Creativity is intelligence having fun: is creativity a real learning outcome of higher education?

Creativity is a central dimension in a citizenship education curriculum, considered one crucial skill in the toolkit of the 21st century learner. Needed and valued in all domains (personal, academic or professional), this skill is a requirement to an active effective learning in higher education, highly appreciated also by labour market. Given the high level of agreement on its importance, some questions remain: how Higher Education Institutions doing to foster, nurture and develop student’s creativity? Is this skill effectively depicted in their academic curricula? Accordingly, this study aims to explore how creativity has been defined in the scope of learning outcomes proposed in the new study programs submitted to quality accreditation in Portugal, since 2009. Using a qualitative approach, the content of theses learning outcomes were analyzed, using a conceptual matrix theoretical and empirically validated. In general, results reveal that creativity is highly mentioned as soft-skill, however, encompassing a vast range of definitions. “The ability to create new critical methodologies adapted to a specific study object”, “to be able to analyze, evaluate and synthesize new and complex ideas in a critical and innovative ways”, “the capability to formulate non-conventional questions and generate creative alternatives” are formulations of how this skill has been defined. The findings will serve to clarify our understanding of the value that Portuguese Higher Education Institutions are placing on creativity in their academic programs and how this skill is being implemented in their practices.