‘Welcome to Wonderland’. Integration rituals and ceremonies for higher education first-year students, and lessons for institutions

ABSTRACT Students' integration into the environment of the higher education institution (HEIs) is a shared concern found in the literature. This notion of integration is particularly relevant in the first year in higher education, when students face increased difficulties of adapting to a new environment, being the year when a higher number of students drop out. Thus, the main purpose of the study is to grasp students' perceptions of the measures put in place to ease their integration into the academic and social environment of the HEI. This study used a qualitative methodology, and data collection instruments used are twofold: semi-structured interviews with students and document analysis. In Portugal, the welcome to students who enrol in higher education is made in two ways: through a ceremonial proposed by peers and through the institutional welcome promoted by the HEI. The results reveal the relevance students ascribe to strategies for welcoming newcomers in the HEI, promoted both by peers and by the institution itself. Thus, having identified this pivotal dimension of the students' experience, namely in their likelihood of remaining in the institution, HEIs should endeavour to make students feel comfortable in this new environment and perceive the institution as their ‘second home’.