Scientific research is becoming increasingly important in higher education, as it helps students to understand scientific knowledge and provides tools to construct and interpret the meaning of what science provides. This descriptive study compares the use of scientific knowledge by university according to age, entrance route and type of establishment, and verifies the possible relationships between variables. A questionnaire measuring the use of scientific knowledge (information search, knowledge transfer and knowledge contribution) was administered to 187 university students. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the use of scientific knowledge by indicator and in the total scores among the three universities. A positive correlation was observed between age with knowledge contribution and type of school and knowledge transfer with type of school. It is concluded that the type of school could be relevant to obtain better results in the contribution and transfer of scientific knowledge, although age could also contribute.

El artículo da cuenta de resultados de una investigación cuyo objetivo fue determinar el nivel de desarrollo de las habilidades sociales de estudiantes que ingresan a la universidad. La metodología es de tipo cuantitativo, descriptivo, transeccional no experimental. Se encuesta a 446 estudiantes de 9 carreras de la Facultad de Educación. Entre sus resultados destaca que no existen diferencias significativas entre las 6 dimensiones del cuestionario al comparar por género, edad y vía de ingreso a la universidad. A modo de conclusión es posible señalar que el instrumento es válido y confiable pudiendo ser aplicado en contextos académicos.