Rui Brites

Academic job satisfaction and motivation: findings from a nationwide study in Portuguese higher education

Academic staff is a key resource in higher education institutions (HEIs) and therefore has a major role in the achievement of the objectives of these institutions. Satisfied and well-motivated academic staff can build a national and international reputation for themselves and their institutions. Moreover, the performance of academic staff impacts student learning. In this context, the study of academic staff job satisfaction and motivation to perform their professional activities becomes crucial, especially as higher education is traversed by multiple changes. The purpose of this paper is to present and analyze the findings of a nationwide study on satisfaction and motivation of academics. All academics working in Portuguese HEIs were invited to complete a survey online. The data obtained from 4529 academics were extensively analyzed and findings are presented here along with their implications for HEIs in Portugal.

Brain drain and the disenchantment of being a higher education student in Portugal

ABSTRACT The efforts made by most countries to accelerate economic development have included a significant investment in education. It has been argued that investment in education, particularly higher education, was itself a potential factor in economic development. Education has become a relatively easy means of improving access to the labour market. However, in Portugal, the recent trend has been reversed, and the country now faces a growing number of university graduates in several fields of education and training that do not have a job based on their formal qualifications. Despite the differences of unemployment by area of education and training, unemployment of the young skilled has been a problem in recent years. Therefore, following this unemployment trend, there has been growing the exodus of highly skilled professionals from the Portuguese economy, leaving it with a reduced supply of skilled people. This article discusses the employability of graduates from several academic areas and discusses the educational and economic policies that generate a real brain drain.

Academic Job Satisfaction and Motivation: Perspectives from a Nation-Wide Study in Public Higher Education Institutions in Portugal

The centrality of the faculty role makes it a primary sculptor of higher education institutions (HEIs). The performance of academic staff such as teachers and researchers has an impact on student learning and implications for the quality HEIs and therefore their contribution to society. Thus the academic staff can, with appropriate support, build a national and international reputation for themselves and for the institution in the professional areas, in research and in publishing.

Potentialities of the Qualitative Analysis Assisted by Computer: An Exploratory Study About Content Value Perception in TripAdvisor

This study explores the potentialities of the qualitative analysis assisted by computer. The study is exploratory and focus the perception of the functional value of the content created and shared by TripAdvisor users. Data were collected through online interviews. The study sample consists of 85 respondents. Through content analysis performed using MaxQDA, eleven categories were related to functional value. The most frequent category is “advice on restaurants, places to visit, etc.”, followed by “real testimonials” and content on “value for money”. Through Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) using SPSS, three strong associations among the categories are identified: “actual testimonies”, “information about the destination” and “useful in choosing the destination”; between the categories “Advice on restaurants and places to visit” and “experiences in restaurants”; and an association between “Quality/Price” and “Hotel Information”. The articulation between the two techniques proved adequate and allowed a rewarding analysis and interpretation of the data.

L’émigration portugaise qualifiée dans le contexte européen

Devant le renouvellement de l’emigration portugaise en Europe, une enquete realisee en 2014 fait le point sur les representations que les migrants portent sur leur propre parcours. La distinction de differents facteurs de repulsion pour leur pays d’origine et d’attraction pour le pays de destination permet d’esquisser les nouveaux visages des migrants portugais, plus qualifies que leurs predecesseurs, tres informes sur les perspectives professionnelles de mobilite. Envisageant leur depart davantage comme une experience de vie qu’une situation d’emigration, ils contribuent a redefinir les contours transnationaux de l’Europe contemporaine.

The decision to emigrate: a study from the perspective of dispositional plurality

This paper analyses the Portuguese high-skilled emigration, focusing on the emigration decision-making process. This article aims to understand the dispositions leading to this decision, and the social processes that explain its origin, sedimentation and activation. To this end, and using the theoretical and methodological approach of Bernard Lahire, 53 sociological portraits of skilled Portuguese who emigrated to other European countries are cross-sectional analyzed. This analysis is supplemented by data from a survey previously administered. Thus, we will address how the migratory dispositions are built through the individual biographies, highlighting the heuristic potential of the individual observation scale.Este artigo analisa a emigracao portuguesa qualificada, focando-se sobre a producao da decisao de emigrar. E seu objetivo compreender as disposicoes que conduzem a essa decisao, bem como os processos sociais que explicam a sua genese, sedimentacao e ativacao. Para isso, e recorrendo a proposta teorica e metodologica de Bernard Lahire, procede-se a analise transversal de 53 retratos sociologicos de portugueses qualificados que emigraram para outros paises europeus, complementada pelos dados de um inquerito administrado previamente. Deste modo, daremos conta da forma como as disposicoes migratorias se constroem atraves dos percursos biograficos, ressaltando as potencialidades heuristicas da escala individual de observacao.

A decisão de emigrar : um estudo a partir da perspetiva da pluralidade

This paper analyses the Portuguese high-skilled emigration, focusing on the emigration decision-making process. This article aims to understand the dispositions leading to this decision, and the social processes that explain its origin, sedimentation and activation. To this end, and using the theoretical and methodological approach of Bernard Lahire, 53 sociological portraits of skilled Portuguese who emigrated to other European countries are cross-sectional analyzed. This analysis is supplemented by data from a survey previously administered. Thus, we will address how the migratory dispositions are built through the individual biographies, highlighting the heuristic potential of the individual observation scale.Este artigo analisa a emigracao portuguesa qualificada, focando-se sobre a producao da decisao de emigrar. E seu objetivo compreender as disposicoes que conduzem a essa decisao, bem como os processos sociais que explicam a sua genese, sedimentacao e ativacao. Para isso, e recorrendo a proposta teorica e metodologica de Bernard Lahire, procede-se a analise transversal de 53 retratos sociologicos de portugueses qualificados que emigraram para outros paises europeus, complementada pelos dados de um inquerito administrado previamente. Deste modo, daremos conta da forma como as disposicoes migratorias se constroem atraves dos percursos biograficos, ressaltando as potencialidades heuristicas da escala individual de observacao.

A decisão de emigrar: um estudo a partir da perspetiva da pluralidade disposicional

This paper analyses the Portuguese high-skilled emigration, focusing on the emigration decision-making process. This article aims to understand the dispositions leading to this decision, and the social processes that explain its origin, sedimentation and activation. To this end, and using the theoretical and methodological approach of Bernard Lahire, 53 sociological portraits of skilled Portuguese who emigrated to other European countries are cross-sectional analyzed. This analysis is supplemented by data from a survey previously administered. Thus, we will address how the migratory dispositions are built through the individual biographies, highlighting the heuristic potential of the individual observation scale.Este artigo analisa a emigracao portuguesa qualificada, focando-se sobre a producao da decisao de emigrar. E seu objetivo compreender as disposicoes que conduzem a essa decisao, bem como os processos sociais que explicam a sua genese, sedimentacao e ativacao. Para isso, e recorrendo a proposta teorica e metodologica de Bernard Lahire, procede-se a analise transversal de 53 retratos sociologicos de portugueses qualificados que emigraram para outros paises europeus, complementada pelos dados de um inquerito administrado previamente. Deste modo, daremos conta da forma como as disposicoes migratorias se constroem atraves dos percursos biograficos, ressaltando as potencialidades heuristicas da escala individual de observacao.

The acceptance model of online learning by face-to-face higher education students

This study aimed to propose and test a model of acceptance of online learning by face-to-face students. Participated in the research, conducted through survey technique, 732 students attending 1st cycle courses (bachelor) in 11 Portuguese private higher education (HEIs). Built a acceptance of online teaching model (MAEO) based on four dimensions: perceived usefulness, attitude, technological expertise and intended use. The results obtained, using the technique of structural equation modeling, revealed that the perceived usefulness and attitude are predictive factors of online usage intention and the perceived usefulness has an effect on the attitude. It was also concluded that the technology experience no effect, with statistical significance, on the perceived utility or on the attitude.