Who Is Left Out? Inequalities in Higher Education Admissions and Placements in Portugal

Abstract

Although the number of places available in Portuguese public higher education institutions is higher than the number of candidates, some applicants are still left out. Moreover, for those who get a place, inequalities are evident in the admission to the most selective institutions and programmes. This chapter aims to (i) identify and characterise the group of unsuccessful applicants; (ii) analyse the probability of a student being placed in his/her preferred programme; and (iii) examine socioeconomic inequalities in the acces to the most selective programmes. Findings reveal that female candidates, those with the lowest grade point average and those who live in the biggest cities, Porto and Lisbon, are most likely to be among the unsuccessful applicants, which suggests inequalities in access to higher education. Inequalities are also embedded within higher education, as access to universities and more selective study programmes seems to be easier for students whose parents hold higher education qualifications.

Graduate employment: Does the type of higher education institution matter?

“…Degrees from public universities, older and more prestigious, are the most sought positional goods, whereas public polytechnics, more oriented to local labor market needs, constitute the second‐best alternative (Tavares, 2013; Sá & Tavares, 2018). Portuguese polytechnics generally attract students from less privileged social backgrounds (Tavares et al., 2008; Sá et al., 2022), similar to what Calmand et al. (2014) found for the French case, as the vocational tracks allow greater access for students coming from a more diverse range of social backgrounds.…”

“…As mentioned previously, students tend to perceive universities as more prestigious, and, generally, polytechnics constitute their second‐best alternative (Sá & Tavares, 2018; Sá et al., 2021, 2022). University programs are also more selective as the minimum GPA values to enter programs in the same area are significantly higher for university programs, which is a signal for prospective employers.…”

“…The socioeconomic background of students emerges as an important factor determining the propensity for unemployment, especially in publicly offered programs: The less privileged the background, the higher the propensity for unemployment. Previous studies (Sá et al., 2022) have shown that students from deprived contexts face less favorable conditions for access to higher education and are more likely to enter a polytechnic rather than a university. Moreover, when unable to enter a local public HEI and when private HEIs are available in the home district, students are less likely to opt for public HEIs in another district and prefer to enroll in a private institution nearby.…”

COVID-19: Threat or Opportunity for the Portuguese Higher Education's Attractiveness for International Students?

“…It should be noted that although most strategies mentioned during the interviews targeted international students, some support measures applied to the whole student body. The differentiation in terms of strategies may reflect the socioeconomic inequalities that exist between students in both types of education, with universities generally being more elitist and polytechnics having a student body more representative of the student population as a whole ( Sá et al, 2021 ). The broad support measures mentioned by the analysed polytechnics may also reflect the stronger dependence on international students to ensure sustainability, given polytechnics’ lower attractiveness for domestic students, especially in locations outside the big metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto.…”