There has been a massive expansion in access to higher education (HE) in recent decades. One of the major developments in dealing with mass HE has been a tendency to de-regulate higher education systems (HES), allowing them to follow the interplay of the supply and demand forces. However, it has been argued that de-regulation and competition could lead to significant stratification and inequalities in HE.

In this project, funded by FCT for the period 2020-2024, we study several dimensions of the dynamics of inequality in mass HE by focusing on the Portuguese system. A crucial aspect to study is the impact of the access system and how it replicates and amplifies different inequalities. Thus, we analyse the access system in Portugal and to what extent it performs well. We divided the analysis into three topics:

Topic 1: Mismatches and (In)equalities in the Access to Higher Education in Portugal

Topic 2: Gender (In)equality in Higher Education

Topic 3: Degrees of Inequality – Analysing the Transition from 1st to 2nd Cycle Degrees