Portuguese Journal of Social Science - Southern European Perspectives on International Student Mobility, Sept 2020

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.

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.

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.

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.