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Portugal: Higher education and lifelong education in Portugal
... However, other authors argue that, instead of linking internationalisation to staff and researchers' mobility, Portuguese institutions may attribute higher importance to the recruitment of foreign students as a means to ensure funding and counter the decline in enrolment rates (Seixas, 2013). This is linked to a demographic decline of the Portuguese population which induces a decrease in the population within the age cohort to access higher education (Fonseca, 2012;Teixeira, 2012). ...
The European Union’s (EU) decision to become ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based society in the world’ by 2000 included key policies such as the creation of a European Research Area (ERA) and a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) capable of attracting academics from other countries. Recruiting the best academics, and especially the best researchers, has become an issue of increasing importance in European higher education policy, with numerous studies reflecting the way these policies are translated at the national level. However, little is known about institutional policies to attract international academics. This is particularly challenging in countries that have faced severe economic crisis in the past years, as is the case of Portugal. This chapter introduces an overview of the situation of international academics in Portugal and analyses, based on a case study of two universities, the institutional policies that have been defined to recruit these academics. The analysis of qualitative data deriving from semi-structured interviews with key institutional decision-makers reveals that institutions experience difficulties in defining clear policies in this matter, although differences can be found between institutions.
The attention deserved to the recognition of qualifications (degrees) and competencies acquired elsewhere, as a means for equity and inclusion in education has progressively influenced educational research and also educational policy and decision-making. Different European countries, agreeing with the importance of valorising informal learning, have expressed the need to make learning 'beyond the classroom' visible and to assess it in a more responsive and effective way. Despite the common educational policy framework, in the European area, students with a migratory background (i.e., migrants and/or refugees) continue to struggle in accessing university paths. Given the persistent difficulties in ensuring migrants and refugees equal access to education and training opportunities, this article reports a systematic review study focused on recognition practices realized, over the last 5 years, in the European higher education context. Against the backdrop of the learning recognition debate, the results of this literature review study show a scattered landscape of local practices, sometimes, misaligned with the educational policies defined at the European level. The present study represents a useful step in reflecting on what actions are expected to be designed and implemented by higher education institutions in order to ensure a culturally responsive and equitable education for all.
Doctoral education has grown substantially, resulting in a larger and diverse pool of graduates for research. Simultaneously, gender balance in research has become a growing concern, particularly in Europe. Based on the Portuguese case, this paper discusses whether the increase in the pool of graduate talent, considered to be comprised of doctoral graduates, has resulted in a gender balance across different disciplines. The analysis of the evolution of doctoral theses completed by men and women from 1970 to 2016 suggests that, while gender balance has been achieved in terms of participation in doctoral education, horizontal segregation in disciplines persists. A more gender-balanced pool of graduate talent for research across disciplines seems to require more action from Portuguese policymakers and universities, particularly in terms of the implementation of gender equality measures. This is also true for countries where gender equality in doctoral education is a challenge.
This article reports a longitudinal study exploring talent management, through narratives provided by a group of managers of doctoral programmes in eight UK universities during the 2020 coronavirus outbreak. These managers were also academics, researchers and doctoral supervisors and their perspectives were gathered before and during “lockdown,” and then into the subsequent confused period of semi‐lockdown / second lockdown, as cases of Coronavirus increased again in late 2020. Changing socio‐economic circumstances, together with the added pressures of family responsibilities, impacted on participants' perceptions of changing roles and relationships during the pandemic. Over 12 months, six semi‐structured online interviews (each lasting between 50 and 120 minutes) were conducted, using available platforms, with intervening emails. The narratives showed both formal and informal “talent management methods” and emphasized the need to use both to attract and retain international students.
It is widely recognized that the investment in human capital, innovation, and knowledge transfer is essential to sustainable development and growth. Within this context, the role and action of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are vital. This paper aims to reflect on the role and the economic impact of a higher education institution, based on the case study of a public HEIs in Portugal namely the Polytechnic Institute of Beja (IPBeja). This institution belongs to the subsystem of polytechnic higher education and is located in a region that has one of the lowest economic and population densities in Europe.
In this volume, language learning and professionalization are explored by addressing the existing gap between pressing needs for enhanced soft skills in work environments wherein technology-mediated, multilingual communication is increasingly the norm, and current foreign language teaching and learning offerings in higher education. Considering theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical perspectives for preparing language learners and teachers in/for the 21st century, this volume’s eight chapters underscore that research findings should inform the design of learning experiences so that people’s communication needs in fast-changing work environments are met and the link between language education and professionalization, within a lifelong learning perspective, is sustained.
The current study explores the intersection of two trends of interest in higher education: reported increases in academic entitlement (AE) and increases in the proportion of students considered nontraditional. AE has shown to have negative effects in the classroom and for students. Based on reports from educators, levels of AE may be lower for nontraditional students. The current study sought to understand the level of AE in nontraditional students, compare AE levels with traditional students, and investigate if specific nontraditional factors have larger impacts on AE. Four hundred and twenty-nine participants were assessed for nontraditional factors and their current level of AE. Nontraditional students were found to have lower levels of AE than traditional students, having more nontraditional factors predicted lower AE, and AE was found to vary within nontraditional grouping levels. Additionally, age and hours worked were found to be individual factors that best predicted AE levels.
Comparative studies of European social policy have pointed to significant differences with respect to the way in which diversity is valued and understood, contrasting nations that have adopted strongly compulsory and integrationist policies with others that have pursued more voluntary and pluralistic approaches. Within the higher education sector specifically, although there have been numerous European-level initiatives to encourage national governments to take action to widen access to university, we know relatively little about how key policy actors conceptualise diversity with respect to the student population, and the extent to which such understandings are shared across national borders. Drawing on in-depth interviews with a range of ‘policy influencers’ in six European countries and an analysis of relevant policy documents, this article suggests that dimensions of difference are not always valued equally and that, despite policy imperatives promoting higher education homogenisation across the continent, some significant differences between nation-states endure.
In Portugal, there is a diversified higher education system comprising some 160 institutions: universities, polytechnics and isolated schools, public or private, with a total enrolment of some 350,000 students. This article presents the analysis of the results of questionnaires which were completed in 2004 by students entering higher education for the first time so as to understand their perceived needs and aspirations and how they chose their institution/study programme.
In the last few years, there has been a decline in the number of candidates to higher education — mainly due to demography — which created strong institutional competition. Therefore it is important to understand the reasons behind students' choices, perceived needs and aspirations and how students assess the capacity of different institutions/programmes to fulfil these. It is also relevant to understand how their choices may be conditioned by factors such as their socio‐economic and cultural background, employability prospects, other available information, gender and type of institution and study programme.
Portugal, as a small and increasingly integrated European economy, has been influenced by some of the major trends that defined the agenda of higher education policy in recent decades. Its backwardness – notably in terms of skills, education, and training – has frequently prompted a focus of attention on its international counterparts, particularly those in Europe, in search of affinities, solutions and errors to avoid. The search for guidance has also created an opportunity for the intervention of international organisations. Until Portugal joined the European Union (EU) in 1986, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank were the main agencies playing this role. Henceforth, those institutions lost some influence, and the European dimension gained increasing prominence. This article discusses the role of those international organisations in the definition of priorities for Portuguese higher education policy in recent decades, and provides a general overview of the outside perceptions of the Portuguese situation as understood by these international organisations. In particular, the article focuses on those interventions that promoted the influence of market mechanisms in the Portuguese higher education system by emphasising the need for higher education institutions (HEIs) to strive for increased economic responsiveness.