Physics courses of the Federal University of Santa Catarina : evasion and gender

TL;DR

This study analyzes gender disparities and high dropout rates in physics courses at the Federal University of Santa Catarina from 1998 to 2017, highlighting significant male dominance and evasion issues.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive data analysis of enrollment and dropout patterns across physics programs, revealing gender and progression-related disparities.

Findings

Male predominance exceeds 76% in physics courses.

Less than 20% of undergraduates complete their degrees.

Dropout rates are higher for women and decrease in postgraduate levels.

Abstract

In this work, we analyse all existing data related to the number of incomers and outcomers (who actually obtain the degree) of the following courses offered at the Federal University of Santa Catarina: physics teaching, bachelor in physics, master of sciences in physics and doctorate in physics, corresponding to the 1998-2017 period, according to their availability. The data point towards a great male predominance (larger than 76%) and a huge evasion of both sexes (in average, less than 20% of the undergraduate incomers obtain the degree), the evasion being lower in the postgraduate courses and always slightly higher for women. The average number of incomers and outcomers per year decreases as the students advance from graduate to postgraduate courses, although many students in the postgraduate courses come from other institutions. The proportion of women decreases as the carrier advances. The results indicate the need of complementary studies that can help the identification of the causes of such a high evasion in order to minimize them.