Academic Expectations, Gender and Working Status: Comparing Two Cohorts of University Students

ABSTRACT The expansion of higher education is associated with the progressive diversification of student’s profiles, such as the increasing number of older, working and female students. The transition to higher education poses challenges for students entering it, generating expectations that can impact academic adaptation. This study compared academic expectations by gender and work situation in two cohorts of first-year students from a Brazilian public university, involving 13,336 participants. The Brazilian Scale of Academic Expectations for First-Year University Students was administered. Non-working and female students had higher academic expectations in both cohorts. The findings provide subsidies to higher education institutions to develop support programs and policies targeting first-year students.