SENIOR UNIVERSITIES IN PORTUGAL: EXPLORATORY STUDY FOR THE APPROACH OF POSITIVE ORGANISATIONS

Abstract

The Association Network of Seniors Universities in Portugal (RUTIS) is a non-formal lifelong education project represented in the Economic and Social Council (CES) and involves more than 65,000 seniors, 368 organisations and 7,500 volunteer teachers. It is presumably the country in the world with proportionally the largest number of senior learners (Jacob, 2020). In this exploratory quantitative research through a questionnaire survey addressed to a sample of 1,016 individuals, the main goal is to get to know the Senior Universities as a positive organisation. The secondary goals were considered: i) to characterize the students in the sociodemographic component ii) to assess the reasons for attending university , iii) to know the importance assigned to university and iv) to assess the benefits perceived by students in this context. The results show that: i) the majority of students are female (71.85%), aged between 65-74 years (57.1%), married (65.26%), with a low level of education (47.74%) and the most representative income level is 41.54% (n=422), in the range of 401-1000€. There is a moderate positive correlation ( ρ =0.62) and statistically significant (p-value=0) between the monthly income and the level of education of older students. ii) The possibility of remaining active, acquiring new knowledge, socializing and keeping busy are the main reasons given for enrolling/attending the US. iii) As for the importance assigned, the data point to: staying active, socializing and learning. iv) The perceived benefits are to continue having an active life, having more knowledge and improving mental health. The study data are relevant from the perspective of Martin Seligman's positive organizations (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005; Galinha, 2020).