Gender competences in undergraduate studies in Spanish public universities. Case study of the University of Seville

Purpose Accordingly, this paper aims to perform a diagnosis on the inclusion of gender skills in all of its official degree programmes, for the purpose of drafting a best practices guide that may serve as motivation to include mainstreaming and specific skills in “teaching practice”. Design/methodology/approach This research analyses how European standards have been transferred to the teaching programmes of a Spanish university with more than 60,000 students, the University of Seville (US), the third largest in Spain. A content analysis of 4,643 undergraduate degree programmes has been carried out for all branches of knowledge. Findings The authors have established the scant presence of the gender perspective in the teaching projects of the US. Over 80% of them do not comply with the regulations in this regard. The second hypothesis, namely, that there are differences between fields of knowledge when complying with the mandatory transversal application of the gender perspective, has also been substantiated. This is especially the case in the natural sciences and engineering and architecture. Originality/value The results illustrate the little echo of the regulations in the teaching projects and the existence of important differences when it comes to the gender perspective according to the branches of knowledge. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to carry out a study of this nature in all the degrees taught at a university and provide evidence of the need to modify equality policies in the university environment.

Rubric for Evaluating the Alignment of the IT Project Portfolio with IT Governance in Universities

Organizations are currently using the potential of IT to achieve their strategic objectives. IT governance ensures that decisions related to information technologies are aligned with business needs and strategies. One of the best practices to introduce a culture of IT governance is the implementation of the IT project portfolio. However, there is a lack of studies that support this claim. We developed a rubric to evaluate the portfolio of IT projects of a university to determine its strategic nature and its alignment with the principles of IT governance. After a phase of qualitative research, we designed a survey to collect quantitative data in a real scenario. We contrasted these data with the estimated scenario through the results obtained in the previous phase. The objective of this research is to validate and improve the starting proposal as a result of qualitative research. This survey has been answered by Spanish public universities that have implemented a portfolio of IT projects and whose IT managers are aware of the ISO/IEC 38500 standard and its principles. The results have allowed us to design a rubric that can be used by universities to evaluate the relationship between the elements and the advantages of the IT project portfolio and its alignment with IT governance.

What Are University Professors’ Motivations? A Realistic Approach to Self-Perception of a Group of Spanish University Professors Belonging to the G-9 Group of Universities

Universities face challenges on a number of levels. In this scenario, university professors play an important role as facilitators of knowledge. The main objective of this study was to analyse the motivations that influence the professional performance in a sample of 102 university professors from nine Spanish public universities (Male: 54 (52.9%); Female: 48 (47.1%)). For this purpose, a questionnaire of 22 closed-ended Likert-type questions was designed, in which scores ranged from 0 to 10 (do not agree at all, strongly agree). Following analysis, the final questionnaire was composed of 17 items, and showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.858). The validity analysis showed a value of 0.822 (>0.5) in the sample adequacy measure of Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin and Bartlett’s sphericity test (p < 0.0001). The exploratory factor analysis showed a clustering in four factors (two for intrinsic motivations and two for extrinsic motivations), explaining 64.33% of the total variance. Comparisons between each factor score by gender (male and female) showed statistically significant differences for factor F1 (higher for females) and F2 (higher for males). Finally, Q1 and Q13 showed a statistically significant correlation (p ≤ 0.05) with years of teaching experience. The motivations of Spanish university professors appear to be associated with the age and gender of the teacher.

Academic writing and publishing

Among the challenges facing scholars at university today, producing quantity and quality publications with the highest possible impact is probably perceived by most of them as the greatest. This pressure places scholars before the well-known “publish or perish” dilemma, which each academic may perceive, confront and approach differently. This study aims to disclose and depict the reality behind the hand that writes, in particular, the attitudes, practices and perceptions of Spanish English-linguistics scholars in Spanish public universities regarding academic life and the creation and publication of their research articles. Accordingly, the human, perceptual and psycho-affective dimensions have proved essential in this study. The paper provides an overall view of the situation by summarising the quantitative findings of an extensive Questionnaire, as well as the qualitative outcomes obtained from a subsequent e-interview to scholars occupying different positions at Spanish public university, and provides an evidence-based foundation to foster more “author-friendly” practices.

What are University Professors’ Motivations? A Realistic Approach to Self-perception of Spanish University Professors’ Professional Development

Background: The university must take on the challenges that arise at all levels. Within this mechanism, university professors play an important role as facilitators of knowledge. Aim: To analyse the motivations that influence the professional performance of Spanish university professors. Methods: 102 university professors from 9 Spanish public universities participated in the study. [Male: 54 (52.9%); Female: 48 (47.1%)]. A questionnaire of 22 closed-ended Likert-type questions was designed, scoring from 0-10 (do not agree at all, strongly agree). Results: The questionnaire, finally composed of 17 items, showed good internal consistency. (Cronbach's alpha=0.858). The validity analysis showed a value of 0.822 (&gt;0.5) ) in the sample adequacy measure KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) and Bartlett's sphericity test (p&lt;0.0001). The exploratory factor analysis showed a clustering in 4 factors (2 for internal goods and 2 for external goods), explaining 64.33% of the total variance. Comparisons between each factor scores by gender (male and female) showed differences statistically significant by gender for factor F1 (higher for females) and F2 (higher for males). Finally, Q1 and Q13 showed a statistically significant correlation (p&le;0.05) with years of teaching experience. Conclusions: The motivations of Spanish university professors seem to be associated with the age and gender of the teacher.

Redes de coautorías de la investigación española y latinoamericana en Comunicación (2000-2019): cohesión interna y aislamiento transcontinental

This paper studies the social structure of Spanish and Latin American communication researchers through the representation and analysis of three coauthorship networks at the national, institutional, and individual level. Such networks are built from papers indexed in the ‘Communication’ category by Web of Science and published between 2000 and 2019 by authors attached to a Spanish or Latin American institution (n = 5,040). The goal is to characterize the structural features of each network, identify the most central actors, and illustrate the most relevant relationships among nodes. The results show that the most central country is Spain, followed by the USA and other European nations. Among the Latin American states, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico are placed at the most relevant nodes. Latin American collaboration is preferentially addressed to the USA, especially since 2015. Regarding institutions, Spanish public universities in Madrid and Catalonia achieve the highest degrees of centrality. However, the most central Latin American institutions are private universities. The most relevant authors are Spanish researchers until 2015, when they are replaced at the top by Latin American scholars. Collaboration at both the individual and institutional levels shows a deep regional tendency, while the internationalization of researchers and universities is only more visible since 2015. This work identifies a tendency towards internal cohesion at different network levels as the number of connected nodes grows in each period. We conclude that a proper Spanish-Latin America community of communication researchers does not exist. Resumen Se aborda la estructura social de la comunidad española y latinoamericana de investigadores en Comunicación. Para ello se representan y analizan las redes de coautorías en tres niveles: naciones, instituciones y autores. Estas redes se construyen a partir de los artículos de revistas indexadas en la Web of Science categorizadas dentro del área “Communication” y publicados entre 2000 y 2019 por autores con afiliación a un centro español o latinoamericano (n = 5.040). Se busca así caracterizar estructuralmente cada red, identificar los actores más centrales y delimitar las relaciones más relevantes entre los nodos y medir la cohesión de la red, así como trazar la evolución de las coautorías en el período analizado. Los resultados muestran que el país más central es España, seguido por Estados Unidos y otras naciones europeas. Entre los estados latinoamericanos, Brasil, Chile y México ocupan los lugares más relevantes. La colaboración de Latinoamérica se dirige preferentemente hacia Estados Unidos, especialmente a partir de 2015. En cuanto a las instituciones, las universidades públicas madrileñas y catalanas destacan por su centralidad. Por el contrario, las universidades latinoamericanas más centrales son centros privados. Respecto a los autores, los más centrales son especialmente investigadores españoles, pero a partir de 2015 son reemplazados en los puestos más relevantes por autores latinoamericanos. No obstante, la colaboración, tanto institucional como individual, es marcadamente regional. La internacionalización de individuos e instituciones sólo se hace más visible a partir de 2015. Se identifica una tendencia a la cohesión interna de las redes en sus distintos niveles en tanto que aumenta el número de nodos conectados entre sí. Se concluye que no existe una comunidad propiamente hispano-latinoamericana de investigación en Comunicación.

Technological Platforms for Inclusive Practice at University: A Qualitative Analysis from the Perspective of Spanish Faculty Members

Currently, the development of new virtual environments as a complementary tool to face-to-face teaching and the increased presence of students with disabilities at university classrooms are changing the landscape of university teaching. This article analyses the actions of faculty members who carry out inclusive practices in the context of technological platforms. The research was based on the assumptions of the qualitative paradigm, using individual semi-structured interviews with 119 faculty members from 10 Spanish public universities. The results show the reasons for inclusive learning with technological platforms, the use that faculty members make of these platforms in their inclusive educational practices, and the influence of these on the learning of students, especially students with disabilities. The conclusions give a good account of the conditions that determine the pedagogical use that faculty members make of virtual environments to facilitate the inclusion of students.

Innovation and Scientific Research as a Sustainable Development Goal in Spanish Public Universities

One of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 is building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and fostering innovation. This paper aims to analyse the possible consequences of stimulating commercial exploitation of academic research, encouraged by recent policy initiatives and legislative changes, on the quantity and quality of scientific knowledge in Spain’s public universities. We collected data of innovation variables (national patents, R&D and consultancy agreements, services rendered, licenses and PCT extensions and spin-offs), publications and number of citations for 48 Spanish public universities in 2009–2018 from Observatorio IUNE, which obtains data from the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, the Network of Research Results Transfer Offices and Web of Science. The results of linear regressions models showed that universities that render more services and have a greater number of PCTs (patent cooperation treaties), have a positive impact on the quantity and quality of the publications in Spanish universities. However, the number of national patents has no impact on the scientific output. Finally, universities with a greater number of patents have a lower number of citations.

Value-added services in institutional repositories in Spanish public universities

Introduction. The aim of the present study was to analyse the value-added services offered by institutional repositories in Spanish public universities. Method. Information was collected on the main characteristics of repositories in Spanish public universities and the value-added services they offered, using a checklist with twenty-five items divided into three dimensions: information on the repository; information on the records; and instructions for use and dissemination. Analysis. We determined the frequency of each value-added service in the repositories included in the study and analysed the main modalities in which these services were offered. We also analysed the similarity between repositories using multidimensional scaling methods. Results. We found high variability between repositories and indicated that some value-added services were widely offered whereas others were only provided by a few repositories. Conclusions. We believe that the provision of value-added services could have a direct impact on repository use because such services are related to many of the reasons that explain repository under-utilisation, such as low perceived usefulness, difficulties depositing work and lack of knowledge about what should or can be deposited.