent Spent four or 96 Table 4.13 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES OF 5, 6 and 8 YEAR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: NUMBER OF EXTRA CALENDAR YEARS SPENT TO OBTAIN DEGREE OR TITLE, (BY LENGTH OF PROGRAM) (By Number and Percent) Graduates of 5 Year Academic Programs No. of Extra Calendar Years Invested 0-1 2-3 4-5 6+ Total # 87 38 3‘17; 18 160 % 54.37 23.75 10.63 11.25 ‘ 100.00 Graduates of 6 Year Academic Programs 0-1 2-3 4-5 6+- Total 4; ' ;===_—_============w # 214 152 59 76 501 % 42. 11 .50. 54 11.98 1:15;] TUU .110“ Graduates of 8 Year Academic Programs 0-1 2-3 4-5 6+' Total # 96 62 9 14 181 % 53.04 35.36 4.97 6.63 100.00 more extra years, or 66.67 percent extra time beyond their normal pro- gram length. Nearly one-fourth of the graduates of five-year programs needed 80.00 percent extra time--four or more extra calendar years-- in order to graduate. From these analyses it is evident that more than half of the uni- versity graduates of 5, 6 and 8 year academic programs in these three Central American universities invested at least two extra calendar years in pursuing degree programs, regardless of the length of program followed. It also appears that graduates of six-year academic programs 97 invested much more extra time, proportionate to the length of their program, than did graduates of other programs. These analyses comple- ment and verify the data found in Table 4.10. Relationship of Extra Calendar Years Invested to Other Factors The graduates of the longer length programs were analyzed to see if the additional calendar years invested might be due to (l) secondary school origin, or (2) whether or not the students had.p§pg§ as under- graduates. Another analysis was made to observe if the number of extra calendar years Spent was an influence upon later pursuance of post- graduate studies. AS shown in Table 4.14, no perceptible differences were reported by school graduates and private school graduates who finished their careers "on time" or within one extra year--47.4l vs. 46.36 percent. However, more than twice the percent of public school graduates than private school graduates than private school graduates spent six or more extra calendar years beyond the required number of academic years (15.52 vs. 6.90 percent). Among private school graduates, a percent equal to those who graduated on time needed two to five extra years of time-~46.74 and 46.36 percent, respectively. Products of the public schools, if they did not complete their studies on time, spent either two or three extra years (27.59 percent), or more than five extra years in university study (15.52 percent). The possession of some form of university-given financial aid, be it remission of fees, scholarship or outright grant, enabled the.pgp§pgp§ to finish their careers faster than graduates who did not have becas 98 Table 4.14 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES OF 5, 6 and 8 YEAR.ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: RELATION BETWEEN NUMBER OF EXTRA CALENDAR YEARS SPENT TO OBTAIN DEGREE OR TITLE AND A. TYPE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL ATTENDED B. RECIPIENCY OF UNIVERSITY FINANCIAL AID (BECAg) C. PURSUANCE OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES A. Secondary School Number of Extra Calendar Years Invested Attended 0-1 2-3 4-5 6+ Total Public # 275 160 55 90 580 % 47.41 27.59 9.48 15.52 100.00 Private # 121 92 30 18 1261 % 46.36 35.25 11.49 6.90 100.00 B. Beca Status 0-1 2-3 4-5 6+ Total Beca # 98 47 13 14 172 % 56.98 27.32 7.56 8.14 100.00 No.§gp§ # 286 199 72 91 648 % 44.14 30.71 11.11 14.04 100.00 C. Post-Graduate Studies 0-1 2-3 4-5 6+ Total Yes # 168 88 26 25 307 % 54.72 28.67 8.47 8.14 100.00 No # 229 164 59 83 535 % 42.80 30.65 11.03 15.52 100.00 (Table 4.14, part 3.). Although the financial aid received by these graduates of 5: 6 and 8 year academic programs represented only 2.94 percent of their average undergraduate income (see Table 4.6), 56.98 percent of the beca students as against 44.14 percent of the non- becarios finished their university studies with less than two extra 99 years of investment. More than twenty-five percent of the graduates who had no financial aid Spent four or more extra years as under- graduates, while but 15.70 percent of the financially-aided students needed as much time to graduate. As might have been hypothesized, the greater the number of extra calendar years invested by a graduate to earn his degree the lesser the possibility that he would pursue post-graduate studies. Of grad- uates who sought a second university degree, a greater percent finished more or less "on time", when compared to those who finished on time but did not pursue graduate studies. Of those graduates who delayed grad- uation for four or more years, significantly fewer pursued a second degree. Significance of Calendar YearS_Invested From the above analyses it is evident that, regardless of the formal duration of academic pro- grams, students do not complete their studies within the prescribed time. And there is no evidence that more graduates can be produced by developing programs of shorter duration. Graduates of six-year academic programs (the most common length) spent the greatest extra amount of time, proportionate to their program, than other graduates. Graduates who prepared themselves to teach, mostly in Costa Rica under a two- year academic program, were in recent years taking at least one-third more calendar time than academic time in order to graduate. The trend at all three national universities is an increase in the amount of calendar time needed for graduation, and the trend seems to be accelerating. 100 Prospects for Future Graduates To illustrate the acceleration of needed calendar time prior to graduation, the 870 graduates in this study who graduated in the fifteen-year period 1949-1963 were divided into three five-year groups. The mean number of calendar years spent by the graduates of each time period, for each university, was calculated, and is Shown in Graph 4.1. Between 1949 and 1963, the average number of calendar years invested by the average graduate increased 55.36 percent. During this fifteen- year period, the average number of invested calendar years in Costa Rica increased 40.38 percent, and in Guatemala it more than doubled, going up 109.43 percent. In Nicaragua there was no increase over the period 1949-1953: however, the mean number of years Spent had dropped to 8.3 in 1954-1958, yet rose again to 8.8 during the period 1959-1963. These data complement those found in Table 4.10, part B, wherein the "Old Grads" of 1900-1953 needed fewer calendar years to complete their studies than did the Recent Graduates of 1959-1963. This was true at all three national universities studied. What will be the record made by graduates in the future? How many calendar years will the graduates of 1964-1968 invest? Or the graduates of 1969-73? Data on the present undergraduate populations in the national universities of Central America is now being studied, analyzed and prepared for publication by the staff of IIME--the Insti- tute of Educational Research and Improvement at the University of San Carlos, Guatemala. One recent Study published by IIME, dealing with the academic progress of 5,036 pg-enrolled students at San Carlos (the Graph 4.1 101 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES, 1949-1953, 1954-1958, 1959-1963: CALENDAR YEARS SPENT TO GRADUATE CostajRica V We 7 .11— 1—0 7 —8— .7 6 5 4 3 2 -—1 12‘ Years 11 10 9 8 7 .H. m=7.3 6 ____ ._ m=5.9 5 m=5.2 4 3 m=4.3* 2 l n=l42 n=145 n=158 1949-53 1954-58 1959-63 * Number Years ' m=ll.l m=9.l m=5.3 m=6.5* n=127 n=91 n=94 1949-53 1954-58 1959-63 of academic years, average program of studies, 1963. HI ~1~l>lwl ml ~l col ..| 8| 102 Graph 4.1 (con.) * Number of academic years, Nicaragua A Years m=8: a? . m=8.8 m=8.3 m=6.7* n=30 n=37 n=46 1949-53 1954-58 1959-63 All Three Universities 10 Years 9 m=8.7 8 7 m=7.3 _—6- ‘m=5.6 -—;_ m=5.4* __20 __3. __E_. __I. n=2997 n=273 n=298 1949-53 1954-58 1959-63 average program of studies, 1963. 103 national university), can be used to compare the undergraduate record made by "yesterday's" graduates to that now being made by "tomorrow's" graduates. The statistically "average" re-enrolled undergraduate at San Carlos was in a program of studies calling for completion of 43.32 courses in 6.14 academic years of work.18 He had completed 17.14 courses (39.57%), or 2.44 academic years of work. However, he had enrolled 5.30 calendar years prior to 1963: thus, his progress was at the rate of 46 percent of an academic year's requirements during one calendar year. In other words, he was spending 2.17 calendar years of time to complete the course requirements of a Single academic year. If this "average" undergraduate were to proceed at the same rate of progress, he would need a total of 13.32 calendar years to finish his course work: writing a thesis, a usual prerequisite for graduation, would probably add another year. Although not exactly equivalent, the data provided by the grad- uates in the present study permit a comparison between their average undergraduate records at the three national universities to the under- graduate record of the "average" re-enrolled San Carlos student in 1963. This comparison appears in Table 4.15. Granted that the university graduates represent the "successful" undergraduate student, nevertheless they were spending nearly a year and a half of calendar time to complete a year of academic work. And 18IIME Staff (Friedman, pp. al), pp. cit., Table A, p. 2. 104 .HSSN SSSSSHSo SS0 SH SouoHnaou Hues S.NSSN uHaSSSoS SS 00 uSoouSS SSH ..S.N NSHSSN HSSSSHSo SSSSSHS.+ SHSSN oHaSSSuS SSHSHSEOUH SOHuumfioum H S S u o 4 . SOHuSSSSnw Nm.mH 0.N S.0 0.0H N.0 How SSHHSSSH SHSSN HSSSSHSQ , . o . . . o . o . SwSuo>S NSO 0S NNO 0N NON 0N N00 00 N00 HN SOHuSHSEoo mmouwoum SSS oHESSSoS SHESSSSS aH.N NS.H mN.H Sm.N mm.N 0:0 mumHaeou on 00 «some SHSSN SSSSSHSU 00.0 0.N S.0 0.0H N.0 . uSSaHHouSS uSSHH SSSHS SSSSSHS SHSSN HSSSSHSU «S.N m.m a.m m.m H.S emuoHSaoo muama oaammmoa SH.0 0.0 N.0 0.0 HHS. SSNHSUSH SHSSN SHESSSSS mmo.mua NNN,Nna NNNua mmmua manna . HSuoa SSMSS SHSEI. SuHm Smmuwoum m00H nSon nSuSSU . Sumoo oHaSSSo< F.SHSSSHSSQ SummSSmw‘:SmMHS>S: SHH Ho oHuSo SS0 Ho uHSHS>HSD SSH SHHSHHHU uS uSSSSuS SSHHouSSuSH :SwSuS>S: 03H mmHMUOHm UHZMHSUS mafiandmummnza SHSZMBHZD GMHHomzmnmm m00H :MU4MH>¢: mmH OH QHMSNZUU mmmmwcmm UHZHQHS= HSSOHuSz mH.S SHHSH 105 if the 5,000 undergraduates at San Carlos can be assumed representative of students at the other national universities, than today's under- graduates may take even longer to become tomorrow's graduates. Besides the modification of certain programs and the provision of additional university student financial aid, university authorities might consider changing such significant factors as teaching methodology, rates of failure and part-time study traditions. Amount and Source of Undergraduate Income The graduates were asked to report the average monthly income they had during the last three years of their undergraduate work. They were also requested to state the principal source of that income, and whether or not they received from the university any form of financial aid, be it a scholar- ship, a grant, or the remission of tuition. The monthly income reported was converted, first, into a common monetary denominator--the Central American.pg§p, a non-existant but widely used theoretical unit of money equal to one U.S. dollar-~and secondly, the income was converted by machine operation into an annual sum for each graduate. The sources elicited, from an open-ended question, fell into eight categories. These were reduced to three principal sources: (1) Self (including Becas), (2) Parents (father, mother, both parents), and (3) Other Family (wife or husband, blood-relatives, and non-consanguine ' family members). The mean annual income of the average graduate during the last three years before graduation was $1,163. The principal source of the 106 student's income was the graduate himself, 65.42 percent, followed by parents, 19.52 percent, and other family members, 15.06 percent. Table 4.16 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: MEAN ANNUAL UNDERGRADUATE INCOME AND PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF THAT INCOME ‘ fl?” V FACTOR C.R. Guate. * Nic. Total Mean Annual Under- graduate Income: $ 913 $1,781 $ 892 $1,163 Principal Source: Self 63.00% 79.45% 47.87% 65.42% Parents 20.40 11.83 30.32 19.52 Other Family 16.60 8.72 21.82 15.06 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% The most Striking difference between graduates of the three national universities may be seen by comparingthe data reported by the Guatemalans to that of the other graduates. The Guatemalans' average undergraduate income was nearly double that of Costa Rican and Nicaraguan graduates. Almost eighty percent of the Guatemalan grad- uates were self-supporting during the last three years of their under- graduate careers, as compared to sixty-three percent of the Costa Ricans and less than fifty percent of the Nicaraguan graduates. Conversely, parents and other family members were the principal source of undergraduate income for a smaller proportion of the Guate- malans than for graduates of the two other universities--20.55 percent in Guatemala as compared to 37.00 and 52.14 percent, reSpectively, in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. 107 A series of analyses were made to determine if any Significant relationship exists between Mean Annual Undergraduate Income and Prin- cipal Source of that income, and two other factors: Number of Extra Calendar Years Invested, and 1963 Income. In these analyses, the income was classified in three levels--high, medium and low. Chi- square tests were employed to determine differences among income groups. In the tables that follow, the "Observed" as well as the "Expected" reSponses are recorded in each of the Chi-square cells. "Observed" responses are the actual reSponses made by the graduates, and "Expected" responses are those that would normally fall within the cell were there no significant difference. In the total columns the number of Observed responses is summed and the percent of the total that the responses represent is given. There does exist a Significant relationship between the graduates' mean annual undergraduate income and the principal source of that income, as shown in Table 4.17. Of all the graduates of the three universities who reported usable data for ppph factors in the analysis (n=1,009), mean undergraduate incomes of $3,000 or more were reported by 12.39 percent. Medium incomes, $1,200-2,999, were reported by almost twenty-three percent of the graduates, and Lower incomes, less than $1,200, by 64.62 percent. For the graduates of the different universities, however, these income figures varied considerably. Three times as great a percent of Guatemalan graduates reported "high" undergraduate incomes as did grad- uates of the universities of Costa Rica and Nicaragua (25.86% vs. 6.00 108 mo.V o 6%: 03.. NS S.Vo .mmmo u Nos Nu oo.ooH om.oN oS.oN oo.mm oo.ooN ao.mN NS.SH Hm.mo a moasoe con mm NON mNm mooH NmH mmN mmo H oo.ma mo mm mNN NS.SS SHN «ma mam ooN.Nm SSSH SSSH aom m.oo m.oa N.NmN Nmm N.mm o.mNN m.mNo son oo.ON SH NH ma NN.NN om NN NmH mmm.Nm -ooN.Nm NON N.aN S.NN m.om NNN o.mm m.mo N.Nma guano: oo.m o m NN mm.NN NH NH ooN no oooa no coo.mo om S.N N.m m.mN mNN m.mN m.oN a.Nm no SSH: NHHSSm uSouuom NHHSSH SEooSH .HSSHO SuSSHSm HHom SSS .uonuo SuSSHSm HHSm ouSSSSum mHSHOH Sousom HSSHoSHHm Honasz. Souocm HSnHoSHHm IHSSSD ooNa ouooo Nouoa moHHHmmm>Hz= HoseaS coo: _ Sazoaaaz SSNSH.SS< No Ho>0S mzoozH SSSH No momsom Semaoszm oza aacsom No oooow moose oooa maaunnv HZOUZH MHSDH<¢QMHGZD H¢Szz< zMH zmmzamm ZOHHHSD HSSOHuSz NH .S SHHSH. 109 .m.z n 000 NS S. V a .Hm.0N u 000 NS H0.HN 00.00H Nm.0m N0.NS 00.00H 0N.0 0H.NH NH.0N N 0.289 00H HS N0 00 HNm 0N 0m SmN N mm.Nm mm mo Na NH.NS NH om om SON.Nm SSSH SSSH 00H S.Nm m.0S 0.0a N3 0.: 0.0H 0.103 30H 0N.NH S 0 SH No.00 NH 0 00 000.N0 -OON.Hm 2.. 0.0 0.N o.HH 00H 0.0 0.NH 0.00 203m: 30 S S S 00.0N S S ma no 985 no ooo.mm NH 0.N N.0 N.0 00 N.N H.0H N.S0 um SUHS NHHESH .- _ uSSouSm NHHBSH SaooSH .uonuo SuSSHSm HHSm SSS .uonuo SuSSHSm HHom ouSSSSuw QHSHOH Souoom HSnHuSHum HSHSSZ ouusom HSSHoSHum IHSSSS HSHOH HSSSSS SSS: deSuSon SHSESHSSU Ho HS>SH a.aoo0 aN.S oH0oH 110 and 6.39%). Altogether, more than half of the Guatemalans were in the Medium or High income range, while less than thirty percent of the Costa Ricans, and less than twenty percent of the Nicaraguans, were in the two upper income ranges. The significance of the relationship between the level of under- graduate income and its source is due primarily to the fact that fewer graduates than expected, whose parents were the principal source of their income, reported medium or high incomes (34 instead of 70). More parent-supported graduates than expected were in the lower income range (164 vs. 128). A greater number than expected of self-supported graduates (281 instead of 233.2) appeared in the upper income ranges, and fewer than expected reported low incomes (378 rather than 425.8). In Guatemala, the relationship between parent-supported graduates and their level of income contributed more than three-quarters of the variance to be observed in the Chi-square analysis: fewer parent- supported graduates were in the higher level incomes, and a greater proportion than expected had low level incomes. In Nicaragua, no significant relationship appeared between the two factors. Source of Undergraduate Income: Relationship to Extra Calendar Years Invested Graduates of the 5, 6, and 8 year academic programs were analyzed to see if a Significant relationship existed between the source of their undergraduate income and the number of extra calendar years they Spent to complete their university education. It was pre- sumed that those students who were supported by parents or other family 111 members would not take as long to graduate as self-supported Students. This was true, and to a greater extent than expected. A much lower percentage than expected of Parent- or Other Family- supported graduates (11 instead of 29) needed six or more extra years to complete their work, and a higher percent of non-self supporting graduates than had been expected were graduated "on time" or within one extra year (138 instead of 110.4). These four groups of graduates, the parent-or family-supported Students who either finished "on time", or who took six or more extra calendar years to finish, accounted for over sixty-five percent of the variance of 28.21 which made the relation- ship between the two factors Significant. Among the self-supported graduates, the two extreme groups--those who terminated more or less as they should have and those who took the longest to finish--represented 27.12 percent of the Significant differ- ence Shown: more of these graduates needed Six or more extra years, and fewer of them were graduated as early as might be expected. Since the level of undergraduate income is low for those Students supported by parents or other family members (see Table 4.17), and more self-supported graduates reported medium or high incomes, it then appears that self-supporting, high-income earning undergraduates take the longest time to finish their university studies. 112 Table 4.18 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES OF 5, 6, and 8 YEAR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: RELATION BETWEEN SOURCE OF UNDERGRADUATE INCOME AND NUMBER OF EXTRA CALENDAR YEARS SPENT TO OBTAIN DEGREE OR TITAL Source Of Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic Programs Total Under- w, ,_1 Number graduate Extra Calendar Years Invested and Income 0-1 2-3 4-5 6+ Percent E= 259.6 164.2 58.2 68.0 550 Self 0= 232 168 64 86 70.15 77.9 49.2 17.5 20.4 165 Parents , 96 47 13 9 21.05 32.5 20.6 7.3 8.6 69 Other, Family 42 19 6 2 8.80 # 370 234 83 97 784 TOTALS % 47.19 29.85 10.59 12.37 100.00 Level of Undergraduate Income: x2 6df = 28.21, p < .01 Relationship to Extra Years Invested Another analysis was made of the 5, 6 and 8 year program graduates to determine if a Significant relationship existed between the level of undergraduate income and the number of extra calendar years invested for the degree or title. From the data above, one would expect that undergraduates with high level incomes would take longer to graduate (since high income results from self-support) and that low level income students would graduate sooner. This was true, and again to a greater extent than expected. 113 Table 4.19 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES OF 5, 6 and 8 YEAR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: RELATION BETWEEN LEVEL OF MEAN ANNUAL UNDERGRADUATE INCOME AND NUMBER OF EXTRA CALENDAR YEARS SPENT TO OBTAIN DEGREE OR TITLE Levelidf Mean Graduates of 5, 6 and 8 Year Academic ProgramsTotal Annual Under- Number of Extra Number graduate ., Calendar Years Invested and Income 0-1 2-3 4-5 6+ Percent HIGH E= 52.0 33.5 11.6 13.9 111 $3,000 1 or more 0= 29 33 18 31 13.84 MEDIUM 93.3 60.0 20.9 24.8 199 $13200- 1 $2,999 75 68 32 24 24.81 LOW 230.7 148.5 51.5 61.3 492 less than $1,200 272 141 34 45 61.351 # 376 242 84 100 802 TOTALS % 46.88 30.18 10.47 12.47 100.00 x2 6df = 63.65, p .01 1The 802 graduates of these longer length programs reported slightly higher incomes than appear in Table 4.17 where the income per- centages for 1,009 graduates include Shorter length program graduates. Specifically, three groups of graduates in this analysis contri- buted the most to the significance that exists between level of under- graduate income and extra years spent for the degree: a. more graduates than expected with low level incomes finished up their collegiate careers with no, or only one, extra year of investment; b. more high level income graduates than expected spent six or more extra years in pursuit of their degrees; and conversely; 114 c. fewer graduates with high level income finished "on time" or with but one extra invested calendar year. Nearly half of the high level income graduates took four or more extra calendar years to complete their studies (49 of 111), but only 16.06 percent of low level income graduates invested more than three extra years as undergraduates (79 of 492), as seen in Table 4.19. Since nearly seventy percent of the graduates were self-supporting during their undergraduate years (Table 4.18), it appears that the per- sonal quest for a high income during one's college days works adversely against timely graduation--the more money earned, the longer to be graduated. The figures above support the data found in Table 4.18, where high-income, self-supporting undergraduates took significantly longer to finish their studies. The data also suggest the need by Central American undergraduates to be helped mOre financially by their parents, university or government, so that they can devote their full- time to university study and not have to seek concurrent employment. Source of Undergraduatg_1ncome: Relatipnship to Level of:1963 Income Two other Chi-square analyses were made with data pertaining to the graduates' undergraduate life. It was believed that two factors-- the Principal Source of the Graduates' Undergraduate Income and the Number of Extra Calendar Years Invested--would be reflected in the level of the graduates' 1963 Income. The financial data produced by the analysis shown in Table 4.20 indicate that nearly ninety-five percent of the graduates in Guatemala and Nicaragua were in the high or medium level of 1963 income, while 115 8. Va .mSNo u 03 NM 8. Va .Naom u 03 Ne oo.OOH mw.NH MN.mN «0.0m 00.00H 00.mH S0.HN OS.N0 N . deHOB 0mm 00 mNH NHm OSOH 00H mNN 0S0 N om.0m NS m0 Hm mo.HN am 0a 0m ooo.N0 SSSH SSSH 00H m.mm 0.0S N.0HH 0mm Su0m. m.0S 0.NSH 30H 0o.Sm OS on HON No.00 HN HHH ONm 000.00 -ooo.Nm HON 0.Hm 0.N0 m.HNH Nmn H.00 S.0HH m.SSm ZDHQHZ HH.0 N N mm oo.m~ mm mm SwH no SHOE Ho moo.am 0S 0.0 S.HH 0.0N O0N m.HS n.0m N.NQH um mUHm mHSHOH NHHESm mSoon uSoouom NHHESm SSoon SaooSH .uonuo SuSouSm .HHom SSS .uoauo muSouSm .HHom m00H Souoom HSmHuSHHm nonaoz Souoom HSoHoSHHm «0 H95.H .llllulllllllllIIJmoNS 380 :38. _ mmHHHmSEfiz: 0 3.2822 NSSS NSS HZOUZH HHSUQSMSMHHZD mo Homaom HSmHUZHmm 02S mzoozH 000H mo HH>HH ZHHBHHH ZOHHSHHm ”mmH<:nHSD HSSOHuSz 0N.S SHHSH 116 .m.z u 00 0 NS mo.uv.o .om.m u 00 0 Na 00.00H NN.NN ma.Hm no.0S 00.00H mm.m ma.NH aN.ma N mHaaoa mmH No 00 am mHm mN co mSN a mm.0 o S m mS.m o S m coo.Nm SSSH SSSH mH N.N H.0 0.0 aH 0.H N.N N.NH 30H a0.am oN mm Hm aN.ma HH mN mHH mmm.0m -ooo.Nm moH N.0N 0.0m N.om NmH 0.NH 0.NH o.mHH onomz 00.00 mH mH Hm 00.00 NH NH mHH no 606a no ooo.a0 a0 N.0H H.HN m.om SSH N.NH S.mH a.NHH no SSHS III-IL. NHHSSH SSooo NHHSSm SSoSH SeooSH mHaHoH .uoeoo ouoooom .HHom 000908 .06000 ouoouom .NHom mmmH wouaom HmQHudHhm moufiom m CHEM mo HON/01H ,.:|||:|mmmmmmon .1111111H300ammmmww a.ooov 0N.S oH0oH 117 in Costa Rica over ninety percent were in the medium or low level. As such, these figures reflect the data presented in Table 3.3, and validate the monetary ranges established for the three levels of 1963 income used in these analyses. There is a significant relationship between the graduates' 1963 income and the principal source of their undergraduate income (p<<..01). The three low level income groups accounted for over seventy percent of the variance found. Most noticeably, there were fewer self-supported graduates with low level 1963 incomes than expected, and more low level 1963 income graduates whose principal source of undergraduate income was their parents or other family members. Since these results are quite similar to those found in the analysis of the level and source of the graduates' undergraduate income (Table 4.17), it is probable that they reflect merely an historical continuation over a short period of years. For the graduates of the University of Costa Rica, the signifi- cance of principal source of undergraduate income to their 1963 income was roughly the same as that Shown above for all graduates--the three lower level cells contributing almost 63.00 percent of the variance. Extra Calendar Years Invested: Relationship to Level of 1963 Income In this analysis graduates of 2, 3 and 4 year academic pro- grams were excluded. These graduates of the shorter length programs were shown in earlier analyses of 1963 income to fall primarily into the lower income level, nearly all of them being Costa Rican women 118 trained in the area of Education. Knowing that a large number of low level 1963 income graduates would thus be omitted from the analysis, and that it would pertain mostly to Guatemalan and Nicaraguan grad- uates, it was still felt there might be some significance between the number of extra years spent to obtain the degree and the level of the graduates' 1963 income. Table 4.21 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES OF 5, 6 and 8 YEAR.ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: RELATION BETWEEN NUMBER OF EXTRA CALENDAR YEARS SPENT TO OBTAIN DEGREE OR TITLE AND LEVEL OF 1963 INCOME GRADUATES OF 5, 6 and 8 YEAR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS Total I Number of Level of 1963 Income Number Extra Calendar HIGH-$7,000 MEDIUM-$2,000- LOW-less than and Years Invested or more $6,999 $2,000 Percent E= 119.4 233.3 14.3 0-1 367 O= 113 242 12 .46:11 79.7 155.8 9.5 2-3 245 92 .197 6 30.78 59.9 116.9 7.2 4 or more 184 54 117 13 23.11 # 259 506 31 796 TOTALS % 32.54 63.57 3.89 100.00 x2 4 df = 10.02, p <1.05 There was some indication found (p < .05) that the number of extra years invested by the graduates correlated significantly with the graduates' 1963 income level. Specifically, among those graduates in the lower level of 1963 income, there were 24.00 percent fewer 119 graduates than expected who took less than four extra years to grad- uate; and there were 80.00 percent more graduates than expected who needed four or more extra years to be graduated. It has already been seen that the level of the graduates' undergraduate income corre- lates significantly with the number of extra calendar years spent for their degrees (Table 4.19). If we look at the two groups of graduates as divided--those who took less and those who took more than four extra years--and compare them to ppph the undergraduate and 1963 income levels, then the monetary value of a university degree, the resultant upward financial mobility, becomes apparent. During their undergraduate years, over sixty percent of the graduates of 5, 6 and 8 year academic programs were in the lower income level. In 1963, however, only 3.89 percent of the graduates were in the lower income level. Nearly one-third of the graduates had incomes of $7,000 or more in 1963, whereas just 13.84 percent had high undergraduate incomes. For those graduates who took less than three extra years to complete their college education, the percentages are almost the same: 66.83 percent had low undergraduate incomes, but only 2.94 percent had low incomes in 1963, and the percent of these graduates in the high income levels rose from 10.03 to 33.50 percent. It was to be expected that for graduates who Spent four or more extra calendar years for their degrees the financial rewards of a degree would be less dramatic, since the greater number of extra years Spent correlated with high undergraduate income. During the undergraduate years, graduates who took four or more extra years and GRADUATES OF 5, 6 and 8 YEAR.ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: NUMBER.AND PERCENT 120 Table 4.22 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua OF GRADUATES BY NUMBER OF EXTRA CALENDAR YEARS SPENT TO OBTAIN DEGREE (more or less than four) COMPARED TO THEIR A. LEVEL OF UNDERGRADUATE INCOME (during last three years) B. LEVEL OF 1963 INCOME A. UNDERGRADUATE INCOME 1!" Level of Income EXTRA CALENDAR YEARS INVESTED 0-3 4 or more Totals, # & % HIGH # 62 49 111 $3,000 or more % 10.03 26.63 13.84 ZMEDIUM 143 56 199 $1 3 200‘ $2,999 23.14 30.43 24.81 LOW 413 79 492 Less than $1,200 66.83 42.94 61.35 # 618 184 802 TOTALS % 100.00 100.00 100.00 B. 1963 INCOME HIGH # 205 54 259 $7,000 or more % 33.50 29.35 32.54 MEDIUM 389 117 506 $2,000- 6,999 63.56 63.59 63.57 LOW 18 13 31 Less than $2,000 2.94 7.06 3.89 # 612 184 796 TOTALS % 100.00 100.00 100.00 121 were in the higher income level represented 44.14 percent of the under- graduates with high incomes (49 of 111 graduates). In 1963, these graduates represented but 20.85 percent of the high level income graduates (54 of 259). Even so, a university degree for the graduates who took more than three extra years to finish meant a distinct rise in income. The percent of these graduates in the low income levels fell from 42.94 to 7.06, and the percent in the middle ranges rose from 30.43 to 63.59. As will be shown later in the analyses of occupational activities, the percent of income increase between undergraduate and 1963 incomes for all graduates was 348.58--a substantial monetary value for the university degree. Graduates' Age at Graduation and Year of Graduation The "average" national university graduate in Central America began his higher educa- tion when he was 18.9 years old. He spent 7.5 calendar years of his life to obtain his degree or title, and graduated at the age of twenty- Six and a half. Comparable data for the graduates of each national university in this study is shown in Table 4.23. The data here, of course, complement those presented earlier in Table 4.3 and 4.10, which dealt with the graduates' age at matricula- tion and the number of calendar years they devoted to university work. The age at matriculation data indicate that Recent Graduates entered college at approximately the same age as the "Old Grads"; in fact, in Guatemala, Recent Graduates began university life a half-year younger than the "Old Grads". Yet the average age at graduation in all three countries has been higher for Recent Graduates than for the "Old Grads" 122 Table 4.23 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: MEAN AGE AT GRADUATION AND YEAR OF GRADUATION Age at Graduation Costa Guate- Nica- and Rica mala ragua Total Year of Graduation n=598 n=333 n=202 n=1133 Age at Graduation 24.4 29.3 27.1 26.4 "Old Grads" 1900-53 23.5 28.6 27.0 25.6 Middle Graduates 1954-58 24.4 28.7 26.8 26.1 Recent Graduates 1959-63 26.1 30.7 27.5 27.8 Year of Graduation 1953 1952 1949 1952 because of the greater number of calendar years which the more recent graduates have had to invest before getting their degree or title. Summary of Apalyses of Calendar Years Spent to Obtain Degrees The analyses made of the number of calendar years invested by the graduates to complete a university education in the national univer- sities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua have shown the following: a) the graduates took nearly 1% calendar years to complete one academic year of study; b) less than one-half of the graduates graduated "on time" or within one extra calendar year; c) the number of calendar years spent has increased, at an accelerating rate, during recent years; d) Medical students Spend proportionately less extra time to graduate than graduates of a six-year academic program, which is the most common length program in Central America; e) the graduates who took the longest time to graduate were those who were self-supporting and had a high undergraduate income; 123 f) the more extra years invested by the graduates to earn their degrees means the less possibility that they will pursue post-graduate studies; and g) some form of papa, no matter how Small, seems to enable students to finish their university education somewhat faster. Recent studies have indicated that time has allocation properties which are not dissimilar to those applied to land.19 Time, like land, can be consumed or wasted. Yet, there is the general impression that time can also be conserved--or like money, invested. Educating one's self is an example of an investment of human hours or years. The return on the investment is not more time, but an increase in the range of choice of gainful employment, as well as X number of more financially productive years of professional work. In the case of university graduates, if they have invested Six calendar years to complete a six-year course of studies, they have conserved as well as invested their time. If it takes a graduate twelve calendar years to complete a six-year program, he has invested twice as much time as should be necessary; yet his "return" is the same range of gainful employment but fewer years of more gainful employment. This represents a waste of time, as well as the loss of money, effort and productivity, not only to the individual, but to the state and its institutions. 19Richard L. Meier, "Human Time Allocation: A Basis for Social Accounts", in Journal of Ehe American Institute of Planners, VOl. XV, No. V, Spring, 1959: pp. 27-33. 124 Universities may be said to be more efficient and effective within their society when they fulfill their standard functiéns with a minimal expenditure of human time and its corresponding financial costs. The surplusses may then be re-allocated by the institution or the individuals. Should the universities of Central America be able to produce their graduates "on time" rather than permitting them to spend many extra calendar years as universitarios, then the time and "extra" operation monies "saved" by the universities could be re-allocated toward the perfection of present activities or expended on a wider variety of functions. Similarly, the time "saved" by the graduates would enable them to practice for a longer time as univer- sity degree-holders, benefiting themselves and the nation. CHAPTER FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GRADUATES: POST-GRADUATION ACTIVITIES AS of 1963, the "average" Central American national university graduate included in this study had been out of the university prac- ticing his profession for eleven years. During this time he had increased his annual income some 340 percent over that which he had lived on as an undergraduate. Of all the graduates represented in this study, less than one percent worked solely outside the field in which they were professionally trained, although 13.48 percent of the graduates engaged in some work unrelated to their training after they were graduated. Nearly thirty-five percent of the graduates did post- graduate study, and seventy-five percent of these graduates earned a second and/or third post-graduate title or degree. Years Since Graduation (to 1963)_ Since the date for each graduate were recorded on IBM cards, it was easy to obtain the number of years Since graduation by subtracting the year of graduation from the year 1963, and by machine calculation get the average number of years Since graduation for the graduates of each university and of the three major areas of undergraduate preparation. These figures are shown in Table 5.1. Nicaraguan graduates typically have been out of school longer than the other graduates because they graduated three years before the Costa Ricans and Guatemalans. It might be supposed that there would be a direct relationship between present income and number Of years of pro- fessional practice; apapj the more years out of college, the greater the income. Yet a comparison of the data here shown and that presented in Table 3.9--1963 Income by Professional Area of Work--indicates that 125 126 Table 5.1 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: YEARS SINCE GRADUATION (to 1963) BY UNIVERSITY AND MAJOR SCIENCE FIELD OF UNDERGRADUATE TRAINING Costa Guate- Nica- Total Rica mala ragua N=1133 N=598 N=333 N=202 Years Since Graduation (to 1963): 10.4 11.0 13.7 11.1 By Major Field of Undergraduate Training: Physical Sciences 10.9 9.3 8.1 10.1 Medical Sciences 11.4 13.6 14.5 13.4 Social Sciences 10.1 9.4 13.7 10.4 the number of years since graduation seems to have little if any influence on the relative amount of money earned in 1963, within a given country. Nicaraguan Medical and Social Science graduates had been out of school 14.5 and 13.7 years, reSpectively, and the physical scientists 8.1 years. But, from Table 3.9, Engineers in Nicaragua ranked No.1 in 1963 income, and Lawyers, social science area graduates, ranked fourth. Guatemalan Medical Science area graduates had been out of college more than four years longer than their fellow graduates of the Physical or Social Sciences, yet Guatemalan Economists and Engineers ranked second and third behind Dentists (who earned only $4 more in 1963 than the Economists), and Medical doctors and Pharmacists ranked fourth and sixth, reSpectively. Obviously there are other factors than the number of years Since graduation which relate to the graduates' 1963 income: for example, the number of jobs held, as shown in Table 3.5. A study of the types of activities engaged in by the graduates after their graduation was 127 made to ascertain certain other considerations. The analyses of occupational and activity differences to follow will indicate to some extent which activities were "subdominate" or "influent" in the gradu- ates' lives, but will not explore fully the relationship of the activi- ties to professional or societal stratification. Classification of Post-Graduation Activities Following the ecological concept of "activity" as the notion implied by the terms "occupation" or "function", some attempt was made to view the gradu- ates' different activities-4their numbers and kinds--as aggregates of sub-populations, and to look for aspects of activity interdependence. The activities undertaken by the graduates once they had earned their degrees or titles were grouped into three major categories: a) Professional work only (work in the professional area for which the graduate was trained), b) work unrelated to training (work in an occupational area for which the graduate was not trained), and c) Graduate studies only (the pursuance of a second or third university-level degree). Four subcategories were also made: three which combine any two major groups, and a seventh of those graduates who engaged in all three major types of activity. For example, if a graduate earned a Licencia- £g£g_in Economics and reported his first position as a banker and his second as an elementary school teacher, then he had undertaken two activities since graduation--Professiona1 work and WOrk unrelated to training. Separate questions on the data-gathering instrument elicited information about Graduate studies--where, when and degrees pursued or earned. 128 The Activities as Undertaken by the Graduates The use of the term "activity" is not to be equated with the term "position" as used in earlier analyses. A graduate may have engaged in one type of activity since graduation, but have held two or more positions, or jobs, for which he received compensation. More than half the graduates engaged only in one activity after they left the university (56.40 percent); another 40.07 percent com- bined two types of work; and 3.53 percent did three types of activity (i.e., professional work, unrelated work and graduate study). Over fifty-five percent of the graduates have worked only in their pro- fessional field since their graduation. Table 5.2 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua GRADUATES: TYPE AND NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES ENGAGED IN SINCE GRADUATION IN PERCENT BY UNIVERSITY P CATEGORY Costa Guate- Nica- Total 0F Rica mala ragua N=1133 ACTIVITY N=598 N=333 N=202 Graduates engaged in 1 activity only: 62.37 50.15 44.55 55.60 Professional work 0.33 0.90 0.50 0.53 Work unrelated to training 0.17 0.30 0.50 0.26 Graduates studies only Sub-total: 1 activity 62.87 51.35 45.55 56.39 Graduates engaged in 2 activities: Professional work +’unre1ated worH 8.86 5.71 16.34 €9,27 Professional work + graduate study 24.25 39.04 35.64 30.63 Unrelated work + graduate study 0.17 0.30 - 0.18 Sub-total: 2 activities 33.28 45.05 51.98 40.08 All 3 types of activity (i.e., profess. work, unrelated work, and graduate study): 3.85 3.60 2.47 3.53 TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 By summing various percentages found in Table 5.2 it is possible to look at different facets of the graduates' activities. 129 For example: 1. Percent of graduates who did some graduate study: Costa Rica-~28.44 percent (0.17 + 29.25 +-0.17 +-3.85) Guatemala--43.24 (0.30 + 39.04 + 0.30'+ 3.60) Nicaragua-~38.61 (0.50 + 35.64 + 2.47) A11 graduates--34.59 percent (0.25 +~30.63 +-0.18 + 3.53) 2. Percent of graduates who did some unrelated work: Costa Rica--13.21 percent Guatemala--10.41 Nicaragua--19.31 All graduates--l3.51 percent 3. Percent of graduates who did not follow their profession: Costa Rica--0.67 Guatemala--l.50 Nicaragua-~1.00 A11 graduates--0.96 percent From these figures it can be seen that a higher percent of Nicaraguan and Guatemalan graduates pursued graduate studies than did Costa Ricans (Nicaraguans greater by a third than Costa Ricans). And nearly twenty percent of the Nicaraguans followed some work unrelated to their profession, a percent one-half again higher than Costa Rican and Guatemalan graduates. At least ninety-eight percent of all gradu- ates of each university, however, did work at one time in the profes- sional field of their undergraduate training. Along with the data presented earlier, of the number of positions held by the graduates in or out of their professional field, it appears that occupationally the graduates seem to be horizontally mobile, 130 eSpecially in Nicaragua. Not only do a greater percent of Nicaraguan graduates work in unrelated areas, and a greater percent have positions outside their field, but the percent of Nicaraguan graduates engaged in two or more activities is also greater than the percent of graduates from the other two universities who are comparable--51.98 gs, 33.28 and 45.05 percents, reSpectively. Of all the graduates with two activities, those whose two activi- ties were professional practice and graduate study constituted by far the highest percent. This combination of post-graduate work produced a very high 1963 income average, compared to graduates with other com- binations, and the highest overall percent of monetary increase of all graduates during the post-graduation years, as will be seen in the next analyses. Type and Combination of Activities Compared to 1963 Income Again looking at the graduates as classified by the activities they undertook after graduation, and studying the 1963 incomes as they reported them, some startling information appears. In general, the highest overall mean 1963 incomes were earned by those who engaged in work unrelated to their under-graduate train- ing. Of the graduates engaged in only one activity, those whose work was unrelated to their profession earned a mean of $7,030 in 1963; those practicing their profession, $4,331; and those who have only pursued graduate studies since they graduates, the least, of course, $1,844. For the two-activity graduates, unrelated work plus graduate study produced $7,826, compared to the mean of $6,176 earned by pro- fessional work plus graduate study. Both of these combinations, 131 mHwa cask» hmqnm maaa” mmumsuuum HH< cams moss «HNN anon “Asesum «saunas» cam xuoz vmumaouao .xuoS Hmaowm ummmoum ..m.HV huw>auom mo momma m HH< Hmmm owns @mow Nmmm moguw>wuom N "kuouunam musk - comm wao Assam mumscmum_+ xuoz umumauuas onao nmuw mew nnmm monum wumovmuw + xuoa Hmaowmmmwoum mwom Haww qomm oawm xuos owuwaoua: + xuoB Hmaoflwmmmoum ”mowuw>wuow N a“ vmwmwcm mmumsvmuu mama wnam owao momm huw>fiuom H "Honouunsm Gama - coma Nmum sane mmawsum masseuse omen quHH oowo oamm maaaamuu ou umumflmuas xuoz Hmmqw monw mmaom mmmmw xuos endowmmomoum Amado huH>Huom H c« vommwcm moumavmuw mwanz namuz mnmnz MHH>HHU¢ monuz mswmu mama mafia mo Hmuoa umofiz umumsu mumoo wmoomaHHU< mo mumZDz Qz¢ mmMH Mm MZOUZH mama dez “mmHacb Hmcowumz m.m mHan 132 however, meant a greater income than the $5,085 earned by the graduateS' who did professional work plus unrelated work. To some extent, the data may also suggest the monetary value of graduate study, if it is combined with other types of work. The results of comparisons between all groups of graduates engaged in one, and those engaged in two, activities, are reflected consis- tently in the analyses of individual universities--in general, gradu- ates who also worked in areas unrelated to their undergraduate pre- paration had the highest 1963 incomes. Percent of the Graduates' Income Increase After Graduation It has already been suggested that the value of working in one's professional field in combination with graduate study is high. When the graduates' 1963 incomes are compared to their mean annual undergraduate income (during the last three years of study), then the percent of Income Increase--the value more or less of the degree or title--becomes apparent. This is shown in Table 5.4. The graduates who engaged in two activities had the highest percent of income increase, 383.37. The income increase for those graduates with one activity was 290.47 percent; for those who had three activities, 316.16 percent; and for all graduates, 348.58 per- cent. Of the graduates with two activities, those who combined gradu- ate study with professional training increased their income during the post-graduate years 421.62 percent, an increase over forty-five per- cent greater than the increase for graduates with but one activity, and nearly twenty percent greater than that of all graduates. Comparing only those graduates who engaged in two activities, at each university the graduates who did professional work plus graduate 133 wm.m¢m ~w.nwo mm.sHm wH.qA~ mmumsumuw HHa sH.on mm.som os.mw~ hm.asm sua>auos mo amass HHa nm.mwm n~.Hmh as.w¢m oH.~m~ mmaua>uuom N "Hmuou-n=m so.mo - os.~s «H.ms stum mumssmuw + xuoz smumamusp NG.H~¢ «a.NBm mH.¢mm so.mm~ snsum mumsumum_+ xuos Hmaoammmmoum m~.om~ mm.-¢ m¢.mo~ mm.o¢~ xuos umumamua=_+ sues Hmaoammmwoum "mmHuH>Huom N aH womwwam mmumsvmuu sq.om~ so.mnm mm.oo~ as.amu sua>auom H "Hugo“-nsm o¢.¢m - oo.oo~ oo.s~ cho moaesum mumswmuo om.Hm~ oo.Hm~ mo.mo~ oo.msm maaaamuu ou nouaHchs xuos om.~m~ Hm.mmm m~.~c~ mH.mmN xuos Hmaoammmmoum “hHao mUH>Huom H aw omwmwao mmumsvmuu mmHua “anus sumac weH>Hao< monua mammu mHmE moHM mo Hmuoa -moaz -mumao mumoo smoomaau oneasnamo mmam¢_zH nmoauzm mmHaH>Hao¢ mo mmmzsz nza muse wm .Awasam so mmamw mummy swag oszpnv mzoozH MH¢DQ¢MUMNQZD AHnD HmaoHumz ¢.m oHan 134 study had the highest percent of income increase, eSpecially in Nica- ragua, where this group of graduates increased their income over nine- hundred and sixty percent. The graduates of the University of Costa Rica had the lowest over- all percent of income increase of all graduates, which could have been predicted on the basis of earlier financial analyses. Other compari- sons of the graduates of the three universities reveal further infor- mation about the percent of income increase through the years after graduation: 1. Costa Ricans engaged solely in work unrelated to their train- ing had a higher percent of increase than those who followed professional work--343.00 gs, 258.15 percent: but Nicaraguan figures for the same two groups are reversed, i.e., profes- sional workers only, an average of 598.51 percent increase, and workers solely in unrelated fields, a 271.60 percent increase. Of the graduates who engaged in one or two activities, the percent of the Nicaraguans' increased income was more than double that of the other universities' graduates--578.64 (Nicaragua) gs, 257.47 (Costa Rica) and 260.98 (Guatemala) percent, reSpectively, for one activity graduates; and 731.27 (Nicaragua) gs, 252.10 (Costa Rica) and 348.44 (Guatemala) percent for two-activity graduates. These fig- ures indicate that the university degree or title compara- tively is worth more to the Nicaraguans than to the graduates of the other schools. Even though the average Guatemalan undergraduate income was quite high (compared to the other 135 universities' undergraduates), and the undergraduate and 1963 incomes of the Costa Ricans were comparatively the low- est of the three universities' graduates, these Nicaraguan percents of income increase are still surprisingly high. 3. It is notable that the average percent of income increase for all graduates, and for all the graduates of Guatemala and Nicaragua, is greater than the income increase shown by the graduates who cgmhined the three types of activities. Costa Rican graduates are again the exception. In that country, graduates who divided their work among the three types of activity increased their income 431.97 percent, while for all Costa Ricans the increase was 274.18 percent. This difference between the graduates of the three universities could have been hypothesized, since data previously shown (Table 3.5, ff.) indicated that a great pr0portion of Costa Rican graduates (n/m-521/579) held but one position (one activity), and earned a low mean 1963 income of $3,231. The 58 Costa Ricans who held two or three positions (multiple activity)“had mean 1963 incomes 51.75 and 99.26 percents greater, reSpectively, than those graduates with just one position. A lower pr0portion of Guatemalan and Nicaraguan graduates held one position (n/m=251/3l7 and 139/189), yet their 1963 incomes averaged high--$7,164 and $6,868, reSpecti- vely. Comparison of Income Increase to Area of Undergraduate Training_ One other analysis was made of the percent of income increase for the gradu- ates after they left school. The graduates were sorted by the field 136 of their undergraduate preparation; the mean 1963 income and the per- cent of income increase over undergraduate income were then extracted. The purpose was to observe not only how the graduates of each area ranked in each country by mean 1963 income, but to see the relative "value" of professional degrees or titles as reflected in the percent of income increase they meant to the graduates. These data are shown in Table 5.5. The number of actual graduates from the sample (n) is shown in relation to the number of all known graduates (m), so that the data of each cell in Table 5.5 may be interpreted as valid or not. Thus, artifact data may be easily discerned: e. ., the Humanities and Edu- cation areas in Guatemala, n/m;5/104 and 4/61, respectively. Economists in Costa Rica, and of all graduates, ranked first in mean 1963 income; but the Economists also had the next to lowest percent of income increase in all three countries. Why? Probably because undergraduate Economists have high undergraduate incomes by working more hours outside of school and taking more extra calen- dar years to terminate. From Table 4.10 it is evident that Economics majors took 10.4 calendar years to graduate, longer than the gradu- ates of any other area of professionalization. Dentists and graduates of Medicine and/or Microbiology rank lst and 2nd among all graduates, in percent of income increase. They rank lst and/or 2nd in Costa Rica and Guatemala, and 2nd (Medicine) and 4th (Dentistry) in Nicaragua. Why such high percents of increase? Probably because as undergraduates they went to school full-time, did not work outside of school, and for these reasons have reported low ill 1...". 137 mmumsvmuw d3oax HmuoH n E monamm mnu Eoum moovcommom u a Ham~m\mmuna\av Hmos\msus\av Hoama\aamua\av Aoma\maua\av sag sag z « m.z weamHazma sw.¢mm Hsms au.omm mmhs mm.mum amen «w.hmm mmsm HNHA\cwHus\av Asw\suua\av Awam\swua\av Aswu\w¢na\av .omquEzHoEE wfim§$o§ mafia: ofimmmfiuzm mm.am~ mmmn ¢H.hom moss mm.sms ans“ om.Hqs mmnm Hme¢\~maua\av Aqew\muaus\av Hamu\asua\av Hom\uaua\av gfififigm 24m: ofifiggfi .538882 mo.m¢m mama «w.nws each OH.ms~ mama om.oum mean Aowm\mmua\av Aoau\mmua\av AaoH\~mua\aV Hams\mmua\av wEmHEmn ”.58 am: mogozoom 33 aN.ma“ «men e¢.smw mqoa sm.osH sham m¢.mnm macs Ame\~sua\av AmM\AHua\aV A¢m\waua\av AmmH\omus\av mUHzozoum qummMZHozm weamHazmn monozoom gem.aaa maaa“ xs5.omm anamw awo.mms Hwaaw x¢~.mma smmsm quzHama mo amm< ma. ozazHama so o Hm¢HMUZH MZOUZH mo Hzmummm nz< MZOUZH momH z¢mz “mmHHa= Hmcowumz m.m oHan . 138 moumsvmuw SSoax HmuOH u a moHaEmm onu Eoum mcovaommom u : Amwsm\o¢~ua\av Aus\¢us\av Asusw\sm~ua\av zOHaausnm zcaaauanm 20Haau=am mm.~oH oneu mm.wn ouaa aw.~oH mnsH AN-\Nqua\cV H¢0H\nua\av Awoa\hmua\av mmHaHzazsm mmHaHzazsm smmmasmu-mozmHum wH.HoN Nmnu NN.NmH mmos mm.H¢~ sown _ Amm~\~hua\av H¢N\oua\av Howmm\mhmua\av gaéamua. gaéoamg z < m z hm.uss secs mm.HH~ soon mH.q- wasm Hmmq\swua\cv quH\mNua\ev Awa~\msua\av woazmamm smamazmm61wuazmuHmum>Hds osu SH mow“ [HHom mo 50Hucm>uwucH .N Ho.MH Ho.m mm.m No.0 m¢.HH NN.o ww.a wo.m NH.w wmo u: mo mmocmSOHumm a mcHHmHome .umuuo NuHm un>Has mo HomH Hmumcmw .o mw.o Hm.HH mm.o ow.m oo.MH om.w mm.oH oo.m ac.OH cowumummwua Hoommm,>um upcooom SH mmHocmHonwo .m 173 oq.oH mm.oH mH.HH No.HH Hm.a Ho.NH mo.m om.NH mm.o .ouo “wwwocwmuwmwp o>HumuuchHEp< .¢ mN.HH Nq.NH mm.m mw.mH wo.HH m¢.HH ¢¢.NH qo.oH mm.NH mummc Hmccwumc can mamumoum huHmum> IHSD o£u domzuon doHu IMHmu m>Huomwwm mo xomH .m co.mH aN.ma wH.mN mw.om wm.mH mN.HN Ho.HN wN.wH om.NN mwmum acmmumwu maHunHHsm .pouma noun HHmS a mo Homq .N a¢.m~ HH.NN NN.NN NH.eN ea.ma am.e~ ae.HN NN.NN ma.- e66666e6u UHEthee uteaeammee we x664 .H whoa no mmoH Ho momH wmmH mmmH mHHEmm mem .u>m .psm mHN.mw wHN.mw -amAH -emmH.foomH e escapee eeeceeea suaeee>aes 6;“ mo caducH anummwouo mEoocH cummmmmw Hoo:om .soHnoum mSOHumm umoz: momH cmoz mo pOHHom lumps: mo wousom humpcoomm mMH ZH Qmmmmmmxm m< .NHHmMm>HZD NSH mo :Emnmomm mDOHmmm Hmoz: wswmumon can mHmaouwsu .muHm mumoo mo mmHuHmuo>HaD HmQOHumz w.o SHANE 2. 174 a greater percent of public school graduates then private school graduates saw deficiencies in their secondary school preparation; a Slightly higher percent of private school graduates deplored the lack of university order, political interven- tion and the inadequacy of the university's physical plant; graduates who themselves were the principal source of the undergraduate income tended to be more critical of secondary school deficiencies, and less critical of university adminis- trative deficiencies, than those graduates whose main support come from their parents or family; the "Old Grads" worried less about the university's finances than the younger graduates, and also put less emphasis on student economic problems; twice the percent of the "Old Grads" than graduates of the ten-year period, 1954-1963, saw deficiencies in modern secondary education, and the lack of university discipline and seriousness, as important university problems; more than double the percent of graduates whose 1963 income was above the Mean, than those whose income was below saw faults in university order and discipline as a very important problem; and a greater number and percent of low 1963 income graduates, compared to their opposites, felt secondary School deficiencies to be a major university problem. 175 Some of the university problems mentioned by the graduates are fairly narrow in scope; others are more general, and contain "problems within problems". The resolution of some problems could almost auto- matically resolve others: _;gsg, reduce politics in the university, and order, academic discipline and seriousness of purpose should improve. Other problems, however, cannot be resolved quickly, even though the universities should suddenly acquire sufficient economic resources. A lot of money for one's alma mater is nice to think about, and it is easy subconsciously to rationalize the existence of university problems as due to the lack of financial resources. Yet the acquisi- tion of money also creates problems, both in the getting of it and the planned, organized use of it. If the governments of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua would give their national universities ten times as much money next year as this year, the universities would still need three to four or more years to develop a well-trained, full- time teaching staff. True, greater economic resources would give an institution a feeling of "freedom", of confidence--room to move about-- so that personnel would feel secure that planned procedures of reform could tranSpire. But sufficient financial resources.gsg_ss will not make problems disappear overnight. Neither money, legislation or re-organization can solve some of the problems. Only if individuals adopt responsible attitudes can they be resolved. What if each student, professor, administrator, graduate and government official decided to ignore politics, and develop greater self-discipline and seriousness of academic responsibility? Other, more pressing problems could then be solved through better communication and cooperation. 176 The "Mbst Important Igprovement" the University Couldngks Quite naturally, the graduates' opinions about university improvements reflect their ideas of what the problems of the university are. If one believes that the lack of economic resources is a major problem, then an important improvement at the university would be the establish- ment of a better mechanism to obtain additional funds, via goverment and/or foundations and private enterprise. If there are deficiencies in administrative organization, then a revision and reformation of the university's administrative structure are called for. The majority of the "most important improvements" suggested by the graduates are reflections of their Opinions of the university's problems. Other indicated improvements that the university could make seem to include combinations of problems: ,sggg, Minimize politics and establish order, discipline and seriousness of purpose. Some suggested improvements are specific in nature--promote scientific research, develop a good library system--but would relate to, and be affected by, other improvements--create a staff of full-time teaching personnel, evaluate and revise the academic programs. Eight hundred and seventy-two graduates gave their opinions of the most important improvement that their university could make. Two improvements stood out, in the consensus of opinions, as much more important than the others: 1. Evaluate and revise the academic programs, adapting the curricula to national needs, and 2. Create a full-time, well-trained teaching staff. 177 Each of those recommendations was made by more than twenty percent of the graduates. Two other suggestions were mentioned by at least ten percent of the graduates: 3. Revise and re-organize the administrative structure; and 4. Increase the physical plant (buildings, grounds, roads) and equipment. Just as there were different problems seen by the graduates of the different universities, so with the improvements they verbalized. Among Costa Rican graduates, two improvements were seen as quite necessary, and a third appeared at a second level of importance: 1. Evaluate and revise the academic programs, adapting the curricula to national needs (27.51 percent); 2. Create a full-time, well-trained teaching Staff (28.95 percent); and 3. Revise and re-organize the administrative structure (12.92 percent). In Guatemala, the graduates felt strongly that the adaptation of the curricula to the nation's needs by an evaluation of academic programs was the most necessary improvement the university could make (39.93 percent). A group of three second-level improvements appeared in Guatemala, each being mentioned by more than ten percent of the graduates: 1. Revise and re-organize the administrative structure; 2. Resolve the economic problems of the university, the faculty, and the student body; and 3. Create a full-time, well-trained teaching staff. 178 Table 6.9 National universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua "MOST IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENT" THAT THE UNIVERSITY COULD MAKE, IN THE OPINION OF THE GRADUATES: BY UNIVERSITY, WITH PERCENTAGES Number Responses and "Must Important Improvement" and Percent by that the University Percent ’niversity could make of Costa Guate- Nica- Respgnses Rica mala ragua 1. Evaluate and revise the 221 115 90 16 academic programs, adapting the curricula to national needs! 25.34 27.51 30.93 9.82 2. Create a full-time well- 204 121 39 44 trained teaching staff 23.39 28.95 13.40 26.99 3. Revise and re-organize the 119 54 49 16 administrative structure 13.65 12.92 16.84 9.82 4. Increase the physical plant 90 22 19 49 ‘ (buildings, grounds, roads) and equipment 10.32 5.26 6.53 30'06; 5. Resolve the economic problems 83 24 42 17 i of the university, the faculty, and the student body 9.52 5.74 14.43 10.43! 6. Promote better articulation 51 33 16 2 g between the university and § secondary education 5.85 7.89 5.50 1.23: 7. Minimize politics and establish 42 15 18 9 1 order, discipline and serious- 5 . ness of purpose 4.82 3.59 6.19 5.52; 8. Establish better communication 24 9 10 5 ‘ between and among university personnel, students, and ; ggadgates 2.75 _2_15 3.44 3.06 9. Develop a good library system 12 6 4 2 (with distribution of materials ' and services) 1.38 1.44 1.37 1.23; 10. Promote scientific research 7 6 - 1 g 0.80 1.44 - 0.615 ' Other 19' 13 4 2 p 2.18 3.11 1.37 1.23. 872 418 291 163 TOTALS 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00. 179 Nicaraguan graduates, like the Costa Ricans, saw two major improve- ments the university could make: like the Guatemalans, they considered three university changes as secondary. 1. Increase the physical plant and equipment (30.06 percent); 2. Create a full-time, well-trained teaching staff (26.99 percent); 3. Resolve the economic problems of the university (10.43 percent); 4-5 Revaluate and revise the academic programs, and re-organize the administrative structure (9.82 percent each). A comparison between the university problems mentioned by the graduates and the improvements they deemed necessary indicates that the suggested improvements are not merely obverse sides of the coin. Both Guatemalans and Nicaraguans considered the lack of economic resources by far the most serious problem facing their national uni- versity. Yet the Guatemaltecos suggested that the revision of academic programs and the re-organization of the administration were more important improvements than solving the economic problems of the university, and Nicaraguan graduates gave precedence to the creation of a full-time staff and the increment of the physical plant and equipment. ’ In Costa Rica the graduates' suggestions for improvements in the university were primarily reflections of the problems they saw, although they also gave much less importance to the resolvement of the univer- sity's economic problems. 180 It is evident that the graduates believe some of the most serious problems of their university can be attacked with present resources. They have implied that important changes can, and ought to be, initiated without awaiting an increase in financial resources. Changes can begin in administrative methods or organization to better utilize existing personnel and facilities. And the revaluation of present university programs, curriculum revision, and development of staff can be made a continuous process of present on-going operations. The "Service of the University" Mbst Requested by the Graduates Overwhelmingly, the graduates indicated that the university service they most approved was the opportunity to take post-graduate courses of professional specialization in their field of preparation. Mbre than seventy-five percent of the graduates listed this service as of primary importance. The graduates of the University of San Carlos, Guatemala, responded only a little less enthusiastically than the other graduates; 66.79 percent of the Guatemalans favoring this service, as shown in Table 6.10. Eight other services were discussed by the graduates, but none received more than ten percent of the "vote". One university service-- more formal post-graduate courses leading to advanced degrees--was requested by 9.06 percent of the Guatemalan graduates. And three other services were mentioned by over six percent of the graduates of one or another university: 181 Table 6.10 National Universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua "SERVICE OF THE UNIVERSITY" MOST REQUESTED BY THE GRADUATES: BY UNIVERSITY, WITH.PERCENTAGES Number ReSponses and A "Service of the University" and Percent by Must Requested Percent Universit of Costa 'Guate- Nica- Responses Rica mala ragua . Courses of professional 701 393 177 131 specialization (in each area Of training) 74.26 77.82 66.79 75.29 . Library services, including 46 19 15 12 materials and distribution 4.87 3.76 5.66 6.90 . Mbre and greater variety of 38 34 - 4 summer school offerings 4.03 6.73 - 2.30 . More formal post-graduate 38 14 24 - programs leading to advanced degrees 4.03 2.77 9.06 - . Professional and technical con- 37 18 9 10 sultation with university staff members 3.92 3.56 3.40 5.75 . Conferences, seminars, etc. 30 8 17 5 on diverse themes of general interest (not Specialized) 3.18 1.58 6.41 2.87 . Financial aid (becas) l4 2 ll 1 for advanced study 1.48 0.40 4.15 0.57 . The opportunity and guidance 13 5 7 1 necessary to conduct scienti- fic research 1.38 0.99 2.64 0.57 . The use of university facili- 7 2 3 2 ties for meetings, research, colloquia, etc. 0.74 0.40 1.13 1.15 Other 20 10 2 8 2.11 1.99 0.76 4.60 944 505 265 174 TOTALS 1 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 182 1. Library services, including materials and distribution (Nicaragua, 6.90 percent); 2. Mere and greater variety of summer school offerings (Costa Rica, 6.73 percent); and 3. Conferences, seminars on diverse themes of general interest (Guatemala, 6.41 percent). Even though the response was so great for the opportunity to take Special courses of professionalization, the graduates did indicate a wide variety of university services that they considered valuable. Some of these services will become more available to the graduates when certain university problems of undergraduate training are solved: .sggg, professional and technical consultation with university staff members will be more feasible after the university has developed a well-trained, full-time professional staff. The use of university facilities, or library privileges, will be more possible after the university's physical plant--bui1dings, laboratories, auditoria--is increased. Mest of the services suggested by the graduates Should become part of a university's Continuing Education program, wherein short-term conferences and workshops, formal and informal instruction, advisory consultation, and cultural, professional and intellectual stimulation are offered by the university, not only to the graduates, but to the public at large. Business and industrial organizations, if they are to benefit the economy of these emergent nations, must have access to these kinds of service. Literary, political and social organizations, also, must become the consumers of the university's Continuing education services, to further needed cultural change within the nation. 183 Summary of the Graduates' Opinions The graduates of the national universities of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua hold the following opinions (in consensual form): 1. that their undergraduate preparation was--by and large-- efficient; that the major university problems are a. Lack of sufficient economic resources, b. Lack of a well-prepared, full-time teaching staff, c. Lack of a sensible relationship between the university programs and the national needs, and d. Deficiencies in university administration. that the most important improvements the universities can make are: a. The revaluation and revision Of academic programs to adapt the curricula to the national needs, and b. The creation of a full-time teaching staff; and that the university services most needed are post-graduate courses of Specialization in all areas of professional preparation. A university cannot be thought of apart from the culture it serves, nor can it serve a culture from which it is apart. The university graduates have indicated some ways in which the universities' own objec- tives are not being fulfilled, or are not related to the needs of the nations. They have also given their points of view about other univer- sity problems, and have suggested possible improvements. 184 Central American university leadership, of course, should take the initiative in proposing solutions for problems, and even in the definition of problems. Yet university policymakers should also be responsive to the competence of their own graduates, and the candor with which the graduates have Offered their suggestions and opinions. University reform, changes of purposes or procedures, even ideas, do not always flow inevitably and continuously from within university organization. There are times when the opinions of a respected, reSpon- sible body of citizens can be useful as a stimulant for institutional self-reflection and re-evaluation. CHAPTER SEVEN / RESUME AND CONCLUSIONS University graduates are the jewels of a nation. Being rare, they are precious, especially in emergent, developing countries. But graduates are also valuable to a nation in other ways. They are sym- bolic of a nation's aspirations to create an educated populace, the "wealth" of human resources needed to develop the country; and their knowledge and professional skills are useful and necessary in the planning, implementation and accomplishment of such national goals. A national university is the nation's jeweler. As the institution so employed, its work is to sort the raw gems, and to plan and execute the process of cutting, grinding, buffing and polishing. The resul- tant graduates then not only reflect their own particular facets, but aspects of the organizational planning and wOrkmanship of the university as well. The_§gsguates That Have Been Produced National university grad- uates in Central America are predominately men. They entered college from a public high school (70.80 percent) when nearly nineteen years of age, and were graduated seven-and-a-half years later. Mere than half of the graduates majored in the social sciences, and 44.48 percent of the graduates followed six-year academic programs. Of all known graduates of the Central American national universities for which data is available (Table 2.1), the most popular professional fields of Study were the traditional "big three"--Law, Medicine and Engineering--, and a new middle-class profession, Pharmacy. Dentistry 185 186 is also becoming a more favored field of study. However, far too few 24 Economists and Teachers have emerged from the national Agronomists, universities since 1950. The graduates in this study averaged 37.5 years of age in 1963. They had been out of the university for eleven years. During these years, 99 percent had worked at one time or another in the professional field for which they were trained. Many of the graduates engaged in more than one type of activity after graduation (43.60 percent), and thirteen and a half percent did some work unrelated to their fields of preparation. A high proportion of the graduates presently hold multiple income-returning positions (16.04 percent), especially in Guatemala and Nicaragua (20.82 and 26.46 percent, respectively). One-third of the graduates pursued post-graduate study of some kind, and more than a quarter of all the graduates have a second and/ or third university-level degree. Half of the additional degrees are in the Medical sciences; nearly forty-five percent were earned in the United States. The Value of a University Education to the Graduates The grad- uates themselves considered their undergraduate training to be efficient. Sixty-three percent of the graduates held this opinion, and another 241m 1959 there was one Agronomist per 1,800 inhabitants in Costa Rica, but in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras the ratio was one for 150,000 or more inhabitants. See Organizacion de los Estados ghidos I para la Alimentacion y la Agricultura, Un estudio de la educacion agricola universitaria en America;_Latina (OAA,'Roma, 1959). 187 twenty-eight percent thought their college training had at least been acceptable or passable. If the value of a university education can be seen in monetary terms, then the first university degree may have been worth a great deal to the graduates. Their mean 1963 income was $5,218, an increase of 348.58 percent over the average of their incomes as undergraduates. This meant an average annual income increase--in a fairly stable econ- omy--of thirty-one percent in the post-graduate years.25 Many graduates during these years held multiple positions, or participated in several activities. Such occupational mobility, in great part attributable to the university degree, meant a considerable increase in income. Grad- uates with two or three jobs had 1963 incomes worth one-third to three- fourths more than those with but one position: graduates who partici- pated in multiple activities had over ninety percent greater income increase after graduation than those who limited their activity to one. There were some graduates, however, who worked in fields outside their professional area (13.51 percent). In Nicaragua, more than twenty percent of the graduates did unrelated work. Even though the number of such graduates is few, it is interesting to note that the highest 1963 incomes were reported by these graduates. Society's Relative Evaluation of the Graduates A society honors those citizens it respects in various ways; through political election, 25This is not to say that the individuals involved might not have enjoyed higher incomes without the benefit of a university education. Nor is it inconceivable that similar individuals might have achieved the same income levels without a university education. 188 the bestowal of literary or artistic awards, acceptance of one's inherited social or economic position, and by establishing, unofficially, relative levels of economic status. Prestige and esteem are abstract in nature, and difficult to evaluate. Earned income as a criteria can be used as one measure to judge how a society values its university graduates. It is understood, of course, that the average university graduate has income far in excess of the national per capita income; graduates are definitely in the upper quartile of income-earning citizens. For persons at this level of income-return, it is easiest to compare them to each other to see the relative value society places upon their services. From the data on 1,133 graduates found in this study, it is evident that Central American Economists are highly valued, monetarily. Edu- cators--teachers and professors--are lowly valued, monetarily. Teachers in this study reported a mean 1963 income of $1,476: the Economists' mean 1963 income was $7,778, greater by 427.02 percent than the teachers. As groups, Dentists, Engineers and Medical doctors all reported means of more than $7,000: Pharmacists, Agronomists and those trained in the Humanities all reported means of less than $5,000. The Law profession seems to have lost some of its prestige, at least monetarily, since Lawyers as a group ranked in the middle of nine professional fields of work in regard to mean 1963 income. Relatively, the extreme difference between what teachers earn and what graduates in other professions earn reflects woefully the most glaring national problem in all Central American countries--the great shortage of qualified, trained public school teachers. 189 It is evident from data amassed for this study that only one university faculty in all of Central America is producing anywhere near the number of teachers needed in its nation.26 The College of Educa- tion at the University of Costa Rica, from 1950 to 1963, prOHuced 1,643 graduates--a ratio of 34.40 percent, graduates to matriculants. During this period of time, the faculties of Humanities in Guatemala and El Salvador had graduated 14 and 165 graduates, respectively-~ratios of graduates to matriculants of 0.70 and 3.20 percents. And not all of these graduates were prepared as teachers; the majority were prepared as philosophers, historians, linguists and journalists. Yet even in Costa Rica the relative status, monetarily, of the teaching profession is the lowest of all. Teachers in Costa Rica do not even earn half of the mean 1963 income reported by all Costa Rican graduates in this study. This: in a country which--relative to its Central and SoujilAmerican neighbors--has few economic and no military problems, and in which its Faculty of Education produced 56.67 percent of all its university graduates from 1950 to 1963. The Efficacy of the University as a National Institution: Production One of the costs to a university is the process of matriculating stu- dents. Presumably, this and other university costs are later offset by the production of trained graduates whose work during their life- times recompenses the goverment and university expenditures. Therefore, / 26See Emma Gamboa and Felix Hernandez Andrino, Formacion de pro- fesores de educaciOn media (Guatemala, IIME, 1963 and Paul G. Orr and Karl T. Hereford, Necesidades degpersonal de educacidn media (Guatemala IIME, 1963. 190 a legitimate means of analyzing university efficacy is to compare the ratio of graduates to matriculants. As stated earlier, the Faculty of Education at the University of Costa Rica is the most productive of all university faculties, in the ratio of the number of graduates to matriculated Students. Only three other faculties in the institutions studied had a ratio of more than ten percent, and they were also in Costa Rica--Dentistry, 11.90 percent; Microbiology, 18.90 percent; and Pharmacy, 10.40 percent. The overall figure of graduates to matriculants at the University of Costa Rica was 7.10 percent. However, if the graduates and matriculants for the College of Educa- tion at the university are removed from consideration, the remaining faculties produced just 3.50 percent of their total enrollments, 1950- 63, as graduates. The National Universities of El Salvador and Guatemala had even lower percentages of graduates for this period of time--3.00 and 3.10 percent, respectively. For the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, from which data from five fa011ties was available for the same period of time, the ratio was 6.60 percent, graduates to matricu- lants. This figure, though, does not include the School of Journalism, or the Faculties of Humanities and Economics. If one can assume that those faculties were comparable in production to their counterpart faculties in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala (Humanities 1.3, 0.4 and 1.1: Economics 0.8, 0.7 and 3.2), then the Nicaraguan ratio of graduates to total enrollments was also about three percent. 191 Not only is total university production low, but there is imbalance of production. As already noted, in some professional fields there has been a surfeit of graduates, and in others a scarcity. The recent CSUCA-sponsored Human Resources studies dealing with the educational systems in Costa Rica and Guatemala seem to be oases in the almost completely deserted absence of attempts to consider the possibilities and limits of occupational Opportunities in these developing countries. Only from such studies can come the proper organization and training programs to create the right number of candidates in each professional area . Possible Reasons for Non-Production University students fail to complete their studies for a variety of reasons. They may have family or economic problems, they may move or get married, they may make a mature decision that they cannot do university work, or they may become drop-outs through frustration. It is evident from this study that a very small percent of students ever change their academic program or faculty once they have begun their college career. It is difficult to change one's program, or move from one faculty to another, not only because of the administra- tive "red-tape" involved, but, more importantly, the probability that all the credits so far earned will be lost, and one must begin all over again in a new carrera. Hopefully, the recent installation of general studies programs at these universities will minimize this student problem. 192 Economically, the undergraduates could be helped to graduate sooner if the universities would expand their scholarship programs. Only the University of Costa Rica seems to have a broad, fairly generous, balanced system of student economic aid. In Nicaragua-ssss monies awarded to the graduates in this study averaged $45.43 annually, and represented but 5.09 percent of their undergraduate income. Just 31 of 202 Nicaraguan graduates got this aid. In Guatemala, only 21 of 333 graduates had sssss, worth a mean of $8.17 a year, 0.46 percent of the undergraduate income. The data showed, nonetheless, that graduates who had PEEEE finished their studies more rapidly than students who were not given financial aid.27 Lack of Program Variegy The majority of academic programs offered by the faculties in Central American universities are of five, Six or eight years duration. There are some two, three and four year programs, but they are available primarily in the Humanities or Education. It may be that prospective university students in these countries do not have a wide enough variety of programs to choose from. Many matriculated universitarios probably discover they are square pegs trying to force themselves into round holes. They then leave the university, possibly because of the narrowness of program choice available to them. Naturally, the universities must continue to turn out fully quali- fied graduates in the basic professional fields. Agronomists, economists, 27It must not be assumed that the mere possession by undergraduates of a beca (especially one of such small amount as those reported by the graduates) guarantees earlier graduation. The recipients of these becas may have been superior students to begin with, or have been in programs especially geared for rapid graduation: gis., the primary school teacher-trainees in Costa Rica, Table 4.5, parts 3-c and 4. 193 doctors, engineers, teachers especially, are needed: yet the univer- sities must also produce other technically qualified personnel at a secondary level. HOSpitals do not function only with doctors; nurses and laboratory technicians are essential. Surveyors and draftsmen are needed to construct roads and buildings as well as engineers. University administrative officers cannot refuse to design and offer programs specifically for students who are not able, or who do not want, to consume the "full-course meal". The process of half-educat- ing a large number of prOSpective drop-outs or egresados in order to produce one graduate is costly in time, money and effort to both the individuals involved and the university. To invert the analogy above, why not produce one excellent coffee-cake and several loaves of good bread for the nation, rather than one sweet-Spicy coffee-cake and a great many left-over, unsweetened, half-done (or perhaps even burned) coffee-cakes? ,Usgealistic Present Acadegic Progrsgs The problem of university underproduction, however, goes deeper than the lack of academic pro- gram variety. Shorter-length 2, 3 and 4 year programs are offered at all the universities in Central America, not just at the University of Costa Rica. The length of the academic program does not seem to be a significant factor. Mest teacher preparation programs are of such length at present, yet in the ten-year period that ended in 1962, "the institutions that form teachers for the Central American isthmus pro- duced an annual average of 54 teachers".28 2811MB Staff, FormaciOn de Personal para la Enséfianzngedia: Plan de gccidh (Guatemala, IIME, 1964), p. 23. 194 The solution is probably in shortening some carreras, or eliminat- ing repetition of material, through realistic curriculum revision. For the facts are, as found in this study, that no group ofgggaduates finished their,program "on time"; i.e., within the official number of academic years of study planned and required by university authorities. Economists, for example, mainly in 5 and 6 year programs, used 10.4 calendar years to obtain their degrees; Recent graduates (1959-63) needed 8.4 calendar years to finish five-year programs; and graduates of six-year academic programs took 45 percent extra calendar time to complete their higher education. In Guatemala and Nicaragua, graduates of the Social and Physical sciences not only needed more sgsgs calendar years to finish than Medical science graduates (proportionate to the length of their programs), but they also took more total calendar years, period, than the Mbdical science graduates. Furthermore, there is a trend at all three universities toward an even greater investment of calendar time by aspiring undergraduates. The "Old Grads", those who were graduated before 1954, Spent 6.9 calendar years to earn their degrees; the Middle graduates, 1954-58, needed 7.3 calendar years; and the Recent graduates used 8.7. These are alarming figures, and must be seen with apprehension by the men responsible in Central America for the economic and educational develop- ment of the area. The "Cost" to the university of Producing a Graduate University monies are spent on a variety of things and services. Buildings, land- scaped grounds, and equipment must be provided for the students and 195 faculty; and a teaching staff, for which the major part of university money is allocated, is an absolute necessity. The initial registra- tion and matriculation process, either by faculty or an all-university Registrar's office, represents another cost to the university. As students progress through their years of study, they must re-register repeatedly, for the number of years of their academic programs. The aptitude tests, examinations, sssss, grades, official notices and classi- fication services given by the university all cost a lot of money. A vast amount of record-keeping and paper work is necessary in the opera- tion of a university. The university may be considered efficiently economical with its monies to the extent that it minimizes the costs of these procedures without a loss of service or program effectiveness. If the university administrative and academic organization is sodesigned that excessive monies must be Spent on "extra" registrations, teachers, examinations and classroom reservations beyond those originally planned to meet the needs of the academic programs, then the university is not economical in its production system. The average graduate in this study invested 1.42 calendar years to complete 1 academic year of programmed study. Nearly half of the graduates were in six-year academic programs. Thus, these students went through the registration process nine times rather than the six called for by their academic programs. This meant, of course, three additional years of costly paper work and teachers salaries for the university, in order to graduate students whom the university had planned to graduate three years previously. 196 By and large, undergraduates at the Central American universities must register for the full "cycle" (ciclo) of courses required in each academic year Of study in the professional program pursued. This means, for example, that a third-year student registers for all six courses in his planned program, even though he still may not yet have passed several courses from his first or second year, or even though he knows, since he must work for a living, that he will not attend or attempt to pass more than three of the courses for which he registers. The graduates in this study may have enrolled for what . constituted full-time programs of study, yet they performed as though enrolled on a part-time basis. Therefore, a number of pertinent ques- tions may be raised concerning the "cost" to the university of produc- ing graduates: Academically and morally, is it proper to permit students to enroll in courses that they probably will not complete? Should students be allowed to register only for the number of courses in a semester or year that they plan to finish? Economically, can a university afford to Offer courses for”Phantom" students (who enroll but neither attend nor complete their work)? Can a university afford to reserve classroom seats and space for such phantom Students, for an "extra" number of calendar years? Economically and intellectually, would it be helpful to eliminate the multiple examination procedure to avoid the expense in time, money and effort that it represents, and possibly raise academic standards? 197 If a university can Solve such economic problems Of its own, then the cost of a university degree to the graduate can also be diminished appreciably. The "Cost" of a University Education to the Graduate Several economists have written extensively on the value and costs of educa- tion.29 Theodore W. Schultz wrote of the "opportunity cost" of educa- tion as including "the possible earned income foregone by those enrolled" 30 This "opportunity cost" of in schools, colleges and universities. a university education includes not only the costs of tuition, books, equipment, clothing, housing and food necessary for,§ number of years of study, but also the time--in number of years-~which the student could have put into renumerative employment had he not gone to the university, and the money he could have earned during those years. This money is the "income foregone" by the student while supposedly studying full-time, and is part of his personal investment in his education. It is also part of the state's investment in his education, since the state is "foregoing" a possible productive citizen from whom it could expect, for g number of years (while the student is in school), a service, or goods, and/or tax revenue. 29Charles Benson, Seymore Harris, John'Vaizey, Jon Innes and others. See the Bibliography for references. 30Theodore W. Schultz, "Investment in Human Capital", in American Economic Review, Vol. 51, No. 1, March 1961, pp. 64-73. 198 The national university graduates in this study spent an average of a year-and-a-half to complete one academic year of work. This meant, for example, that for graduates of six-year academic programs, half of the "opportunity cost" they had originally planned to invest was "lost", since they had to invest three "extra” calendar years of their lives to get their degrees. It also meant that they (and the state) "lost" three more years of "income foregone". Furthermore, these three extra, 1ost years should have been the_§igs§ three years of the graduate's_p;ofessional career, in which he would have begun to earn more money for himself and to provide greater service to the state. The state, via monies allocated to its national university, already "gambles" that university students will be even more useful, productive and renumerative after they are graduated. Why not gamble more--see to it that university students are provided with more sssss or guaranteed 1oans--so that students may be graduated in a shorter period of time to be professionally productive for a longer period. In the United States and Puerto Rico, the financing of a university education has been done for a number of years by private bank- and/or goverment-underwritten loans. These loans provide a form of public share in the individual student's future earning pro- spects: the lender (university or government agency) advances to the student the funds needed to finance his full-time stugy, on the condition that after graduation the alumnus repays the loan either by 199 1. direct payment, plus moderate interest; 2. full-time work on the enabling govermental agency for 3 number of years, or 3. .E number of years teaching full-time in the public schools. Such a system would reduce the cost Of a university education to both the undergraduate and the university. Mbreover, the private ends of the student (a professional degree) are reconciled with his public reSponsibilities (service to the state or repayment of the loan). The private ends of the university (creation of an efficient, effective operation of full-time programs for a full-time studentbody to provide a full-time teaching staff with a variety of teaching and research opportunities) are at the same time reconciled with the university's public responsibilities (the economical production of a variety of graduates needed by the nation for its development, and the attainment of true educational leadership of the country). Relationship of the University to the Public School System Contrary to the educational folklore of Latin America, over seventy per- cent of the graduates in.£hl§ study came out of the public schools. This is a very encouraging figure for Central America, for it indicates the emergence of a class of people developing nations need--a rising middle class. Children of the social or economic upper class will always be able to get their education, either at home or abroad, and in private schools if necessary. But children of the middle class must depend upon the public schools. 200 It is a reSponsibility of a national university to participate in a broad program of public education as a social and economic equaliz- ing force. The reasons are many: educational differences between different groups are reduced; there is a greater social, geographic and occupational mobility; and the industrialization which comes through wide-Spread education brings a greater equality of incomes (which tend toward the median income). All these results of mass education help create a larger, broader middle class, promoting greater political and economic stability. From the evidence presented in this study, only one national university is really producing public school teachers--the university of Costa Rica. MOst of these teachers, however, came out of the university to teach in the primary schools. Some of them, of course, later took a second degree, as secondary school teacher, or a third degree, a Bachelor's of a Licenciatura. Yet none of the three univer- sities under consideration has produced anywhere near the number of secondary School teaching and administrative personnel needed for its country's children.31 It is known, also, that high school graduates do not enter the university until age 19 (19% in Guatemala). How can the university cooperate with the Department of Public Instruction to change this, so that university studies can begin at an earlier age? The graduates / 31Orr and Hereford, Necessidsdes de personal en la educacion media, pp. 9-13. 201 in this study said that the lack of effective relationship between university programs and the national needs was a most serious university problem, and they suggested the adaptation of the curricula to those needs. What can the university do specifically to articulate better with the nation's public schools? The graduates needed a half-year extra to finish a year's academic work. Is part of this university problem attributable to public school education? If so, in what ways can the university work with the public schools to upgrade academic achievement? The Use of Graduate Data in University Reform Central American educators realize that changes in university production and economy cannot be accomplished without administrative and academic re-organiza- tion. Administrative officials and professors are aware of their universities' major problems, and they have not sat idly just dreaming of possible improvements. They also know the educational services that their nations require. CSUCA was established nearly twenty years ago: since then the General Studies idea has been adopted, central registration bureaus set up, foundation monies obtained and inter- national, cooperative research institutes created. Yet all these improvements have been on a regional basis. It is now time for sssh university to study itself, to discover in what ways, and how, it can make itself more economically productive. Such thoughts were behind the remarks made by Dr. Carlos Tunnermann Bernheim when he was inaugurated Rector of the National University of Nicaragua, in November of 1964. He entitled his speech "To Give the 202 Nation the University it Deserves", and mentioned therein the desire to establish a university planning board, improve the faculty, augment the physical plant, prepare more secondary school personnel, and amplify the university's extension programs.32 One of the primary steps of university reform is the investigation of educational conditions. One of the sources of information is the institution's graduates. It is hoped that the findings and conclusions of this study will be of use to Central American national university personnel, and that it will be accepted in the spirit of international scholarly communion. 'Much of the data collaborates what is already known, and other data points specifically to problem areas. Administra- tors and professors can see from some findings which faculties or pro- grams are weak, or strong; where change is needed, or not needed. The data also provide insight into what kinds or types of data they might wish, or ought, to collect from their undergraduates, and later from the graduates. Furthermore, it is evident that university officials can get more information and cooperation from their graduates than they had perhaps imagined. Implications for Cross-Cultural Research Elsewhere The results of this study may not be repeated upon replication, because of inade- quacies of sample. Graduates of national universities of other coun- tries may evidence different characteristics and opinions than those / 32Carlos Tunnermann Bernheim, Dar a la republics 1a universidad que merece (LeOn, Universidad Nacional de Nicaragua, 1964) 19 pp. 203 elicited in this survey. Nonetheless, there would seem to be poten- tially valuable lessons to be learned, particularly from the methodology employed, from this original study of university graduates in Central America. The problems in the construction of the questionnaire were mainly those of terminology, although the inclusion of certain types of' questions with which Central American seemed to have had no experience elicited bias responses. And, of course, questions dealing with money and personal income are always suspect. Ideally, the researcher should have control of all steps in the procedure. In the case of obtaining data for this study, no first hand control was possible over mailing lists of the colegios, nor was a follow-up mailing feasible. It was also impossible to obtain inter- views with the secretary of each of the profesSional associations in each country. Such interviews would have been invaluable for establish- ing cooperation, getting aid in instrumentation, and the interpretation of results. It is hoped that the data and conclusions of the study will now be scrutinized objectively by Central American authorities. The principal implications of this study for research elsehwere has to do with the initial and continuing involvement of knowledgeable members of the host country in the design, development, implementation and interpretation of such studies. The importance of this principle cannot be stressed sufficiently: especially (as in this study) where basic data neither exist nor can be created reliably. The responsible involvement of local participants in the research itself would seem to be the minimum essential in such cross-cultural, cross-national research. 204 It follows, therefore, that the individual, or team of researchers, must necessarily have greater time and funds available to complete validly and more timely the Simplest of research operations. The alternative is not satisfactory: to generate as here a mass of data most difficult, if not impossible, to interpret. BIBLIOGRAPHY U BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Richard N. "Cultural Components of Central America." American Anthropolotist. V01. 58 (October, 1956). pp. 881-907. Aden, Robert Clark. Teacher Trainipg in Guatemala. (Doctoral Disser- tation) George Peabody College for Teachers. 1955. Bauer, P. F. and Yamey, B. S. The Economics of UndervelOped Countries. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 1957. Benson, Charles S. The Economics of Public Education. Houghton- Mifflin Co. Boston. 1961. Beltranena-Valladares, Luis. Attempts to Form a Union of Central America. (Doctoral Dissertation) University of Notre Dame. 1947. Bowman, Mary Jean and Anderson, Arnold. Needed Research in Education. "The Role of Education in Development." Development of the Emerg- ing Countries. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 1960. (Pamphlet) Capen, Samuel Paul. The Management of Universities. Oscar A. Silver- man (ed.) for the Council of the University of Buffalo. Foster and Stewart Publishing Corp. Buffalo, New Ybrk. 1953. CSUCA (Consejo Superior Universitaria Centro America). Los Recursos Humgpps ge Costngica. San Jose, Costa Rica. 1964. . Los Recursos Humanos de Guatemala. San Jose, Costa Rica. 1965. Duncan, Otis Dudley and Schnore, Leo F. "Cultural, Behavioral and Ecological PerSpectives in the Study of Social Organization." The American Journal of Sociology. VOl. LXV (September, 1959) pp. 132-146. Espendez-Navarro, Juan. A Critical Appreciation of the Educational Programs of Central America. (Doctoral Dissertation) Indiana University. 1941. Ginzberg, E. Human Resources: The Wealth of a Nation. Simon and Schuster. New YOrk. 1958. Gomez del Roy de Kybal, Elba. "Education as a Pre-requisite of Develop- ment: The Case of Latin America." Proceedings ofyphe Interna- tional Conference. vassar College Centennial. John Hughes Emmet (Ed.) March, 1961. 206 207 Harris, S. E. "Economics of Higher Education." American Economic Review. 43:344-57. June, 1953. Hatch, W. B. and Labbens, J. and Terlingen, J. H. Informe de la Sesidn Consultors de la UNESCO para las Uhiversidades Centro Americana. Ciudad Universitaria. Costa Rica. 1962. Herrick, George Herbert. American and Spanish American Literature in Californian and Central American Higher Education. (Doctoral Dissertation) University of Southern California. 1960. PUBLICATIONS OF IIME (Institute de Investigaciones y Mejoramiento Educative): Adis Castro, Gonzalo. Instgpmentos de medicidh psicoldgica en Centro America. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Ardon: Victor M, La Educacién Industrial en Centro America. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. I Escobar, Arnoldp y Ardod, Victor M. La Educacion agropecuaria en Centro America. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. Friedman, Burton Dean. The Public Administration of Education in Central America. IIME. Michigan State University. 1964. ALSO available in Spanish as La Administracidh Pfiblica de la Educacidh en Centro Am§rica. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Gamboa, Emma, Hernaddez Andrino, Felix, and Johnson, Walter F. EstudiOSn sobrepls Formacion de Profesores de Educacidn Secundaria de Costa Costa Rica. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Mimeograph. ...de El Salvador. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Mimeograph. ...de Guatemala. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Mimeograph. ...de Honduras. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Mimeograph. ..de Nicaragua. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Mimeograph. Gamboa, Emma and Hernandez Andrino, Felix. FormaciOn de Profesores de Educaci6n Media. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Haines, Peter G. La Educacigh Comercial en Centro America. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. Hereford, Karl T. Some Demographic and Economic Aspects of Central American Education and their Implications for the Public Adminis- tration of Education. UNESCO World Population Conference. Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 1965. Mimeograph. 208 IIME Staff (Burton D. Friedman,.sp.,s1.) Academic Progress of Univer- sity Students. University of San Carlos of Guatemala. 1963. IIME. Michigan State University. ALSO available in Spanish as nggreso Académico Estudiantil en la Universidad dsggan Carlos de Guatemala. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. (Karl T. Hereford, sp. s1.) Plan de Gastos Publicos para la Educaciép en Ceptrp smépica. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. ALSO available in English as Plan of Public Expenditure for Education in Central America. IIME. ‘Michigan State University. 1964. Declaraciones y Recomendaciones de la Primera Conferencia Centroamericana sobre la Preparacidn de Profesores de Edpsscidh Media. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. . Formacidn de Personal pags la Enséfianza Media: Plan de Accidn. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. FormaciOn de Personsl para la Ensefianza Media: Estimacign de Costos. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. ALSO available in English as The Production o§_Secondapy SchgplgPerspppel: Projscted Costs. IIME. Michigan State University. 1964. Informe de la Primera Conferencia Regional Centroamericana sobre Estadistgpa y Registros Escolares. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. Mimeograph. I Orr, Paul G. and Hereford, Karl T. Caracteristicas de las Escuelas Secundarias en Centro America. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. Necesidades de Personal en la Educacidh Medis. IIME. Guatemala. 1963. Romero, Mario. La desercidn estudiantil en la Universidad de Costa Rica. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. Ruiz Paniagua, Javier. La EducaciOn Normal en Guatemala. IIME. Guatemala. 1964. Innes, Jon T., Jacobson, Paul B., and Pellegrin, Roland J. The Economic Returns to Education. Center for the Advanced Study of Educational Administration. Eugene, Oregon. 1965. Jacob, Philip E. Changing values in College: An Exploratory Study of the Impact of General Education in Social Sciences on the Values of American Students. Harper and Brothers. New YOrk. 1957. Keezer, Dexter M. (Ed.) Financing Higher Education, 1960-70. McGraw- Hill Book Co. New YOrk. 1959. I C O Lemus, Luis Arturo. a a 'ent nte ra de a Educacio . Editorial Universitas. Guatemala. 1963. 209 Linton, Ralph. The Cultural Background of Personality. Appleton- Century-Crofts, Inc. New YOrk. 1945. Lipp, Solomon. The University Reform in Hispanic America. (Doctoral Dissertation) Harvard University. 1949. Lipset, Seymous Martin, and Bendix, Reinhard. Social Mbbilitg in Industrial Society. University of California Press. Berkeley. 1959. Meier, Richard L. "Human Time Allocation: A Basis for Social Accounts." Journal of the Americsn Institute of Planners. Vol. XV. NO. 1 (Spring. 1959.) pp. 27-33. Merton, Robert K. (Ed.) Social Theory and Social Structure. Free Press. Glencoe, Illinois. 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Pike, Fredrick B. (Ed.) Freedom and Reform in Latin America. University of Notre Dame Press. South Bend, Indiana. 1959. Pye, Lucian W. "The Developing Areas: Problems for Research." in Robert E. Ward (Ed.) Studying Politics Abroad. Little, Brown and Co. Boston, Massachusetts. 1964. l 1.11 210 Rostow, Welter. The Process of Economic Growth. W. W. Norton and Co. New YOrk. 1962. Schultz, Theodore W} "Investment in Human Capital." American Economic Review. VOl. 51. No. 1. (March. 1961) pp. 63-74. Schultz, Theodore W. The Economic Tgxt in Latin America. New YOrk State School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Cornell University. 1956. Tumermann B., Carlos. Dar a la repdblica la universidad gue merece. Universidad de Nicaragua. Ledh. 1964. UNESCO. (Organizacion para la Alimentacion y la Agricultura) Un Estudio de la educacion agricola universitaria en America Latina. Union de Universidades Latinoamericanas. Planes de Estudios de los Universidades Latinoamericano. VOl. II. Biblioteca Universitaria Latinomericana. Guatemala City, Guatemala. 1953. Universidad de Costa Rica. Estatuto Organica. Publicaciones de la Universidad, Serie Miscelaneas No. 72. Cuidad Universitaria. San Jose: Costa Rica. 1962. Universidad de El Salvador. Regimen Legal. El Salvador, San Salvador. 1959. Universidad Nacional Autéhoma de Honduras. Ley Orgéhica de la Univer- sidad. Decreto No. 170. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Universidad Nacional de Nicaragua. Guia Orgénica. Ledh, Nicaragua. 1963. I I Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. Boletin Estadistico Univer- sitario 1963. Oficina de Registro. Guatemala, Guatemala. 1963. Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala. Leges, Estatutos y Reglapsntos Generales de la Universidsd de San Carlps de Guatemala. Guatemala City, Guatemala. 1961. Vaizey, J. The Economics of Education. George Allen and Unwin. London. 1958. Waggoner, G. R. Problems in the Professionalization of the University Teaching Career in Central America. CSUCA. San José. 1964. Whetten, N. Guatemala: Its Land and People. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 1958. 211 Wiseman, J. "The Economics of Education? Scottish Journal of Political Economy. 6:48-58. February. 1959. WOOdburne, Lloyd 3. Principles of Collegg and University Administration. Stanford University Press. Stanford. 1948. APPENDICES ..J I. l .l .I' I'. [II II. 1. . HHS-Mil)! A IME :Nsmurope INVESTIGACIONES Y MEJORAMIENIO EDUCATIVO UNIVERSIDAD DE SAN CARLOS DE GUATEMALA ENCUESTA DE GRADUADOS DE LA UNIVERSIDAD CIUDAD UNIVERSITARIA. GUATEMALA. C.A. LA UNIVERSIDAD REALIZA CONJUNTAMENTE CON EL IIME UN ESTUDIO INTEGRAL DE sus REcuasos; PARA PODER LLEVARLO A CABO NECESITA DE SU VALIOSA COOPERACIDN. UN ASPECTO MUY SIGNIFICATIVO DEL ESTUDIO LO CONSTITUYE ESTA ENCUESTA SOBRE EL RECURSO HU" MANO QUE REPRESENTA PARA EL PAI’S LOS GRADUADOS DE ESTA UNIVERSIDAD; EN TAI. CALIDAD USTED PUEDE CONTRIBUIR DE UNA MANERA MUY EFECTIVA CON DICHO ESTUDIO DEL ALMA MATER, LLENANDOES" TE CUESTIONARIO CUYA INFORMACIDN TIENE CARACTER DE ESTRICTAMENTE CONFIDENCIAL; SU COLABO- RACI6N SERX MUY ESTIMADA. A. DATOS PER SONA LES l. INDIQUE SU EDAD: A. 25 A1905 0 MENos ( ) o. 36 - 4O ( ) G. 51 - 55 ( ) B. 26-30 ( ) c.41-45 ( ) 4.56-60 ( ) c. 31-35 ( ) F.46-50 ( ) 1.610MAs ( ) 2. INDIQUE SU SExo: 3. INDIQUE su ESTADO CIVIL: A.M( ) B.F( ) A.C( )B.S( )C.D( )D.V( )‘ 4, INDIQUE EL NOMERO DE PERSONAS QUE DEPENDEN TOTALMENTE DE USTED. (INCLUYENDOSE USTED MISMO) B. DATOS EDUCATIVOS 5. INDIQUE EL ANo EN QUE SE INscmmc’) POR PRIMERA VEZ EN LA UNIVERSIDAD 6. INDIQUE EN QUE FACULTAD SE INscmslc’) 7. NOMBRE Y LUGAR DEL ESTABLECIMIENTO DE SECUNDARIA EN EL. CUAL SE GRADUé: 8. INDIQUE SI DICHO ESTABLECIMIENTO DE SECUNDARIA Es: PUBLIco ( ) PRIVADO ( ) 9. INDIQUE EL PROMEDIO APROXIMADO DE INGRESO TOTAL MENSUAL QUE USTED PERCIBI6 DURANTE I Los ULTIMOS TRES ANos DE ESTUDIO EN LA UNIVERSIDAD. (SENALELO CON UNA X EN LA CASI- LLA ENCIMA DE UNo DE ESTOS 7 RANGOS.) “x" 0 [3 Cl C] C] E] E] E] PAIS MENOS DE DE A DE A DE A DE A DE A MAS DE COSTA RICA 2 700 700 - 1399 1400 - 2099 2100 - 2799 2900 - 3499 3500 - 4199 4199 EL SALVADOR ¢ 250 250 - 499 500 - 749 750 - 999 1000 - 1249 1260 - 1499 1499 GUATEMALA o. 100 100 - 199 200 - 299 300 - 399 400 - 499 .500 - 699 599 HONDURAS L. 200 200 - 399 400 - 599 600 - 799 900 - 999 1000 - 1199 1199 NICARAGUA C3 700 700 - 1399 1400 - 2099 2100 - 2799 2900 - 3499 3500 - 4199 4199 O1 .1103.“ 1} . . .WQH-I‘lu "2 14 10. ll. (:CUAL FUE SU PRINCIPAL FUENTE DE INGRESO ECONDMICO MIENTRAS ESTUDIABA EN LA UNIVERSIDAD? INOIQUE SI RECIBIé BECA. SUBVENCION O EXONERACION OE DERECHOS EN LA UNIVERSIDAD DURANTE ESE TIEMpo: A. sr( ) B. NO ( ) SI LA RESPUESTA ES QUE sf. INDIQUE SU VALOR MENSUAL O ANUAL: POR MES POR Afio C. DATOS PROFESIONALES 12. l3. l6. l7. ANO EN QUE SE GRADU6 EN ESTA UNIVERSIDAO: EN QUE FACULTAD SE GRAOU6: 51 ES GRADUAOO DE UNIVERSIDAD EXTRANJERA v SE HA INCORPORADO A ESTA UNIVERSIDAD, INDIQUE CUAL FUE EL PROCEDIMIENTO (INCORPORACION FOR EXAMEN. POR TRATAOO. ETC.) YAOEMAS. FECHAEN I QUE INICID TRAMITES DE INCORPORACIDN Y FECHA DE CUANDO OBTUVO ESTA. DESPUES OE GRADUARSE. CUAL FUE SU ACTIVIDAo: ( ) ESTUDIOS POSTGRADUADOS ( )ACTIVIDAD PROFESIONAL ( ) ACTIVIDAO NO ( ) DEPENDIENTE RELACIONADA ( ) |NDEPENDIENTE CON LA PROFE- 516N. SI 1N1C16 LUEGO ESTUDIOS POSTGRADUAOOS. INOIQUE: OURANTE QUE ANOS LOS REALIzé; EN CUALEs I . UNIVERSIOAOEs; EN QUE ESPECIALIDAD OE ESTUOIO, Y LOS GRAOOS O TfTULOS UNIVERSITARIOS OBTE- Nloos: UNIVERSIDAD ESPECIALIDAD GRADO O TfTULO ANIO INDIQUE SU OCUPAC16N ACTUAL: OCUPACICSN TIPO DE TRABAJO INGRESO MENSUAL 215 x D. APREClACIONES PERSONALES -V‘ ,‘1 .53 18. LIMITANDOSE A SUS ESTUDIOS EN ESTA UNIVERSIDAD, INDIQUE 'QUE ASPECTOS DE DICHOS ESTUDIOS ’0 QUE CURSOS ESPECfI-‘ICOS— HAN SIDO MAS VALIOSOS PARA EL EJERCICIO DE SU PROFESION: 19. 20. 21. 22. 2 3. .A. DE IGUAL. MANERA. INDIQUE LOS CURSOS QUE LE PARECEN MENOS VALIOSOS: C. SI REALIZO EN SU UNIVERSIDAD 0 EN OTRA. ESTUDIOS QUE NO FORMABAN PARTE DEL PLAN DE 5U CARRERA (INCLUYENDO CURSOS POST-GRADUADOS) INDIQUE QUE ASPECTOS O CURSOS LE HAN SIDO miss VALIOSOS EN SU PROFESION: COMO GRADUADO DE LA UNIVERSIDAD. SENALE LOS TRES PROBLEMAS QUE A SU JUICIO SEAN L05 MAS GRAVES DE TODOS LOS QUE LA UNIVERSIDAD CONFRONTA HOY: A. ’ 1 INDIQUE CUALES SON LAS MEJORAS (SI Es QUE ESTIMA QUE HACE- FALTA ALGUNA) QUE LA UNIVERSI- DAD DEBERrA EMPRENDER: I EN GENERAL. INDIQUE CUAN EF'ICIENTE JUZGA USTED QUE F'UE SU FORMACION UNIVERSITARIA: () () () () () MUY EFICIENTE TERMINO MEDIO DEFICIENTE MUY EF'C'ENTE ° PASABLE DEFICIENTE 2'16 .24. CON MIRAS A SU SUPERACION PROFESIONAL. INDIQUE LOS CURSOS. SEMINARIOS. SERVICIOS DE CON- SULTA. ETC" QUE USTED PODRI’A APROVECHAR SI LA HNIVERSIDAD ESTUVIERA EN CONDICIONES DE OFRECERSELOSI LE ROGAMOS, UNA VEZ LLENADO ESTE CUESTIONARIO, SE SIRVA ENVIARLO LO mis PRONTO QUE LE SEA Po- I SIBLE. UTILIZANDO EL SOBRE ADJUNTO QUE ESTA DIRIGIDO AL IIME. RECTORfA DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE SAN CARLOS DE GUATEMALA. AGRADECEMOS 5U COLABORACION MUY VALIOSA. (EN CASO DE REQUERm MAS ESPAcm ARA sus RESPUESTAS PUEDE USAR HOJA ADICIONAL) “fic, H .3,» Ed: Eggséa/ .1.._'\- ._ <,"". .I'.LL::1!\ - ‘ 5.,g,9-2‘,I. APPENDIX B National Universities of Central America DEGREES, TITLES, DIPLOMAS AND CERTIFICATES OFFERED UNIVERSIDAD DE COSTA RICA I Escuela de Agronomia / I Titulo: Ingeniero Agronomo Academia de Bellas Artes I Titulos: Profesor de Bellas Artes Licenciado en Bellas Artes Escuela de Ciencias EconSDicas I Titulo: Licenciado en Ciencias Econdhicas y Sociales I Especialidades: a) Estadistica b) Seguros’ c) Economia d) Administraci6n de Negocios e) Administraci6h Pablica . I Conservatorio de Mnsica Certificado: ConclusiOD de Estudios A Titulo: Conclusigh de estudios superiores en: a) Canto b) Flauta c) Piano, d) Violin e) Violbncelo Escuela de Derecho TiTulo: Licenciado en Derecho y NotariOu Escuela de EducaciOn TiTulos: Profesor de la. ensefihnza Profesor de 2a. enséfihnza Bachiller en Ciencias de la Educaciéh Escuela de Farmacia I Titulo: Licenciado en Farmacia 217 218 I Escuela de Ingenieria I Titulo: Ingeniero Civil I Escuela de Microbiologia I / I I Titulo: Licenciado en Microbiologia y Quimica Clinica I Escuela de Odontologia I I Titulo: Doctor en Cirugia Dontal Escuela de Servicio Social I Titulos: Trabajador Social I Licenciado en Ciencias Economicas (Servicio Social) Escuela de Medicina I Titulo: Méhico Cirujano Escuela de Ciencias y Letras I Titulos: Profesor Bachiller Licenciado I Especialidades: a) Biologia. b) Filosofia c) Historia’ d) Geografia e) Fisico gatematicas f) Filplogia g) Quimica I h) Lenguas MOdernas: Ingles FrancéS UNIVERSIDAD DE EL SALVADOR Facultad de Ciencias EconODicas / I Titulos: Licenciado en Ciencias Economicas . I Doctor en Ciencias Economicas O O ’ Licenciado en Administracion de Empresas Doctor en.Administraci6h de Empresas 219 / Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas I I Titulos: Doctor en Ciencias Quimicas y Farmacia Doctor en Quémica BiolOgica Doctor en Quimica Industrial Geglogo A Doctor en Geologia Facultad de Humanidades I Titulos: Profesor Maestro Grados: Licenciado Doctor I E3pecialidades: a) Filosofia I b) Ciencias de la Educacion c) Ciencias Sociales d) Letras I e) Psicologia f) Periodismo Facultad de Ingenierfa I I Titulos: Doctor en Ingenieria Civil Doctor en Arquitectpra O O ’ 0 Doctor en Ingenieria Agronomica Doctor en Ingenieria Electromecanica Facultad de JuriSprudencia y Ciencias Sociales I Titulo: Doctor en Jurisprudencia y Ciencias Sociales Facultad de Ciencias Méaicas I Titulos: Doctor en Medicina Tecn6logo‘Medico I Facultad de Odontologia I Titulo: Doctor en Cirugi; Dental Escuela Normal Superior del Profesorado I Titulos: Especialidades: 220 Profesor de Educacigh a) BiologiE y Qufmica Secundaria b) Castellano y Literatura c) Ciencias de la Educacién: l. Parvulos (EducaciJh) 2. Normal (Enséfianza 3. Ciencias Sociales 4. Inglés 5. Mateméticas y Fisica Profesor de EducaciOn a) Administracion y TGCnicas de la Enséfihnza b) Ciencias,Contables c) Filosofia y Ciencias Educativas Profesora Especializada on EducaciOE de Parvulos Profesor Especializada en la Ensefianza de nifibs débiles montales educables UNIVERSIILAQ DE SAN CARLOS DE GUATEMALA; Facultad de Agronomia Titulo: Ingeniero AgrOnomo Facultad de Arquitectura Titulo: Arquitecto C O ' . Facultad de C1enc1as Economicas I Titulos: Economista’ Contador Publico Grado: Licenciado en Administracién de Negocios I Facultad de Ciencias Juridicas y Sociales I Titulo: Abrogado y Notario I Facultad de Ciencias Medicas l Titulo: Medico y Cirujano I Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas y Farmacia I ’ . Titulos: Ingeniero Quimico 0’ O O ’ Quimico Biologo’ Quimico Farmaceutico 221 Facultad de Humanidades Diplomas: Bibliotecario Auxiliar I Capacitacidh on Estudios Humanisticos I Titulos: ESpecialidades Periodista Bibliotecario General Magistor Artibus (ESC. de Verano) Profesor de 2a. Enseghnza a) Filosofia b) Letras c) Historia.y Estudios Sociales d) Pedagogia y Ciencias de la Educacidh / e) Psicologia f) Ciencias Biolaéicas g) Ciencias Econémico_Contab1es h) Mateméticas ’ i) Ciencias QUimicas Grados Especialidades I Licenciado a) Filosofia Doctor b) Letras c) Historia’ ’ d) Pedagogia y Ciencias de la Educacion e) Psicologia I Licenciado Bibliotecologia ' I Facultad de Ingenieria I Titulo: Ingeniero Civil I Facultad de Odontologia I Titulo: Cirujano Dentista Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zooteonia I Titulo: Méaico Veterinario y Zooteonista 4. 222 UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTONOMA DE HONDURAS Centro Universitario de Estudios Generales I Titulo: ESpecialidad I Licenciado a) Biologia b) FiSica c) Matema’tica s d) Quimica Facultad de Ciencias EconOmicas (Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula) Titulo: Licenciado en Ciencias EconOEicas I Facultad de Ciencias Juridicas y Sociales I I Titulo: Licenciado en Ciencias Juridicas y Sociales I Grado: Doctor en Ciencias Juridicas y Sociales Facultad de Ciencias Méaicas I Titulos: Doctor en Cirugia y MEdicina Enfermera Obstetra ’ l O Tecnico Laboratorista I Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas y Farmacia I I Titulo: Licenciado en Quimica y Farmacia I Grado: Doctor en Quimica y Farmacia Facultad de Ingenieria I . Titulo: Ingeniero Civil I Facultad de Odontologia I Titulo: Cirujano Dentista I Escuela Superior de Profesorado (Francisco Morazan) / Titulo Especialidades Profesor de EducaciOn a) Ciencias de la EducaciOn b) Ciencias Naturales c) Ciencias Sociales d) Letras I I I 0 e) Matematicas y Fisica 223 UNIVERSIDAD NA_CIONAL AUTONOMA DE NICARAGUA Facultad de Ciencias Economicas I I O O O I O Titulos: Licenciado en Administracion de Negocios I Licenciado en Economia I O 0’ Escuela de C1enc1as de la Educac1on Diplomas: Director de Escuela Primaria ' Inspector de la Escuela Primaria I Titulo: Profesor de Educacian Media Grados: Licenciado en Ciencias de la Educacién Doctor en Ciencias de la EducaciOn Especialidades: a) Ciencias Sociales b) Létras ‘ c) Matematicas y Fisica d) Quimica y Biologia e) Ciencias PedagOgicas I Facultad de Ciencias Juridicas y Sociales I Titulo: Doctor en Derecho I Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas y Farmacia I I Titulo: Doctor en Farmacia y Quimica I Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas y Mateméticas I Titulo: y Ingeniero Civil Facultad de Ciencias Meaicas I Titulo: Doctor en.Medicina y Cirugia I Facultad de Odontologia I J Titulo: Doctor en Odontologia Escuela de Periodismo I Titulo: Periodista APPENDIX C SURVEY OF UNIVERSITY GRADUATES, NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA PANEL OF lST CLASSIFICATION - PROBLEMS, IMPROVEMENTS, SERVICES Burton D. Friedman (Ph.D.): Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, and Administrative Officer, IIME; Ex-Director of Finance, University of Puerto Rico. Lic. Pablo Lacayo: Chief Investigator, Area of Secondary Educa- tion, IIME; Citizen of Nicaragua. Paul Orr (Ph.D.) Research Associate, Michigan State University; Coordinator of Research, Secondary Education, IIME. Lic. Luis Oyarzdn (MIA. Bradley University): Editor and Translator, IIME; Citizen of Chile. Artemio Rivera (MQA. University of Puerto Rico): Assistant Pro- fessor, University of Puerto Rico; Research Associate, IIME. Lic. Luis Torres: Registrar, University of Costa Rica and Chief Investigator, Area of Higher Education Studies, IIME; Citizen of Costa Rica. Jaime Catalén and Francisco Mayorga: Students, University of San Carlos, Guatemala; Data Processing Coders, IIME. Kirkwood Yarman (MLA. University of Michigan): Assistant Professor, University of Puerto Rico; Research Associate, IIME. .224