Quem são e como são eles? O caso dos adultos no ensino superior

Abstract

This article presents a reflection about nontraditional students in higher education. Due to the many changes faced in our society today, and taking in account recent changes in Portuguese legislation, concerning adults’access to the higher education system, we expect that non-traditional students will be, in the near future, an important sector of the entire higher education population. In this sense, based on a review of national and international studies, our aim is to describe those adults, from the point of view of demographic, social and psychological characteristics. We also intend to know how adults learn, in what extent have they different academic outcomes, comparatively to the young adults, and to discuss the main changes that we need to introduce in the higher education institutions, in order to well receive non-traditional students. At last, synthesizing the main points discussed, we stress the need for more research to better understand adults in higher education, particularly in Portugal.