Much of the writing on higher education in recent years has tended to assume that the new management push in higher education is both universal and irreversible. This paper, however, presents evidence from Portugal to challenge that assumption. While elements of the new managerialism are clearly evident in the perceptions and attitudes of academics in charge of the basic academic units (departments/ schools and faculties) in the country's universities and polytechnics, academic management remains faced with a complex, contradictory and conflicting set of demands and expectations which is likely to take a considerable time to resolve.

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Associa-se frequentemente o termo "massificação" do ensino superior à democratização de seu acesso por parte de alunos provenientes das camadas sociais e culturais menos favorecidas e com menor tradição familiar de formação acadêmica superior. Neste artigo, pretende-se discutir, com base na análise de alguns indicadores da forte expansão ocorrida nos sistemas de ensino superior de Portugal e do Brasil nas últimas décadas, a efetiva democratização ocorrida. Vários pontos desse crescimento exponencial e alguns mecanismos de regulação criados, entretanto, permitem que se afirme que o ensino superior se abriu na realidade a estratos sociais e a públicos menos tradicionais neste nível de ensino; contudo, permanecem acentuadas assimetrias sociais nas instituições e nos cursos a que se tem acesso, ao mesmo tempo em que a permanência e abandono também se diferenciam socialmente em termos das respectivas taxas de incidência. Estes fenômenos têm causas diversas, não sendo possível ilibar as próprias instituições de ensino superior de responsabilidades nesse cenário.

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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.