Teaching public administration in Spain: An overview in a context of Europeanisation, socio-political change and technological revolution
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24965/gapp.11615Keywords:
higher education, public administration, public management, Europeanization, digitalizationAbstract
Objectives: This article examines university-level education in Public Administration in Spain, focusing on official undergraduate and master’s programs related to Administrative Science, Public Management, and Public Policy. It analyzes the overall offer and the weight of these subjects in curricula of the undergraduate programs, as well as the inclusion of strategic content linked to federalization, welfare, Europeanization, internationalization, and digitalization. Methodology: A descriptive and comparative analysis was carried out of official programs registered in the RUCT, supplemented by institutional websites and teaching guides. Two separate databases were created: one for master’s degrees, used exclusively to provide an overview of the programs on offer; and another for bachelor’s degrees, with a much greater level of detail, which allowed systematic criteria to be applied by dimension and an in-depth comparative analysis to be carried out. Results: The master’s offer (31 programs) shows territorial concentration and predominance of public institutions, with some expansion of online modalities. In undergraduate degrees, the analyzed block represents between 10 % and 50 % of the study plan, averaging 20 %-25 %. Europeanization, internationalization, and digitalization appear in over 85 % of programs, though with uneven approaches and limited integration of advanced technological skills. Conclusions: Curricular diversity and the limited presence of digital competencies suggest room for improvement. It seems necessary to move toward study plans that consolidate traditional skills while preparing future public employees to address emerging –often already present– challenges related to multilevel governance, digitalization, and innovation.
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