Vocational education

The empty chair is the visible result. The journey began earlier.

Why Do They Leave?

What lies behind dropout in technical and vocational education

Understand the journeys behind the empty chair and recognize signs while the student is still present.

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This book is currently available in Brazilian Portuguese.

EditionIn preparation2026Book languagePortugueseBrazilFormatsComing soonComing soon

About the book

A complete view of the book.

An empty chair is only the visible result of a journey. Why Do They Leave? investigates what happened before it: the expectations students brought, the experiences they had, the signs that emerged, and the paths that opened afterward.

Across 15 chapters, the book distinguishes dropout, withdrawal, persistence, retention, and mobility; examines work, learning, belonging, material conditions, and institutional organization; and helps vocational educators interpret evidence and act without ready-made formulas or blame.

The challenge

Does this situation sound familiar?

When a student stops attending, saying that they quit seems to settle the matter. That explanation hides expectations, material conditions, learning experiences, belonging, work, earlier signs, and changes of direction.

The book’s approach

A path from intention to practice.

Learn to distinguish dropout, withdrawal, non-completion, retention, mobility, and success; reconstruct journeys, interpret indicators rigorously, and turn evidence into possible decisions without searching for a single culprit.

“Understanding why someone leaves begins by observing what happened while that person was still present.”

By the end of the book, you will be able to:

✓Distinguish concepts that indicators often mix together

✓Reconstruct the journey preceding the empty chair

✓Recognize signs, risk factors, and protective factors

✓Interpret data without turning correlation into cause

✓Examine learning, belonging, work, and material conditions

✓Plan more conscious educational and institutional responses

Questions that guide the reading

Answers begin with the right questions.

Questions explored through context, criteria, and examples.

What happened before the student stopped attending?

Does every departure represent failure, or are there different journeys?

Which signs can be noticed while the student is still present?

What lies within the reach of teachers, institutions, and public policy?

Inside the book

A structured journey that helps you move forward.

Concepts and applications presented in a coherent sequence.

Changes in vocational education

Begin with the empty chair to understand how work, vocational education, and students have changed.

Dropout concepts and evidence

Distinguish dropout, withdrawal, mobility, retention, completion, and success before interpreting results.

Journeys and earlier signs

Follow the journey from choosing a course through the friction, signs, and decisions that precede leaving.

Learning and belonging

Observe how teachers, learning, and belonging can protect or weaken persistence.

Work and material conditions

Consider students who study in order to work and work in order to study, without oversimplifying material conditions.

Persistence and institutional action

Examine the institution itself, improve indicators, and turn knowledge into possibilities for persistence.

Content in preparation

Planned book structure

Explore the 4 parts and 15 planned chapters. Titles may be refined during editorial review.

View chapters15 chapters

Part I — The world has changed

The student who did not return
Vocational education has changed
The student has changed too

Part II — Understand before explaining

Not every departure is the same
Not every dropout is a failure
Why do they leave?

Part III — Dropout before dropout

The journey to the empty chair
The signs appear earlier
Even before the first class
Teachers, learning, and belonging
Students study to work—and work to study

Part IV — What we can do with what we know

When the institution also needs to examine itself
Support helps. But what does it help with?
Measure to understand
From dropout to persistence

What makes this book different

Depth to understand. Clarity to keep moving forward.

Research and data translated into useful everyday questions

Conceptual rigor without inaccessible language

A humane, non-blaming reading of student journeys

Possibilities for action without formulas or unrealistic promises

Who this book is for

Knowledge that becomes action.

Teachers, instructors, educational teams, and leaders in technical and vocational education will find a direct approach connected to concrete problems.

✓ Teachers and instructors in technical and vocational courses✓ Pedagogical supervisors, coordinators, and advisers✓ Teams responsible for student persistence and success✓ Leaders of public and private vocational institutions

Before you begin

What you need to benefit from the book

✓No training in research or educational management is required

✓Experience or interest in vocational education helps connect the cases to practice

An informed choice

This may not be the right book if…

—Readers seeking a formula that can prevent every departure

—Readers who want to assign dropout to one cause or one culprit

Why this author, on this subject

Experience that gives the reading context.

A teacher and instructor with experience in vocational education and technology, Régys brings evidence, indicators, and classroom situations together to help teams understand journeys without reducing people to percentages.

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