The presence of African students in Portuguese higher education, namely those coming from Portuguese-Speaking Countries and Territories (PALOP), was traditionally representative of the so called international or mobility students, now in decline and the opposite of what is happening with the international students of Brazil and European countries studying in Portugal. After the first four decades following the Revolution of 1975, a new profile of African students in higher education is becoming noticeable: the descendants of Africans that came to Portugal during the strong immigration flows of the eighties and nineties. However, and despite the fact that since the nineties there has been an undeniable expansion of the vocational tracks and widespread participation in secondary and higher education in Portugal, several studies indicate that these young people may still face significant obstacles accessing higher education today. What are the estimates for the evolution of African descendants in Portuguese higher education? What are the social origins of these young people and their families? What kind of academic pathways do these young people lead in higher education? Are they most represented in certain areas of study or in certain types of higher education institutions? What about their school experiences and pathways before entering in higher education? To answer those questions we will make use of the extensive data analysis of the project “School pathways of young African students (PALOP) that access higher education” that uses data from several official sources of statistical information.

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Desigualdades,mobilidade social,ensino superior,descendentes de imigrantes africanos