EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT AND TRUST IN THE TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP: IMPACTS ON THE PERMANENCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN A PRE-PANDEMIC CONTEXT

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the perceived teaching quality by students and their intention to remain in the educational institution, as well as the relationship mediated by trust and emotional attachment. Three perspectives of teaching quality were addressed: academic, professional, and pedagogical. Control variables, such as students' perception of structural quality and their financial capacity, were also included in the analysis. The motivation for this study stemmed from the need to consider subjective and emotional aspects in the intention of university students to remain in their courses, as well as the lack of an integrative model of the involved elements. To test the proposed model, information was collected from five higher education institutions in Santa Catarina, with the participation of 224 first-year students. The data were analyzed using techniques such as Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and Mediation Tests (path). The main results indicate that the hypotheses mediated by emotional attachment were confirmed, provided that the students' trust in the educational institution is taken into account. This study, therefore, contributes to the understanding of the factors that influence students' intention to remain in higher education institutions and highlights the importance of teaching quality and emotional attachment in this context.