Open AccessEssence and identity in polytechnic higher education in Portugal: from the basic law on the educational system to the Bologna Declaration
Author(s) -
Cláudia Urbano
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
sociologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.248
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 2182-7907
pISSN - 0873-6529
DOI - 10.7458/spp2011667767
Subject(s) - bologna declaration , declaration , higher education , convergence (economics) , state (computer science) , identity (music) , sociology , political science , mathematics education , public administration , pedagogy , law , economic growth , bologna process , economics , psychology , computer science , physics , algorithm , acoustics
The words university and higher education are often used indiscriminately. But Portugal has a two-pronged higher education system: universities and polytechnics have followed different ways. However, certain educational policies have produced a convergence in the direction of these subsystems, not in their policy and their missions — because they reflect different educational objectives — but in the trends associated with the supply of and demand for higher education. This can be the indicator of a change in social representations and cultural models with regard to these subsystems and, especially, the polytechnic subsystem, where more changes have occurred. It is our purpose to contribute to an enrichment of the state-of-the-art information on higher education and, specifically, polytechnic education in Portugal.