Differential Filtering in a Common Basic Cycle: Multi-Major Trajectories and Structural Bottlenecks in Exact Sciences and Engineering Degrees
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arXiv
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866914179580952576 |
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| author | Paz, H. R. |
| author_facet | Paz, H. R. |
| contents | Universities often present the Common Basic Cycle (CBC) as a neutral levelling stage shared by several degree programmes. Using twenty years of longitudinal administrative records from a Faculty of Engineering and Exact Sciences, this study tests whether the CBC actually operates as a uniform gateway or as a differential filter across majors. We reconstruct student trajectories for 24,017 entrants, identifying CBC subjects (year level <= 1), destination major, time to exit from the CBC, and final outcome (progression to upper cycle, drop-out, or right-censoring). The analysis combines transition matrices, Kaplan-Meier survival curves, stratified Cox models and subject-level logistic models of drop-out after failure, extended with multi-major enrolment data and a pre/post 2006 curriculum reform comparison. Results show that the CBC functions as a strongly differential filter. Post-reform, the probability of progressing to the upper cycle in the same major ranges from about 0.20 to 0.70 across programmes, while overall drop-out in the CBC exceeds 60%. Early Mathematics modules (introductory calculus and algebra) emerge as structural bottlenecks, combining low pass rates with a two- to three-fold increase in the hazard of leaving the system after failure, with markedly different severity by destination major. Multi-major enrolment, often treated administratively as indecision, is instead associated with lower drop-out, suggesting an adaptive exploration of feasible trajectories. The findings portray the CBC not as a neutral academic foyer, but as a structured sorting device whose impact depends sharply on the targeted degree and on the opportunity to explore alternative majors. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_04285 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Differential Filtering in a Common Basic Cycle: Multi-Major Trajectories and Structural Bottlenecks in Exact Sciences and Engineering Degrees Paz, H. R. Computers and Society Universities often present the Common Basic Cycle (CBC) as a neutral levelling stage shared by several degree programmes. Using twenty years of longitudinal administrative records from a Faculty of Engineering and Exact Sciences, this study tests whether the CBC actually operates as a uniform gateway or as a differential filter across majors. We reconstruct student trajectories for 24,017 entrants, identifying CBC subjects (year level <= 1), destination major, time to exit from the CBC, and final outcome (progression to upper cycle, drop-out, or right-censoring). The analysis combines transition matrices, Kaplan-Meier survival curves, stratified Cox models and subject-level logistic models of drop-out after failure, extended with multi-major enrolment data and a pre/post 2006 curriculum reform comparison. Results show that the CBC functions as a strongly differential filter. Post-reform, the probability of progressing to the upper cycle in the same major ranges from about 0.20 to 0.70 across programmes, while overall drop-out in the CBC exceeds 60%. Early Mathematics modules (introductory calculus and algebra) emerge as structural bottlenecks, combining low pass rates with a two- to three-fold increase in the hazard of leaving the system after failure, with markedly different severity by destination major. Multi-major enrolment, often treated administratively as indecision, is instead associated with lower drop-out, suggesting an adaptive exploration of feasible trajectories. The findings portray the CBC not as a neutral academic foyer, but as a structured sorting device whose impact depends sharply on the targeted degree and on the opportunity to explore alternative majors. |
| title | Differential Filtering in a Common Basic Cycle: Multi-Major Trajectories and Structural Bottlenecks in Exact Sciences and Engineering Degrees |
| topic | Computers and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.04285 |