Interrupted Careers: the Determinants of University Outcomes in a Competing Risks Approach. Book of Short Paper

This paper aims at examining the factors influencing the different outcomes of the university path (withdrawal, course changes, delay, and degree completion) in three-year degree courses at the University of Padova. We consider about 32,000 students enrolled from 2002/03 to 2005/06 academic years in 84 undergraduates courses. The analyses are conducted considering the temporal dimension within the methodological approach of survival analysis using individual longitudinal data from University administrative archives. A discrete-timemethod for competing risks event history analysis is used to study the determinants of university outcomes.