This study focuses on the analysis of school exclusion, which underlies and causes early school leaving, in 20 schools around Porto, Portugal. It is based on the qualitative and documental study of the personal school files of 25 youth, born between 1996 and 2003, who have left school and are now in a situation of social exclusion. We created a…

Portugal, a semi-peripheral player in international student mobility (ISM), has historically attracted few international students. Against a significant growth in international enrolments in recent years, this paper explores the institutional strategies underpinning this expansion in 13 Portuguese higher education institutions with the highest…

International student mobility has been rising as a global phenomenon in the last few decades, while its impact could be various in different contexts. For the European Union (EU), studying in another EU member country could be regarded as an important factor for the solidarity and integrity of the Union. The current study elaborates on the role…

Background/purpose: While the existing literature explores the internalization of higher education, a significant gap remains in comprehending the motivations behind international students choosing Portuguese higher education. This study aims to address this gap by examining the motivations of a specific group within Portuguese universities:…

"Understanding Student Mobility in Europe" interprets student mobility in European higher education through an active dialogue between disciplines, voices and variables of interest. Providing the conceptual, methodological, pedagogical and empirical foundations, this book advances readers' understanding of the student exchange…

Whilst the presence of international students from so-called 'developing' or 'newly industrialised' countries has become a ubiquitous phenomenon in European higher education, few scholars have explored the underlying postcolonial trajectories that facilitate student migration to many European countries today. In this article, we seek to narrow…

This article models the migration flow of EEA students who graduated from masters and doctoral programmes in UK universities. The increased intra-European mobility of students and graduates is claimed to have crucial positive influence on building Europe's high-skill labour force, which in turn would strengthen its competency in the global…

The study presented in this article aims at understanding the relevance of mobility initiatives to the internationalisation efforts of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). By building upon relevant literature, 17 propositions related to this contribution were identified. Empirical evidence from a concrete case of a European university was then…

The present study attempts to propose a model integrating different factors that influence the decision-making process of choosing foreign academic destinations for short-term mobility. The theoretical model will be supported by empirical research carried out using a questionnaire administered to students who participated in an exchange programme…

This article looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students, focusing on Portuguese-speaking African and Brazilian students during the lockdown of spring 2020. Using evidence from interviews conducted with 27 students domiciled in Portugal, we illustrate some of the challenges faced by students when coping with the…

For a long time the historical/colonial relations between Brazil and Portugal guaranteed the mobility of Brazilian elite that wanted to obtain a degree mostly from the University of Coimbra. However, only in the twenty-first century the flow of Brazilian students to Portuguese higher education increased, turning it into the largest community of…

Students are formal learners seeking documented and recognized tertiary education. Student mobility in higher education can be inward (into a country) or outward (out of a country). Both types of mobility are educational processes offering different experiences and resulting in different outcomes. At least half of MIEM (Integrated Mechanical…

We present the perspectives of Portuguese pre-service teachers about a formative strategy developed to promote learning about language and literacy education. The strategy was underpinned by theories about the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), rehearsed (or simulated) agency, the epistemology of reflective practise and assessment for learning.…

Since 1987, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC) has been engaged in mobility programs, making efforts to encourage and support the internationalization of its students. Mobility programs are designed to strengthen the dimension and quality of the Higher Education, to encourage transnational cooperation between Universities, to…

Several studies on the access to public higher education in Portugal have analysed the students' migration flows. Those studies, in general, do not consider the micro-level migration decisions of students. This study analyses the students' migration flows by fields of study or programmes, grades, social background and region of origin for a small…