Higher Professional Technical Course in Portugal: The Case Study of the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda

This chapter contributes to assess the Higher Professional and Technical Courses (HPTC) in Portugal (Hasanefendic et al., Technological Forecasting and Social Change 113:328–340, 2016; Jin et al., Professional Development in Education 47:745–762, 2019; Joensen & Nielsen, Is there a causal effect of high school math on labor market outcomes? IZA Discussion Papers, No. 2357, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2006). These new cycles of non-degree higher education were created and regulated by Decree-Law n°43/2014, 18th March (MEC, Diário da República, I Série 18:2074–2081, 2014), in response to the main higher education policy objective of the XIX Portuguese Government Programme and of the European Union 2020 Strategy (EC, Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Communication from the Commission. Publications Office of the European Union, 2010), knowing that both promote economic growth and job creation in Europe and Portugal. The aim of the chapter is to analyse the development of HPTC investigating the path of graduate students in Portugal, in order to present the contribution of these courses for students as an opportunity to continue their studies, as well as to enable a better participation in active life. Methodologically, this research relies on two different approaches. The first approach takes the form of a literature review, based on the legal regime of the HPTC. The second approach takes the form of a descriptive statistical analysis, using a questionnaire and the case study method in a Portuguese public polytechnic higher education institution (Yin, Case study research: Design and methods. Sage Publications, 2018). One of the most important results is the incentive to the academic community, especially the Portuguese polytechnic higher education institutions, to promote studies and annual reports about this theme. Another result is that these cycles improve professional education, both for the diversity of demand labour in the Portuguese firms and for the supply of qualified professionals. Another result is that these courses aim to substantially increase until 2030 the number of young people and adults with relevant qualifications, including technical and professional skills, for jobs, decent work, and entrepreneurship (ILO, Decent Work Country Programmes. International Labour Office, 2019; UNESCO, Global education monitoring report 2016: Education for people and planet. UNESCO, 2016a; UNESCO technical and vocational education strategy, 2016–21. UNESCO, 2016b).