Enrollments in master's degrees taught by Catalan public universities grew by 22% between the 2017-18 and 2021-22 academic years due to the need for specialization, studies where there is a female majority: 56%. Meanwhile, undergraduate enrollment increased by 9%. These are two of the highlighted conclusions of the Report on Training and Teaching Indicators of Catalan Public Universities (2023) that was presented this Friday and prepared by the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP).
The increase in master's enrollments shows that students go "beyond degree training", pointed out María Valdés, vice-rector of Studies and Teaching Innovation at the UAB who took part in the presentation of the report together with Victòria Girona, general director of Universities of the Generalitat of Catalonia, and Daniel Crespo, president of the ACUP and chancellor of the UPC.
The fields of engineering and architecture, along with social and legal science degrees, had the most significant increase in master's enrollment due to the needs of the labor market and the social and student interests, according to the ACUP in the report. The increase in degree qualifications also occurs, and especially, in the field of engineering and architecture.
Enrollment in official university studies at Catalan public universities and at the UOC (non-face-to-face) for the 2021-2022 academic year exceeds 219,000 students and the presence of women enrolled has remained stable over the last five academic years: around 55% in degrees and 56% in masters.
In the 2021-2022 academic year, 44,160 people began degree studies at Catalan university centers and at the UOC, with a proportion of women of 56%. In face-to-face universities, 8 out of 10 are between 18 and 19 years old; while at the UOC, 6 out of 10 are over 25.
Regarding master's degrees, of the 21,696 people who began their studies in the 2021-2022 academic year, 57.7% were women. In face-to-face centers, 8 out of 10 are under 29 years old; At the UOC, on the other hand, almost half of the new students are over 30.
Professional internships have been consolidated as a way through which students complete their training and put into practice the theoretical knowledge of their disciplines. Throughout the period 2017-2022, the number of students who have carried out professional internships has been maintained, except during the academic year most affected by the pandemic (2019-2020). By type of teaching, the percentage of undergraduate students who have carried out professional internships has increased by 4 points and stands at 80% of the total.
In this sense, María Valdés, vice-rector of Studies and Teaching Innovation at the UAB, has described as "very positive" the data that reflects the increase in students who have accessed the labor market through internships, going from 11.55 % in 2017 to 20.38% in 2023.
In relation to doctoral studies, although the offer of programs has been very stable during the last five years, the increase registered in the participation of international students is notable: 40% of the total students of the 2021-2022 academic year comes from foreign universities (a figure that has almost doubled in the last five years).
If we put the magnifying glass on the teaching staff, the total number of Teaching and Research Staff (PDI) has increased by 1,547 people throughout the period 2018-2022, which represents 8.85%, but in terms of personnel equivalent to full time (FTE), the increase has been 5.17% (558 employees). Of the total of 19,023 PDIs registered in 2022, 44.2% are women and 61.2% are doctors; and 5.5% of the total are of foreign nationality, mostly from Europe.
Regarding teachers, the new university law (LOSU) establishes a reduction in teaching hours for teachers for the next academic year that the centers cannot afford financially. In this sense, the Department of Research and Universities of the Generalitat estimates the cost at around 60 million euros, which should come from the central government. However, it does not seem that this money will arrive, according to department sources. Hence, the minister of the branch, Diana Morant, proposes making the reduction of teaching hours more flexible. Just today a working group was formed to address the issue
