The profiles of Engineering Sciences Postgraduate Students in Sonora

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to define the profiles of science and engineering postgraduate students based on their perception of the importance and development of scientific competencies. One hundred and forty-six postgraduate students from three higher education institutions in Sonora were selected using a simple random sampling. They were given a questionnaire to measure their perception of the importance of the scientific competencies in their curriculum and the development achieved in them. Two profiles were identified based on a non-hierarchical clustering K-means analysis. The first one, made up of 112 (76.7%) of the students, was defined as the “Desired Academic Profile”, and the second one, which was called “Improvable Academic Profile” included 34 students (23.3%). The first profile was characterized by a perception of greater importance in the scientific competencies in their curricula and in the development achieved in them. Also, mention was made of a higher participation in research projects and academic productivity.