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Educació

Modernizing Spain’s universities

Adapt or, as the saying goes, die trying. Spanish universities, pressured by the construction of the joint European higher education system, have no choice but to make important reforms, some of them structural in nature. Teaching practices, whose criteria have been established in the Bologna process, have already started the transformation process with resources that not a few have described as scarce and the difficulties inherent in any period of change. But a modern university that aspires to be competitive must include qualities that go beyond its role in social and territorial cohesion. Research and innovation, in terms of knowledge transfer, are priorities that Europe considers "non-negotiable."

Xavier Pujol Gebellí | June 10, 2010

Illustration: Nick Bygon

In 2000, the Lisbon Strategy marked a milestone that has much to do with the role of the university and the so-called "knowledge triangle" (education, research and innovation). In a strategy document signed by European Heads of State, it was agreed to increase the average investment of the European Union member states by up to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010. In 2006, it was noted that this objective seemed exceedingly difficult, while there were warnings that none of the proposed indicators were on pace to be met. Today, the failure of the Lisbon Strategy is more than certified and the so-called “common areas,” including those of Higher Education and Research, two of Lisbon’s pillars, are still under construction.

Recomposing the system

The establishment of degrees in higher education, whose mechanisms are defined by Bologna, has the virtue of formalizing the common European curricula. Operating correctly in this regard means that it is necessary to devote resources to bring levels of teaching in line across the continent while prioritizing certain specializations, reviewing the mechanisms of access to academic institutions and the extent of their social and territorial coverage. Finally, it is necessary to consider how to achieve higher standards of academic excellence.

Spain is not immune to these issues. According to Màrius Rubiralta, Secretary General of Universities at Spain’s Ministry of Education, the Spanish university system has begun this journey in recent years. “The diagnosis is clear,” he explained to Global Talent. “The Spanish university can not delay any longer in undertaking the process of modernization and improvement.”

If the question is how, the answer could be “by building the pyramid,” similar to putting in place a structure in which Spanish universities are grouped according to what might be called their “function.” Thus, clearly those universities which choose to maintain a status quo of internationalization and academic excellence both in teaching and in research occupy the top of the pyramid, while at the base would be situated those universities that meet the “social function” and correspondingly adapted in size, teaching, and access to their role in territorial cohesion. More or less, the same is currently happening with the healthcare system, where hospitals classify their activities and coverage according to benchmarks set without sacrificing the quality of care.

“The Spanish university can not delay any longer in undertaking the process of modernization and improvement"Regarding research, the review of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme, which includes the creation of the European Research Council (ERC), has meant a significant commitment to recovering the concept of excellence in research projects developed in universities or other European institutions. At a recent meeting held in Barcelona, the heads of the ERC called for more emphasis from the European bureaucracy in these kinds of policy initiatives as well as a larger budget (now limited to €7.5 billion for seven years) in the future.

Meanwhile in Spain, this process of transformation seems to be centered on the concept of aggregation, given the acceptance of the need for prioritization and specialization. The idea came as a counterpoint to the mechanism introduced 10 years ago that granted universities greater flexibility in the recruitment of researchers and greater agility in managing resources. The most obvious result of this mechanism was the birth of the institutes of academic excellence, entities with their own legal character that have drawn on researchers from universities, government sponsored centers (mainly from the National Research Council) or from specific programs such as Ramon y Cajal and Torres Quevedo or, in Catalonia, through the ICREA model. The ERC’s efforts to recruit talent complete a panoply in which there are plenty of additions in the form of “big signings.”

Institutions generated under this policy have demonstrated their ability to compete in the international arena in cutting-edge science, with results that, in many cases, exceeded expectations. However, this process has meant a certain intellectual decapitalization within the university and its subsequent negative impact on rankings of the quality of its production.

THE TRANSFER PROBLEMFew models in Europe have proven able to provide efficient levels of technology transfer and the majority show poor results compared with the United States, Japan and Southeast Asia. Traditionally, the Nordic countries and Anglo-Saxons are the highest levels of performance in this area, followed by Germany (thanks to the strong presence of technology institutes and large multinational companies) and knowledge centers in France. Spain continues with its commitment to scientific and technological parks, though with mixed levels of success.

In any case, this commitment must be understood in the long term. The legal character of these parks is one that is fostering the generation of composite structures between research groups and companies that have already borne fruit in the form of spin-offs and start-ups.

Ideally, the university should accommodate the entry of the private sector in the form of joint laboratories or any other similar initiatives. However, the lack of a clear regulatory framework, as well as the particular structure of Spanish universities, do not allow for this approach. A year ago, in 2009, the “anti-Bologna” protests further evidenced this problem.

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