What do teachers think about quality in the Spanish university?

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present the opinions of teaching staff at Spanish universities regarding the relative importance of a number of quality factors, and perceived levels of development of those factors in the context of their work.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes an empirical approach, with the opinions of teaching staff being collected via questionnaires and by telematic means.

Findings

Lecturers surveyed are particularly pessimistic in regard to the conditions in which students enter university, and probably do not share the priorities that education policy authorities and university management bodies proclaim in their discourses and policies.

Research limitations/implications

This research may be supplemented with the use of more qualitative methods and extended to other geographical and cultural contexts.

Practical implications

The opinions of teaching staff comprise useful information for the design of education policies and quality management systems applicable to Spanish universities.

Originality/value

No studies have to date been conducted in Spain to identify the opinions of university teaching staff in regard to determinants of quality. Taken as a whole, the paper enables a diagnostic analysis to be made of university education quality conditions in Spain from the viewpoint of teaching staff.

Citation

Barandiaran‐Galdós, M., Barrenetxea Ayesta, M., Cardona‐Rodríguez, A., José Mijangos del Campo, J. and Olaskoaga‐Larrauri, J. (2012), "What do teachers think about quality in the Spanish university?", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 91-109. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881211219352