Although in Portugal, in recent decades, the number of students accessing Higher Education (HE) has substantially increased, with the consequent diversification of the student body in terms of their personal, academic and motivational characteristics (e.g., Fragoso & Valadas, 2018; Vasconcelos, Almeida, & Monteiro, 2009) and new ways of accessing higher education and new courses have emerged, research into the transition to higher education is predominantly carried out in a university context, with undergraduate and/or master's students. Research in the context of polytechnic higher education and, particularly, covering students from other study cycles, such as Higher Professional Technical Courses (CTeSP), is scarce. Thus, the main objective of this research project is to study the expectations and trajectories of students in Polytechnic Higher Education, analyzing the extent to which students' sociodemographic variables, their self-efficacy beliefs and the characteristics of their own training contexts are related to your choices and your academic path.

The academic path of CTeSP students will be studied in greater depth, considering that not many studies are known about CTeSP, and that they are attended by students in an academic situation and from different origins than those of degrees. The research will be predominantly quantitative, using questionnaires, most of which have already been studied in Portugal (e.g., Academic Perceptions-Expectations Questionnaire by Deaño et al., 2014; Questionnaire on Anticipated Difficulties in Adapting to Higher Education, by Casanova & Almeida, 2017 ). It is expected that at least 500 students from different Polytechnic Higher Education schools will participate in the study, attending CTeSP and degrees, in different scientific areas. Interviews will be carried out with a small number of participants who have dropped out of the courses, to study in depth the reasons for dropping out.

This investigation may contribute to the construction of knowledge about the transition to Polytechnic Higher Education, expanding the most abundant current knowledge about University Education. The focus on CTeSP brings additional contributions, in order to better understand the expectations and experiences of students, so that educational institutions can take this information into account in their decisions, improving policies for adaptation and integration academic activities, and adapting them to the specific needs revealed by these students.