Universities of Applied Sciences in Brazil and in Portugal from Conception to Practice

The primary objective of this study is to compare the conceptualized model versus the actual implementation of the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR) in Brazil and the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB) in Portugal, from its creations to the present day, in the institutional and pedagogical field. The two organizations focus on training professionals through more practical approaches, learning in close collaboration with industries and society, boosting regional development. Our research is justified by the fact that there are few studies on how higher educational organizations respond to the new demands in their local contexts, without violating their modus operandi. In Portugal, the higher education system is binary, composed of universities and polytechnics, whereas in Brazil, there is no designed system for higher education that distinguishes Classical Universities (CU) from Technological Universities (UT) such as UTFPR. The documentary evidence is composed of official documents and semi-structured interviews with managers involved both in the process of constitution of these organizations and nowadays. Data was treated using the Content Analysis technique. Firstly, this study showed that the organizations analyzed operated differently over the years. On its conception, UTFPR proposed an alternative model of university, however, after fourteen years there has been a departure from the characteristics of UAS, changingits university model. Distinctly, IPB remained faithful to the model devised in its creation, which to some extent also helped the institution to achieve national and international recognition, fulfilling its developmentalist mission.