The well-being of students in higher education has been subject of concern among practitioners and researchers at a global level (Cunha, et al., 2017; Eisenberg et al., 2013; Stallman, 2010). Specifically in the Portuguese context, this concern extends to policymakers and, therefore, to society (National Health Service, 2023), since it is estimated that a large number of students will experience mental health problems during their academic paths. With this in mind, the FLOW project was born: Facing obstacles to well-being in academia: is organizational communication a starting point? (with reference IPL/IDI&CA2023/FLOW_ESCS). During this project (September 2023-September 2024) we will explore how Higher Education Institutions (HEI), specifically through their institutional communication, have been promoting the well-being of their students. Although there are already some studies that suggest strategies at this level (e.g. Baik et al., 2019), the evidence on the role of organizational communication is still scarce. Thus, the main objectives of this project are: to identify the main channels, flows and means of communication used by HEI to communicate with students, to understand how these relate to students’ well-being; to analyze the communication actions implemented by HEI to promote a better inclusion and overall well-being of their students. In this case, we seek to understand both the students’ perspective and the institutions’ perspective, using a qualitative methodology. During the last quarter of 2023, we conducted individual interviews with communication managers and psychology counsellors from Portuguese HEI at different country regions, and during the first quarter of 2024, we will do focus groups with the students. The results are still preliminary, but it is possible to conclude, from the interviews with communication managers, that communication with students includes the frequent transmission of a lot and not personalized information. These professionals suggest that guidance and good practices manuals should be developed and implemented. Although the project is still at the data collection stage, its results will be presented during the congress and its main theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.

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Organizational communication,Higher Education Institutions,Students,Well-being

• Media and Communications - Social Sciences