Abstract:

Higher education in Portugal its characterized by the implementation, in the last two decades of the XX century, of a binary system: university and polytechnic studies. The establishment of polytechnic education allowed an effective democratization of the access to higher education. However, this process took time to be implemented and we still verify, today, persistent dichotomies with the university system. Nevertheless, it is unquestionable that, the institution of this higher education system, allowed a redistribution of the regional offer and the possibility for young people, coming from socioeconomically disadvantaged sectors of society, to have access to higher education, contributing to reducing geographic, social, and economic contrasts. In this reflection, we intend to address the specific case of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, as the first institution of polytechnic education created at national level. We have revised the data obtained in several investigations that took place between 2006 and 2020 (657 surveys), in search of, in a longitudinal perspective, to verify the changes in the social profiles of its students, in their access to higher education, their motivations and their professional expectations.

Keywords:

Polytechnic higher education, social classes, educational motivations, professional expectations.