In Portuguese higher education, teachers from different scientific areas recognize that their students have difficulties with writing. Nevertheless, preparing students for academic writing is not a priority and any intervention depends more on the interest of particular teachers than on any institutional policy. The development of a more institutional approach to academic writing in Portugal will imply a deeper knowledge of the multifaceted reality of the students’ situation, involving identification of their own perceptions of their writing processes and of the academic writing practices they are subject to. This is the aim of our study, based on 1150 students’ answers to a questionnaire about literacy practices in Portuguese higher education.Our results show that students seem to be conscious of the procedural nature of writing and of the role and importance of planning, composing and reviewing in the course of their writing processes. As for their perceptions about institutional interventions aimed at fostering writing abilities and teacher feedback on their written work, the answers to the questionnaire allow us to conclude that such support is not frequently offered. There are, however, some differences in the way these issues are considered across the various fields of study.

Today’s engineers are expected to be versatile, necessitating a bold shift in the direction of Australian undergraduate engineering education. Alongside the capacity for technical analysis, core engineering graduate attributes emphasise non-technical skills: (i) the ability to communicate effectively, (ii) the ability to function as reflective practitioners on multidisciplinary teams, and (iii) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions within a global, economic, and environmental context. Increasingly, students are coming from a diversity of backgrounds – academic, cultural, and professional – and academics are being required to meet the complex professional demands they bring. Recognition of the need for literacy support where cohorts comprise a high percentage of students from a non-English-speaking background with strong science/math competence, yet little experience of writing academic English, is challenging. Effective literacy support requires early identification of problems in large undergraduate cohorts. Evidence demonstrates that literacy support is most effective when closely integrated with core assignments and relevant to dynamic professional practice.