An analysis of the causes of Master's Thesis dropouts

Abstract

This paper addresses the reasons why a growing number of students are failing to complete their final master dissertations/thesis. It analyses the final Master's Course Thesis (TFM, Trabajo Fin de Máster) on the Masters in Advanced Business Management Studies course (MUEADE, Máster Universitario en Estudios Avanzados en Dirección de Empresas) at the University of Seville, which has a 100% success rate (the number of passes over students who completed the Master's Thesis). However, the same is not true of the performance rate (the number of students completing the thesis over the number of students enrolled on the course), which means that a large number of students do not receive their Master's Degrees. Using results from a survey of final year TFM students and of their course supervisors, this paper seeks to better understand the reasons why students are dropping out before completing their final thesis with a view to taking corrective actions.