Presentation of the study ‘Impacts of Catalan public universities on society’

The study offers the main data and magnitudes of the Catalan public university system and compares them with data from the State as a whole, the EU and other countries and university systems; in addition, the analysis is illustrated with concrete examples of activities and services that Catalan universities are carrying out in multiple areas. This shows the high impact and added value that universities bring to the territory, whether through training and human capital, whether through scientific research, social and cultural development or innovation and economic progress .

One of the figures in the study that indicate the work done by universities in recent years is the extent to which these institutions function as social elevators. In this sense, the current proportion in Catalonia of higher education students whose parents do not have a university education is 40%, the highest figure in the OECD. From a gender point of view, if in 1973 women represented 37% of classrooms, in 2010 the percentage was 54%. Currently the percentage of access to university for each generation of young people is around 40%, one of the highest percentages in the OECD. On the other hand, also in a comparison with Europe, it can be seen that public spending on scholarships and student aid is very low, at 8.2% compared to the OECD average of 17.3%. In Catalonia, 80% of young people study without aid, a much higher percentage than in the most advanced European countries.

As for continuing education, a good indicator is that in 2004, 75% of graduates continued to study at Catalan public universities. It is worth saying that the employment rate of university graduates is around 80%, almost thirty points above the total population. In the case of the doctorate, in which Catalan universities are leaders in quality programs, we can see the difficulties for the employment of doctors in the private sector (the job placement of doctors in companies is 16% compared to 44% of the United States).

In the field of research, the study points out that if we consider the number of citations of published documents, Catalan public universities have a scientific impact of 1.4%, 35% above the world average. If efficiency is measured together with impact (publications per researcher depending on resources), the Catalan public university system is above the European average and is comparable to that of countries such as Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Other data from the report is that the Catalan public universities have 684 consolidated research groups and nurture the critical mass of researchers necessary for the research centers of the Generalitat. Likewise, the report makes it clear that in Catalonia the universities are the main structure in the country in obtaining resources from the R&D framework programs of the European Union.

In terms of social development and cultural, the study points out that the highest level of education corresponds to citizens with greater civic and political participation, and notes the increase in tolerance and cultural consumption. It is also noted that Catalan public universities have contributed to the study and promotion of the Catalan language, culture and nation.

Regarding innovation and economic progress, the study points out as an indicator of the collaboration with companies and the transfer of knowledge the fact that in 2009 the public face-to-face Catalan universities invoiced companies a total of 125.7 million euros in terms of technical services and specialized studies carried out during the previous year. In 2009, there were more than two thousand innovative and technology-based companies in the Catalan science parks, of which 81% were small and micro-enterprises. In 2008, Catalan public universities created twenty-one spin-off companies; and the 89% increase in patent applications between 2000 and 2009 placed Catalonia in the group of countries with the highest proportion of worldwide patent applications from the university sector. In addition to the benefits that research and the training of human capital can have on the country's economy in the long term, the study also points out that the immediate, short-term impact of Catalan public universities on the economy of the country is around 0.6% of Catalonia's GDP, and 1% if we include related institutions. In this sense, Catalan public universities generate more than forty thousand direct jobs, 1.1% of the total number of jobs in the Catalan economic fabric.

You will find the study at: www.universitat-societat.cat