Abstract:

The special contest for students over 23 years was established in Portugal through the Legal Decret 64/2006, creating special access to higher education for those who, for various personal reasons, did not continue their studies in a normal pathway. The process to apply takes place in the higher education institution (HEI) in which the student is interested to enroll, and the application procedure implies an exam (prepared and developed by the HEI), a curriculum evaluation and an interview with a panel of teachers.

The authors of this paper are, since 2014, strongly involved in this over23 process, including participation in the evaluation panels, teaching activity and academic management functions. This context of interpersonal closeness with the process puts the authors in a unique and favorable position to deeply understand this target group.

The main purpose of this research is to examine the attitudes and behaviors of students over23 through a marketing lens concerning their experience in higher education: what are their fears and anxieties? What are their dreams? What are these students trying to accomplish? These questions will help to interpret and comprehend that target.

Based on students´ personal narratives the empathy map tool was used as the main qualitative analysis method. “Empathy mapping is a tool that helps to know the user's requirements and needs to identify the design problems according to users' perspectives. It goes beyond demographic attributes and builds up a superior comprehension of a user's current circumstance, behavior, and concerns.” (Allah, Ismail & Elrobaa, 2021, pag. 3). Drawing on the information from the narratives collected, the aim was to construct empathic maps that help to better understand physical, emotional, rational, and/or psychological variables and the students in their most holistic context.

Based on empirical evidence, this article provides theoretical and practical contributions. It might help to improve the design of value propositions in the context of HEI and, simultaneously, it can provide useful insights for decision making, including profiling and targeting, more effective learning and teaching methodologies, and more successful student acquisition and retention strategies.

Keywords:

Over23, marketing education, empathy mapping, empathy map, personal narratives.