THE EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS MEANINGS ATTRIBUTED BY HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THEIR ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT IN PORTUGAL

Abstract

With the expansion of Higher Education in Portugal, the student’s profiles significantly diversified (Almeida, 2007; Balsa, Simões, Nunes, Carmo, & Campos, 2001; Freitas, Martins, & Vasconcelos , 2003). Thus, in the same classroom there are students who differ in terms of previous curricular knowledge, motivations, vocational projects and maturity levels, with the addition of “non-traditional students”, which differs in their perception and expectations about the University education. In Portugal, problems associated with the transition and adaptation of new entrants may be exacerbated.

To illustrate the expansion of Higher Education in Portugal , we resort to three factors that differentiate Portugal from other countries: (i) when, for reasons of the numerus clausus system in accessing higher education, about half of the students do not enter the institution and/or course of their first preference; (ii) when most students do not have parents or siblings in the family with the experience of higher education, showing a lack of information about the reality of higher education and/or presenting expectations that are too restricted or, otherwise, fanciful; (iii) when they choose courses with less social recognition and susceptible to more easily being abandoned by work experiences that arise (Almeida, Araújo, & Martins, 2016; Alfonso-Gil et al., 2013; Alves, Gonçalves, & Almeida, 2012).

Considering the evolution of higher education in Portugal the main purpose of this study is to understand the relation between the expectations and perceptions meanings attributed by higher students and their impact on their academic engagement.

The research methodology contemplated the following instruments and dimensions considered in the Questionnaire of academic perceptions and expectations (Almeida, L.; Costa & Araújo, 2012, QPA-EXP) and the Inventory of academic involvement of higher education students (USEI) ( Costa & Marôco, 2014). The questionnnaire and the inventory were available in an open platform constructed with the specific purpose for this study, during the months of April until September 2022.

In terms of data analysis and treatment, in this study we used the MCRLM methodology (Classic Multiple Linear Regression Model) to assess which variables significantly influencethe student's perspective.

Similar to the relevance of adapting and validating the Questionnaire of academic perceptions and expectations (Almeida, L.; Costa & Araújo, 2012, QPA-EXP) and the Inventory of academic involvement of higher education students (USEI) ( Costa & Marôco, 2014), in the Portuguese context, given the scarcity of instruments capable of measuring the meanings that higher education students attribute to the training they attend, validation is equally relevant for those two instruments in a representative sample of Portuguese public and private higher education students after the covid-19 pandemic that devastated the world and transformed the education world it even more marked by uncertainty.

The mains results explained the validation of those two instruments after the covid-19 pandemic and a positive correlations between students' expectations and the performance of the higher education institution, as a continuation of secondary education.