Abstract

ARAUJO, Alexandra M. et al. Personal and sociocultural variables and the differentiation of academic expectations: A study with Higher Education students from North Portugal and Galicia. Rev. Port. de Educação [online]. 2015, vol.28, n.1, pp.201-220. ISSN 0871-9187.

Massification of Higher Education in the past decades has resulted in a greater heterogeneity of students. Expectations are a central variable when analysing students' profiles, as they are related to engagement, persistence and academic success. In this study, a questionnaire assessing students' expectations was administered to a sample of 717 first year Portuguese and Spanish students, measuring seven dimensions: i) Training for employment and career development; ii) Personal and social development; iii) Student international mobility; iv) Political engagement and citizenship; v) Social pressure; vi) Quality of education; and vii) Social interaction. Analysis considered the impact of students' country, sex, and parents' education (if parents had a college degree or not). Results evidence that, in general, Spanish students present lower levels of academic expectations compared to Portuguese students. There is also an inverse impact of parents' education on expectations, as Portuguese students whose parents have a college degree present higher expectations, but Spanish students present an inverse pattern of association. Some explanations are presented in the interpretation of these results.

Keywords : Higher Education; Academic expectations; First-year students; Sociocultural variables.

        · abstract in Portuguese | Spanish     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )