Percepciones de los Aspirantes sobre el Proceso de Admisión a la Universidad Pública Ecuatoriana

Within the framework of the higher education admission policies implemented in Ecuador, a matter that has become a social issue is the approval of the Higher Education Admission Test (ENES) as the only criterion for admission into public universities. For this reason, the objective of this study was to learn about the perceptions of the applicants from a qualitative perspective. The study carried out two student focus group sessions: (1) High-school graduates admitted into the system’s leveling course, and (2) high-school graduates that, because of their grade, were not admitted into public higher education. The thematic data analysis allowed to learn that the participants agree with an admittance test for public higher education, university (institutional) control and management of the process, returning to the specialties system in secondary education, and the non-integral nature of the current admittance test, as it only assesses three types of reasoning – logical-mathematical, verbal, and abstract. The findings evince that this standardized test (device) contradicts constitutional principles of equality of opportunity and social justice and equity because admittance into public higher education and the career of preference is conditioned by the grade students obtain in the ENES test, without consideration of the country’s diversity.