From requirement to reciprocity: towards a framework for evaluating social retribution in Mexican postgraduate education.

Abstract

This article analyzes social remuneration as public policy and a substantive function of postgraduate studies in Mexico, based on a case study at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez. Through a questionnaire sent to 30 programs and institutional document analysis, the reported activities are described and their limitations are discussed: conceptual ambiguity, risk of administrative compliance, low systematization, and absence of shared indicators. In dialogue with international approaches to service-learning, university engagement, and science as a public good, a comprehensive evaluation framework is proposed with six dimensions and quantitative and qualitative indicators: institutional culture, training practices, community impact, knowledge production and appropriation, policy and regulations, and sustainability. Its implications for strengthening horizontality, inclusion, and territorial impact are discussed.