Monitorização e Avaliação de Impacto das Bolsas de Mérito e Bolsas Novos Talentos da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's (FCG) merit scholarship program is unique in Portuguese HE, combining the dimension of merit with support for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In terms of merit, there is practically no support for undergraduate students based on their potential, apart from the residual support provided by some ES institutions in supporting their courses. The most recognized and widespread aspect of merit in Portuguese HE is probably support for PhD students from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). However, this support emerges later in the context of HE levels, so only a very small fringe of students are potential candidates, and perhaps many students with high potential do not intend to go on to such an advanced level of study. For this reason, there is no program in place for most Portuguese ES that considers the merit of students on entry to ES. Taking the profiles known in the student mobility literature as an example, many disadvantaged students are unable, for financial reasons, to bear the risks inherent in a mobility program like Erasmus, where the value of the existing scholarships and the uncertainties associated with obtaining accommodation, as well as the inconvenience associated with losing accommodation in the country of origin - in the case of displaced students - make it difficult to attend these mobility programs. The study is organized into three objectives. The first objective is to assess the impact of the scholarship on personal and academic life. With this objective, the research team should be able to (i) identify whether the scholarship has allowed students to be more dedicated to their HE course and academic involvement in general, compared to non-funded students; (ii) whether, for funded students, the scholarship has played an active role in their mobility decisions and its impact; and (iii) the role of the scholarship in the financial and family logic of the scholarship holder, establishing whether it has allowed greater financial independence from the family compared to non-selected students. The second objective is to assess the student's choices concerning entering the labor market. The project will seek to find out whether the grant influenced the student's decision to pursue master's studies or to enter the labor market immediately after graduating, when possible, and to assess the respondents' awareness of their efforts and prospects to improve their employability conditions. Suppose the longevity of the program makes it possible. In that case, the access to the first job and the employability indicators achieved by the scholarship holders (typically, number of jobs, salary evolution, type of employment, adjustment of the skills profile to the job) will be assessed one and three years after they enter into the labor market. The third objective is to make broader recommendations to improve the scholarship program. The results of meeting the two previous objectives will give the team the opportunity to 1) assess whether the selection process for these students, as well as the rules for renewing the scholarships, are the most appropriate; 2) assess whether the value of the scholarships is sufficient or excessive for achieving the program's objectives. An insufficient value should lead to an increase in the value of the scholarships, allowing the program to be more effective, while the identification of an excessive value will allow for an increase in the number of students funded; and 3) to identify more general points for improvement, good practices, the possibility of funding more specific activities to be included in the program (e.g., language courses), as well as other recommendations arising from the research conducted.