El uso de dibujos y nubes de palabras para explorar representaciones sociales en la educación superior

This paper addresses the study of the social representations of Universities among students in the last semester of the Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration of four higher education institutions in Chihuahua, Mexico, in order to understand how these representations affect institutional identity and the perception of academic and professional success. This is a study with a qualitative descriptive approach, based on phenomenology and hermeneutics; data was collected through drawings made by the students and from the institutional philosophy of the higher education institutions studied, analyzed through word clouds. It was found that elements such as facilities, logo and perception of success are common in the social representations, showing a connection with the institutional philosophy of each University. It is highlighted that social representations can be used to promote institutional values and improve decision making in higher education. Despite some limitations in the sample size and the specificity of the career studied, the use of drawings and word clouds as data collection techniques allowed us to reflect on students’ perceptions, which can lead to institutional improvement strategies.