Students' integration into the environment of the higher education institution (HEIs) is a shared concern found in the literature. This notion of integration is particularly relevant in the first year in higher education, when students face increased difficulties of adapting to a new environment, being the year when a higher number of students…

Previous studies have associated initiation practices, also known as hazing, with conformity, fear, apprehension, anxiety, submission, coercion, desire for group integration, and acceptance. Therefore, students undergo several types of influences or pressures. We argue that the social environment surrounding the hazing in Portuguese universities…

Background: Literature draws attention to the relationships between the initial experiences of students as they begin their higher education and how they fare subsequently. In Portugal, the new student's reception is ritualised by tradition, and involves the organisation of an entire integration ceremony (known as "praxe") proposed by…