Social work and support policies in higher education in Portugal

Portuguese student welfare policy is a field of action in which social workers develop interventions to promote school success, equal opportunities and well-being for students. This study aims to discuss the consequences of monetary support policies and how these are associated with university students' monetary and emotional safety and academic success. It further analyses managers' perspectives regarding social workers' participation in student welfare policy. Mixed research methods were applied, taking into consideration empirical data from three levels of analysis involving different data-processing techniques. The results show that monetary policies contribute to students' monetary and emotional safety. However, monetary policies have no influence on the time dedicated to school activities. Results also demonstrate that the production of follow-up strategies would benefit from managers fomenting a proactive attitude among social workers.