Analyzing double degrees in Spain: A proposal

This article reviews the situation of single and double degrees in both public and private Spanish universities. To do so, this study analyzes information from the Registry of Universities, Centers, and Qualifications (RUCT) and Universia Spain. After analyzing the programs currently available to students, we present a proposal to establish a double degree in Administration and Business Management/Industrial Management Engineering. The proposal specifies the degree’s main objectives, specific nature, and fundamental aims and benefits in terms of technical, corporate, innovative, and entrepreneurial


Introduction
This study presents a proposal to create a double degree in Administration and Business Management/Industrial Management Engineering.This degree would cover the full range of industry needs in the following knowledge areas: production process management, resource management, quality management, innovation management, internationalization strategies, and other aspects including accounting, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
To support the proposal, this study analyzes existing double degrees in Spain.According to Universia Spain, two types of university qualifications exist in Spain: official university qualifications and qualifications granted by specific universities.This study focuses only on official university titles.Spanish universities offer 3,160 undergraduate degrees, 8,235 postgraduate degrees, and 1,574 PhD programs.Of these 3,160 undergraduate degrees, 441 are double degrees.This study analyzes these 441 double degrees to discover whether a double degree in Administration and Business Management/Industrial Management Engineering is viable.
Section 2 outlines the university degrees currently available in Spain.Section 3 describes the double degree proposal.Finally, section 4 presents conclusions and future research opportunities.

University degrees
The Registry of Universities, Centers, and Qualifications (RUCT) provides relevant information about universities, centers, and qualifications in the Spanish university system, including the new official degrees (grados in Spanish), master's degrees, and PhD programs.The RUCT institution is a public and administrative tool that is constantly updating the information it offers.
According to Universia Spain, there are currently 50 public universities and 32 private universities in Spain.Furthermore, Spanish degrees may be official national degrees (títulos oficiales) or degrees granted only by a particular university (títulos propios).All universities, regardless of whether they are public or private, can issue both qualifications.Nevertheless, only 53 double degrees are registered in the RUCT.This number is low because double degrees are actually two complete degrees and therefore ultimately provide the student with two different qualifications rather than one (double) degree.This is the case for most double degrees.For example, a student taking the double degree in Administration and Business Management/Law at the University of Valencia would obtain two qualifications upon completing the degree: one qualification as a graduate in Administration and Business Management and another as a graduate in Law.The University of Valencia's webpage describes this particular degree's structure as follows: 'These studies are planned so that the student may obtain a degree in Administration and Business Management (ADE in Spanish) and a degree in Law after studying for a period of five academic years'.
In this study, we make no distinction whatsoever because we understand that the two ways of obtaining the double degree are equally valid and provide students with the necessary knowledge in both fields.

New double degree proposal
After performing the above analysis, we propose the creation of a double degree in Administration and Business Management/Industrial Management Engineering.
The double degree Administration and Business Management/Industrial Management Engineering would cover industrial environment's needs through the following knowledge fields: production process management, resource management, quality management, innovation management, internationalization strategies, and other aspects that include accounting, marketing, and entrepreneurship.This approach means this degree would provide students with the knowledge and tools required to adapt to the changing industrial environment, while adding value by combining competencies from different technical, business, and international fields.
The education/training of students enrolled in this double degree responds to the increasing demand for versatile professionals in small and medium enterprises (SME), large enterprises, and enterprises with a technological basis because of the double degree's technical, managerial, and international components (Asgary & Robbert, 2010).Hence, students of the double degree in Administration and Business Management/Industrial Management Engineering would be trained perform a range of tasks such as strategic decision-making, innovation management for competitive advantage, optimization and management of limited resources, and planning, development, and implementation of expansion and internationalization strategies.
Thus, the double degree proposed in this study has two objectives: (1) to train versatile professionals with strong scientific and technical skills together with a solid theoretical grounding in industrial management engineering; and (2) to train professional graduates in business management using a practical approach based on models, case studies, and experiences.
The main objectives and benefits of this double degree are technical, business, and innovative and entrepreneurial competencies.Technical competencies are attained by (1) acquiring knowledge related to industrial management based not only on advanced textbooks but also on avant-garde business; and (2) understanding and mastering the basic concepts and techniques of different scientific and technological fields such as thermodynamics, electricity, design, materials, electromagnetism, chemistry, acoustics, environment, and quality.
Business-related competencies refer to the following areas.(1) Building knowledge of existing business structures and their evolution and developing capabilities in business management for decision-making.enterprises with differentiating characteristics (e.g., developing databases to manage and use ICTs, developing tools to manage resources related to the control, implementation, and design of processes, developing the ability to implement management and quality control systems, and defining follow-up and monitoring mechanisms through evaluation processes.
Innovation and entrepreneurial competencies refer to students' training with an international, entrepreneurial, and innovative orientation to generate sustainable competitive advantage.
The double degree in Administration and Business Management/Industrial Management Engineering is aimed at all kinds of students who want to build a career working in organizations and enterprises by combining strong technical competencies with an innovative and international approach.This degree is also aimed at managers and professionals keen to reinforce their knowledge and skills in managing available resources to obtain competitive advantage, while deepening their knowledge of industrial management.These double degrees include modules related to Administration and Business Management.However, they do not allow students to combine Administration and Business Management with Industrial Management Engineering, which is a key degree to link technological knowledge, society's needs, and business management.So far, no university offers the double degree this study proposes.Nonetheless, industry and the economy have two main features that call for such a degree: the need to optimize companies' resources management; and the increasing competition and complexity of national markets, which forces firms to internationalize.Thus, this study proposes the creation of a double degree that will educate and train versatile professionals with strong scientific and technical skills together with a solid theoretical grounding in industrial management engineering.Graduates will gain insight and competencies in administration and business management through a practical approach based on models, case studies, and experience.Furthermore, the degree can offer an international approach that will allow graduates to develop their abilities in a globalized context (Culver, Puri, Spinelli, DePauw & Dooley, 2011).

Conclusions and future research
(2) Compiling, selecting, and interpreting relevant information to analyze and judge relevant social, scientific, and ethical topics.Students would also learn to communicate and transmit information and ideas, solve problems, analyze data, and find solutions.(3) Acquiring resources and abilities to provide 1st International Conference on Higher Education Advances, HEAd´15 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Future
research could design a triple degree in Administration and Business Management and Industrial Management Engineering.According to Universia, only two triple degrees exist in Spain: the triple degree in Journalism/Audiovisual Communication and Multimedia/Advertising and the triple degree in Media and Performing Arts/Musical Creation/Dance Sciences, both at the Universidad Europea de Madrid.1stInternational Conference on Higher Education Advances, HEAd´15 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Table 1 .
1st International Conference on Higher Education Advances, HEAd'15 Universitat Politècnica de València, València, 2015 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/HEAd15.2015.487Official degrees (grados, master's degrees, and PhDs), which are valid throughout Spain, appear in the RUCT and meet the requirements established by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).Therefore, these degrees are valid in all countries within the EHEA.These degrees are also equivalent to degrees granted in other countries outside the EHEA.BA degrees and double degrees at Spanish universities (Source: RUCT and Universia) Of the 441 double degrees, 108 are in Administration and Business Management, 88 are in Law, 69 are in Communication Sciences, and 49 are in Technology and Engineering.Spanish universities also offer double degrees in other subjects like Teaching, Political Sciences, Marketing and Advertising, and Computing.
This study proposes the creation of a new qualification: a double degree in Administration and Business Management/Industrial Management Engineering.Similar double degrees are Electrical Engineering/Establishment and Operation of Companies at the Universidad Europea de Madrid; Industrial Technology Engineering/Administration and Business Management at the Universitat de Girona and the Universidad de Deusto; Computer Engineering/Administration and Business Management at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and Industrial Electronics Engineering and Automation/Establishment and Operation of Companies at the Universidad Europea de Madrid.