Leisure policies and student well-being in Ibero-American universities: a documentary analysis of OTIUM-affiliated institutions

Abstract

This study analyzes how leisure and student well-being are formally framed and institutionalized in policy documents of Higher Education Institutions affiliated with the Ibero-American Association for Leisure Studies (OTIUM). A qualitative documentary design examined 18 official documents collected from 10 universities across five countries. Findings were synthesized into cross-cutting dimensions and classified into three documentary configurations, intersectoral, sectoral, and thematic specialization. Colombian institutions exhibited the most explicit documented integration, supported by national mandates such as Colombia’s Law 30/1992 and corresponding institutional regulations. In other cases, leisure was semantically displaced into sport and culture or rendered invisible as an autonomous policy category. Budgetary allocations and document architecture shaped the visibility and coordination of well-being policies. It is concluded that governance arrangements and documentary framing shape the visibility of leisure within institutional frameworks, pointing to structural conditions that mediate its formal recognition.