Evaluación del desempeño en educación superior en el período 2014-2016: evidencia empírica de la eficiencia de las carreras de medicina y odontología en Ecuador

Abstract

In recent years Latin-American countries have increased the amount of resources designated for their higher educational systems. One of their main objectives is to improve quality and then support economic and social development. The quality evaluation and accreditation processes and the investment policy have a key role in their strategies to raise the efficiency of resources using. In terms of educational inputs and outputs, some studies have estimated the technical efficiency of universities and their educational departments although not in the framework of educational quality. Theoretically, efficiency would be expected to influence the management of the quality level existing in an institution, nevertheless an efficient institution not necessarily has an adequate level of quality. This document estimates the technical efficiency of Medicine and Dentistry academic programs in Ecuador, considering data provided by the Council of Evaluation, Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Higher Education – Ceaaces from Ecuador. This work uses data envelopment analysis to analyze the efficiency of each career in three efficiency models: global, in educational processes and in qualification for professional practice. In addition, this paper estimates the types of scale returns of each program and possible improvements of university performance in terms of efficiency. Regardless of the models, most efficient careers have public funding, while highly efficient careers correspond to private funding universities.