Do international traineeships have more impact on the development of cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal competences than study abroad? A case study of Slovene student perceptions of their competence development through their Erasmus mobility

In the context of the internationalization of higher education, international student mobility has in recent decades become an important strategic direction for countries as well as for institutions of higher education. In our study, we analysed Slovene Erasmus student perceptions of the development of their cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal competences through their stay abroad. The analysis shows that students perceive international learning mobility as an important factor for the development of their skills, as a mode of a more profound learning process through interactions in an international environment. It supports the development of their cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal competences through a social process between individuals from different cultural, organizational, social and personal values. Our research shows that the type of mobility affects the intensity and type of skills developed, with traineeships having more substantial competence development implications.

Gendered workplaces: Resistance, adaptation and agency in large legal firms – The perspectives of young lawyers1

Gender inequality at work is a persistent and complex phenomenon. Taking the case of a small group of young lawyers working in large legal firms in Portugal, this article intends to discuss how gender inequality manifests and evolves from internship through first years of professional activity. Based on a data set of nineteen biographical interviews – ten male and nine female – we discuss the centrality of gender in analysing professional organizations, combining structural and actor perspectives. Female and male lawyers are confronted with a gendered organization with (in)visible gender lines that naturalize asymmetries of treatment, position, opportunities and expectations. Both learn how to adapt and invent strategies of resistance that include flexible professional projects.

Representation of international students in the Portuguese press: Are immigrants welcome?

Since the 2000s, the Portuguese government and higher education institutions have been making significant changes to their strategies for attracting international students. While scholars have given extensive consideration to how these changes have increased the number of international students, less attention has been paid to how the national media have represented these new arrivals. Hence, in this article, following the analysis of 103 news stories published in two leading Portuguese newspapers, we investigate the representation of international students in the Portuguese press to analyse how the media portrayed this population from 2006 to 2019. As student mobility became more visible in Portuguese migration and education policies, media focus on this phenomenon increased. Based on a critical analysis discourse framework, our results outline a positive narrative about international students that both reinforces Portugal’s image as an attractive destination for skilled youths and highlights the contribution of international students to the country’s development.

Overcoming linguistic barriers in Portuguese higher education: The case of international African students

This article reflects about the contextual and theoretical assumptions of the project ‘Trovoada de Ideias: Linguistic and social inclusion of students from Portuguese-speaking African countries in Portuguese higher education’, an ongoing action research on Portuguese academic language teaching involving students who speak different varieties of Portuguese. By adopting a multidimensional inclusion approach (simultaneously linguistic, cultural and social), the ultimate aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors of (in)comprehension between students fluent in different norms of Portuguese and the university host community in Portugal, and consequently, building a frame for improving higher education institutions responses to multicultural challenges implied in the social dynamics of language variation.

The left and right hands of the Portuguese state: Welfare retrenchment of public employment

This article focuses on welfare retrenchment in Portugal by analysing the evolution of public sector employment up until 2013. A multidimensional analysis of the structure of public employment in the Portuguese state was developed, theoretically guided by the ‘hands of the state’ model proposed by Bourdieu, which divides the main functions of contemporary states between its left hand (more redistributive) and its right hand (more rational economic-oriented). Bourdieu’s approach is especially useful in addressing the transformations of the Portuguese public employment between 1979 and 2013, characterized by specific economic, social and political changes. In 2013 – a year in which the adjustment measures agreed by the Portuguese government, the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund during the global crisis were especially intense – we observed the tendency towards the disqualification of public employment and the shrinking of the left hand of the Portuguese state. Public policy orientations in the areas of education and science were particularly troubling, considering the structural backwardness the country faces in these fields in the context of the European Union.

Opinions and experiences of Greek students participating in Erasmus mobility programmes and emerging opportunities for university pedagogy

In this article, we examine the opinions of Greek students at the University of Patras who participated in Erasmus mobility programmes. Based on the results of previous relevant studies in the Greek context on benefits and difficulties expressed by the participating Greek students, in the current research in-depth interviews were designed to investigate the implications of this experience for university pedagogy. Interviews were addressed to students from various disciplines that participated in mobility programmes in different countries and higher education environments during the past two years. The analysis of the research findings confirms the conclusions of previous studies on the development of critical thinking and specific skills for the participants. Regarding University Pedagogy, significant points of interest arise, elements that give the opportunity for a new perspective to approach International Mobility Programmes and Higher Education, but also highlight the need for further research.

Internationalization of Higher Education for Development: Blackness and Postcolonial Solidarity in Africa-Brazil Relations, Susanne Ress (2019)

Review of: Internationalization of Higher Education for Development: Blackness and Postcolonial Solidarity in Africa-Brazil Relations, Susanne Ress (2019) London: Bloomsbury Academic, 208 pp., ISBN 978-1-35004-546-0, h/bk, £90

Periodical press and port cities: Creation of knowledge, representations and networks1

Port cities constituted dynamic axes of national territories and stood out for their opening to the outside world for the transaction of goods, the reception of the new and the exchange of ideas. They were also free spaces for new technological experiences and the foundation of modern economic, scientific, social and political projects. They stood out as privileged territories for the establishment of networks of knowledge and through these networks maintained the contact with distant lands. Intellectual production in them is remarkable and the periodical press, providing general or specialized information, as an information industry at the service of new political, scientific and economic projects, finds space for its development within the port cities. This Special Section brings together researchers working on these subjects, allowing a multidisciplinary approach involving scholars from such scientific areas as communication, information, history, literature and international relations. The objective is to analyse the relationship between the periodic press and port cities and how these urban spaces fostered public opinion and debate projects, as well as new specialized information.

Centenary newspapers in Porto: Identity editorial features and the construction of audiences in a city background. Main evolutionary journalistic lines in the late nineteenth century until the First Republic

O Comércio do Porto, O Primeiro de Janeiro and Jornal de Notícias were the main newspapers launched in Porto during the nineteenth century. They were founded at a time the city was of central importance for its trade and international relations, but also because it was the epicentre of the main political movements that led to great changes in the country’s governance. They evolved according to the city developments and gradually gained prestige and national reach. Ideological models of press gave way to news editorial projects, and Porto newspapers also followed that path. Each editorial profile was built from the initial matrix, but also by gradually adapting to reader preferences and enhancing identification processes within the novelty of news formats. These daily newspapers were, at some point, led by charismatic owners and directors who became key factors in their evolution. The aim of this study is to identify these specific editorial lines and how they gained the loyalty of readers, taking into consideration the role of these newspapers in building common identity.