Comparing Spanish and U.S Education Systems
Additional findings
Findings from Employability of higher education graduates in Spain: crisis and new challenges by Juan-Ignacio Martínez-Pastor
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Salaries of University graduates are higher than of those who have a lower level of education, however, salaries of those who have graduated from Universities has decreased considerably over the past two decades
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Unemployment in Spain can be rooted back to the 1984 labor reform. The reform created fixed-term contracts so that employment can be contracted on a short-term basis. The consequence of this reform was a spike in fixed-term contract workers.
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During periods of crisis, which Spain has experienced numerous times throughout history, fixed-term workers are the first to be laid off or not have their contracts renewed. This created issues due to the high proportion of workers under these contracts post 1984 labor reform.
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The unemployment rate is always lower for University graduates in comparison to people with lower levels of education given that their jobs are more stable. However, the proportion of people in professional, management, and technical occupations is lower in Spain in comparison to most other countries in Europe.
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A lot of Spain’s occupational complications and weakness are due to overeducation. Overeducation is when people obtain a higher level of education than necessary to efficiently perform their occupation as intended. The proportion of overeducated people is between 26% and 38%, in Spain, which are extremely high figures.
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Salaries of University graduates have been plummeting over time. This is in part due to overeducation. A lot of university graduates are either bound for unemployment or performing a job that does not require a University degree to be done well. These findings explain why a lot of Spanish students do not see value in obtaining a degree whether they are on that path or not.
Podcast
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In Spain, the path to college is quite different from the US. Although this is not the case at every Spanish academic institution, typically, students during their last two years of what would be high school in the US (around ages 16-18) are enrolled in “bachillerato" or baccalaureate. Bachillerato is when students acquire more specific knowledge related to an area of study that they are interested in.
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After bachillerato, students in Spain who choose to pursue Universidad or University, must take an entrance exam called the “Prueba de Acceso”.
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In addition to the prueba, admissions are determined by the nota de corte (literally, "cutoff grade") that is achieved at the end of the two-year Bachillerato. The nota de corte is a number between 1 and 10.
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Given the entry style into Universities, there are no general education courses at the majority of spanish institutions.
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The layout of The University of Seville was extremely siloed and reflected this cultural difference.
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For example, at Elon you can walk from the science building to the business school in a span of minutes. However, at the University of Seville, buildings were not condensed.
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The spread out nature of the University Seville relates to another cultural difference between the US and Spain. In the United States, some students leave their state for college while others stay in their home state
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At US public colleges, about 40 percent of full-time students live on campus, 40 percent live in off-campus housing in the surrounding area of the university, and 20 percent live with their parents. In Spain on the other hand these statistics are flipped as a recent study found that 80% of people under the age of 30 still live with their families.
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The concept of dorms simply did not exist in Seville.
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University of Seville and University of Pablo Olvide (another university in Seville) students explained to me that Sevillanos and other Spaniards throughout the country just attend the closest University to home which excels in their discipline of interest.
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Given that students live at home and use the University facilities solely for learning purposes, colleges in Spain have a very different feel from Universities in the US. In Seville, there were no dining halls, dorms, feelings of school spirit, or the extent of extracurriculars that we have at Elon.
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In Spain students expect to pay around 1,000 to 2,000 euros per semester.
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Prior to COVID-19, youth unemployment in the US was at 7.7%, this is a stark contrast from Spain’s youth unemployment rate of a soaring 30.9%. Spanish students described to me that even though they decided to take the leap of attending a 4-year college, many of their peers consider this a waste of time.
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In terms of the teaching style in the US versus Spain, there were a lot of differences. At Elon, typically my course grade is accumulated by combining test scores, projects, papers, and participation. In Spain, a grading system like this is unimaginable. At the courses that I enrolled in at the University of Seville, my grade was composed of a mid-term and a final.
Takeaways From my Podcast
Elon University
University of Sevilla
"I have taken pictures of the University of Seville and its resources which are vastly different from what Elon offers. In Sevilla, Universities are often free. I have been able to witness a large difference in what it means to attend college in the United States versus in Sevilla. In the US, going to college is an entire experience, where students take pride in their University by attending sporting events, wearing the University's apparel, and joining University clubs and organizations. Given that dormitories are not a thing in Seville, and students live at home, Universities in Spain are solely used as an educational center. The University does not have as strong of a community feel, however, this is not what Spanish students sign up for when enrolling. I have photographed how the university of Seville is spread out all over the city rather than being concentrated on one central campus like Elon." (journal entry)
Belk Library, the study Space for Elon University Students
Bunker study Space for Spanish University Students
**Notice how long it took me to get from above ground to under ground. where the bunker is located**
Elon University's Belk library is a three story building filled with study spaces for students. The library offers a plethora of resources. You can see students studying and working at Belk library around the clock. This reflects the "live to work" culture in the U.S. People in the United States tend to put their work, whether that be professional or educational, at the forefront of their lives. Therefore, it is no surprise that Universities all around the U.S are lavishly decorated like Belk library.
As depicted in the video, the bunker, the most prevalent study space for University students in Seville, is underground. I was extremely fascinated by the underground study area at the University of Sevilla. The bunker is a physical location that speaks great measures about the culture in Spain. Sevillanos tend to use public spaces such as cafes for socialization not for studying. In the case of the bunker, academic studies are quite literally the norm to be completed below ground rather than above ground. I took a video of myself walking down into the bunker to show the viewer just how hidden the equivalent of a library space is and how drastically different it is than studying at Elon. Students are packed like sardines in the bunker and talking is extremely prohibited as this is solely a place for study, not socializing. Unlike Belk library, there is no decor in the bunker. The bunker just consists of the one crowded room shown in the video. Unlike at Universities in the U.S., in Spain, work spaces are not readily available. This reflects the Spanish "work to live" culture. It is interesting how "work" is hidden underground in the case of the bunker. Above ground, on the other hand, is a place where socialization is rampant.
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Journal Entry about the Bunker
Cultural sleuth: write about some aspect of visible culture you observe and the invisible culture that it represents
I’m currently in midterm season so what does that mean? Studying, and lots of it. As I mentioned a little bit in my previous journal entry, it has not been easy to find a good study and homework spot with Wi-Fi. This past week I just discovered an excellent study location for during the weekdays, the public library. Unfortunately, this is not an option on the weekends. Yesterday, I went bouncing from café to café that I knew had functioning Wi-Fi near my school, CIEE, nearly 35 minutes from my homestay. The distance from my homestay to the coffee shops was not the biggest problem, rather, the fact that I did not feel as though working at a café was socially acceptable. At one place I went, the man who took my order actually told me to put away my laptop (with all of my studying on it) and pointed to a sign that read no computers allowed. Although this only happen at one location, I got the same vibe from the rest of the locations. In all of the cafés that were indeed full of people my age, none of them had homework or studying out in front of them. I wondered to myself, where on earth do Sevillano students study? There are more than 100,000 students in Seville and so I knew there had to be some spot that I was not aware of to study on the weekends.
I took a local’s recommendation of a spot to study for today, Sunday, after my lack of success in finding a good spot yesterday. It is called “the bunker” and is an underground study room in the basement of the university that appeared to be gated off and locked on the weekends. I was very confused about how I was to find the bunker and how to access the building given that the university is closed and so I asked the local for a google maps location. I was informed that there is none and was solely given a circled location on google maps to find this spot to study. My expectations were not high since the local warned me that it is essentially a giant underground room full of tables with only one door to enter that the university leaves unlocked on the premises. When I got to the point in the gate that was unlocked and it worked, I felt as though I was on some secret spy investigation to an unmarked territory; not simply going to a spot to study, something so easy to find back at Elon. Once I entered the special access point of the campus I had no clue where to go from there so I followed some students in front of me that looked like they knew where they were going. We went underground via a steep ramp and then some steps. When I turned the corner, and saw the giant room in front of me and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Hundreds of tables in a massive room packed to the rim with thousands of students. Unlike any library or study spot I have been to, in no way is “the bunker” sectioned off, it is just one GIANT room. I got to “the bunker” at 10:30am and am pretty sure I got one of the last seats after making laps around each table for around 10 minutes.
The entire concept of studying underground in a secret location really baffled me. When I finally found a seat, I could not help but think how blatantly the bunker represents the Spanish culture. Studies and work are quite literally supposed to be performed underground while socializing with friends and family is meant to be done on the mainland above ground. This has got to be one of the largest contrasts between the culture in the United States where it is heavily enforced that work and life are combined. This can account for why nearly all Universities in the US have libraries, study spaces, and coffee shops open around the clock and on the weekends. The library at Elon even will incentivize students to come and study there by at special points in the semester offering coffee and snacks. This is a stark contrast from the University of Seville library that is closed on the weekends once again depicting this cultural difference of a work/life balance. The United States places a strong emphasis on and takes great pride in excelling in studies and doing anything that is necessary to be “the best” student, worker, etc. that you can be. It is not that Spain does not hold these values, rather, there is a greater emphasis in Spain about spending quality time with loved ones. Oftentimes, this is done in public settings such as the outdoor seating that fills the streets of Seville, or coffee shops. There is no right or wrong answer to being work driven like the US versus relationship driven like Spaniards, rather, it is important to be able to distinguish between these cultural differences as I did this morning with the discovery of “the bunker”.