Students' choices in Portuguese higher education: influences and motivations

Abstract

Students face significant pressures in their decision about their career plan. These pressures are simultaneously internal and external, personal and social, individual and from the reference group. The present paper aims at understanding the reasons driving students' choices, perceived needs, and aspirations. Moreover, it discusses the major influences/pressures of the student's choice and tries to understand how choice is affected by the students' socioeconomic and cultural background and other factors such as institutional reputation or "professional heritage." The construction of the career plan is analyzed by applying a qualitative analysis methodology through content analysis of the freshmen discourses. The results point out the relevance of social status, intelligence, gender, competences, values, and interests of each person for the construction of his/her career plan. All these levels are highly influenced by self-esteem, which is closely related to the social value of career options and paths. The more central the variable self-esteem is, the less susceptible it will become to change other variables such as educational level, profession accessibility, or gender adequacy.