Socioeconomic conditions as a challenge in higher education: ngäbe bugle indigenous students from panama

Abstract

The present research, “Socioeconomic conditions as a challenge in higher education: Ngäbe Bugle indigenous students in Panama”, aimed to analyze how socioeconomic conditions influence the higher education of Ngäbe-Bugle indigenous students in Panama. It focused on quantitative methodology with a non-experimental cross-sectional research design and a descriptive and correlational scope in which the population considered were Ngäbe indigenous students who pursue higher education at different universities in the country, including the Specialized University of the Americas and the Juan Demóstenes Arosemena Higher Pedagogical Institute. One of the important findings to highlight is that a significant group of students (14) equivalent to 47%  agreed  that  their  socioeconomic  condition  was a challenge when starting their university-career, 9 equivalent to 30% agreed, while 3 equivalents to 10% said neutral, 1 corresponding to 3%  disagreed  and  3  representing 10%  strongly  disagreed. From  the results of  the study,  it is concluded that among the main socioeconomic barriers that Ngäbe students face in accessing, continuing and completing their studies, the following stand out: the financial deficiencies of the family, the difficulty of accessing essential resources such as technology, teaching resources and books, in addition to the need to work to cover university and even family expenses.