Restyling the Higher Education Landscape: Regional (A)symmetries Across Portugal

Abstract

This work studies the disparities found in higher education institutions across Portugal -in terms of geographical location, being polytechnics institutes or universities, and operating in the private or public sector -in relation to their offering of 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd cycle study programmes and scientific areas.Bearing in mind that, on the one hand, any education institution must adapt to the surrounding population, and that, on the other hand, the population also ends up adapting to the existing educational offer, there is always some synergy between the characteristics of higher education institutions and local population/social context. Therefore, it is of surmount importance to characterize the educational system and verify the presence of asymmetries, by evaluation of the way it relates and is related to the physical and social setting.In Portugal, every study programme (newly submitted or running) is subject to evaluation by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education -A3ES. At the initial stage of the evaluation process, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) submit a proposal to A3ES. The analysis of the characteristics associated with both the study programme and HEI submitting it, held by A3ES, allow an indirect characterization of the national HE landscape.Based on a descriptive analysis of the data associated with all the study programmes submitted to A3ES from 2009 to 2014 ( = 2961), it was possible to cross-tabulate several variables and to do a thorough discussion, highlighting the influence of different internal aspects of the Portuguese Higher Education System. This data-based reflection is a contribute for future works aiming to understand the underlying dynamics behind such asymmetries. Knowing the regional asymmetries may provide opportunities to find innovative solutions that foster education on disadvantaged regions.

Do socially responsible higher education institutions contribute to sustainable regional growth and innovation?

“…Mazzarol and Soutar (2008) underline that HEIs located in regions with greater resources are more efficient in transforming those resources and developing more capacities to respond appropriately to regional needs. Dias et al (2019) advocated that if HEIs adapt to their surrounding population, the population also ends up adapting to the existing educational supply, culminating in a certain synergy between the characteristics of teaching, educational institutions and the local population/social context. If it is considered that HEIs are a social referential that can (or cannot) promote progress, qualify human capital, responsibly build social capital, prepare students for external realities, provide access to knowledge, and so on (Vallaeys, 2014), it would be important to assess the different ways in which Portuguese HEIs relate to their physical and social environments, to determine the presence of asymmetries between the various regions (Pedro et al, 2021).…”

HEI Efficiency and Quality of Life: Seeding the Pro-Sustainability Efficiency

“…More peripheral regions are usually expected to be less developed, as they are further from the main centres of decisionmaking, production and consumption [83]. Considering that if on one hand the HEIs must adapt to their surrounding population, and on the other that the population also ends up adapting to the existing educational supply, there is always a certain synergy between the characteristics of teaching, educational institutions and the local population/social context, as mentioned by [44]. So, it would be important to characterise the Portuguese higher education system and determine the presence of asymmetries between the various regions, assessing the different ways in which these institutions relate to their physical and social environment.…”

“…More than involving active academic participation to create economic, social and environmental programs that improve living standards, generate empowerment and respect interdependence [42], this means that sustainability must go further than acquiring knowledge on issues related to sustainability to provide a transformation of the dominant ways of being and understanding this new social reality [43]. Knowing regional asymmetries can provide educational systems with opportunities to find innovative solutions in disadvantaged areas [44]. Mainardes et al [38] argue that organisations adapting a strategy to their external environment is a principle of competitiveness.…”