Higher Education in Management: The Case of Spain

The history of the management education system in Spain can be described by breaking it down into four periods: (1) the emergence of the management education system, (2) the creation of formal university studies and foundation of management/economics faculties (under pre-democratic laws), (3) the structuration and universalization of the management education system (under democratic laws) and (4) the current management education system (after the implementation of the European higher education reform, or Bologna declaration). (1) Emergence of the management education system (up to 1943): The university education system in Spain is one of the oldest in Europe. The University of Salamanca was founded 1218 by King Alfonso IX. Together with the universities of Paris, Oxford and Bologna, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Formal education in business administration can be dated back to 1897 when the so-called schools of commerce were created. Those initial studies in management or business did not belong to the public university system until 1912, when the schools of commerce were ascribed to the different public universities. In the private university system, the Deusto Business School that belongs to University of Deusto (founded 1886) pioneered the training of business leaders, starting its activity in 1916. Up to that point, studies in management were not considered part of the formal education system and were mainly offered and performed by the schools of commerce. (2) Creation of formal university studies and foundation of management/economics faculties: The second period of development of management studies starts with the formal establishment of university-level studies in business and the foundation of the faculties of economics and business (1943–1980s). The first faculty offering business education was founded in 1943 (The Faculty of Political Science and Economics of the Complutense University) in Madrid, and some scholars consider this to be the most important milestone in the changing of business studies’ structure in the higher education system (Infante Diaz 2013). After Madrid, new faculties were created in 1953 in Barcelona and Bilbao, and between 1963 and 1967 at the universities of Malaga, Santiago de Compostela and Valencia. Before 1983 there were already 34 Spanish public universities and four private universities (Deusto, Pontificia de Comillas, Navarra and Pontificia de Salamanca) offering business studies. In this period, business studies were offered through three different types of programmes. There was a three-year programme amounting to a diploma in business administration (BA), mostly offered in schools of commerce belonging to universities, a five-year programme for the graduate (Licenciado) in economics and business administration and the doctorate programmes in BA offered in the faculties of economics and business. (3) Structuration and universalization of the management education system: After the establishment of democracy in Spain (1978), the higher education system was widely reformed. The legal system changed significantly, granting a higher level of autonomy to the universities (LRU 1983). Degrees in economics and business were significantly updated, introducing new subjects, both compulsory and non-compulsory, and increasing specialization. In this period (1980s–2007), the demand for management education notably grew and the number of suppliers, both private and public, increased considerably too (see Fig. 5.1); virtually every public university created its own faculty of economics and business. The system allowed for the first time the creation of degrees specialized in business studies, independent from those in economics. The structure of the university studies remained very close to what existed in the previous period, with a catalogue of official studies based in two cycles: Diplomado (three years, first cycle degree) or Licenciado (three + two years, second cycle degree). The educational system recognized only four official degrees related to business: Diplomado in business sciences (first cycle: mainly taught at schools of commerce), Licenciado in management and/or business administration (first + second cycle: five years), Licenciado in market research techniques (second cycle: + two years), Licenciado in actuarial and financial sciences (second cycle: + two years). Students had to complete a five-year degree (or three + two) in order to be admitted onto a PhD programme. Master’s studies were not included in the official catalogue of university degrees, so they were offered as a complement by universities or private business schools. Private business schools dominated the market in master’s for management education and training.