ENDANGERED SPECIES? UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC RELATIONS

EDUCATION IN SPAIN

Jordi Xifra

Faculty of Tourism and Communication, University of Gerona, Spain

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the precarious

situation concerning undergraduate public relations

education in Spain, despite the existence of a Degree in

Advertising and Public Relations. In addition to core

subjects, which are set by the government and required on

all university curricula, the Spanish system allows

universities to complete their curriculum with other

compulsory and elective courses. Given this freedom,

universities have failed to come up with either the

specific contents for public relations or for liberal arts,

social sciences, and business courses that will enable

students to enter the profession. In light of the future

restructuring of degrees through the Bologna Process, this

situation is a serious threat to the continuity of public

relations teaching in Spanish universities.

Keywords: Public relations education; Undergraduate

education; Public relations curriculum; Spain; Bologna

Process.

1. Introduction

In Spain, public relations were first taught in

universities in 1974, when the government provisionally

approved the degree in Information Sciences. This included

a specialization in Advertising and Public Relations, as an

extension of a previous specialization in Advertising

created in 1971. However, it was not until August 1991 when

the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) definitely

authorized a Degree in Advertising and Public Relations

(Xifra & Castillo, 2006). The Spanish university system

currently has a Degree in Advertising and Public Relations

that is offered by 32 universities (Huertas & Cavia, 2006;

Xifra & Castillo, 2006). According to data gathered by the

MEC, in 2004 over 11,000 students were enrolled on this

course in the whole of Spain (MEC, 2006). So, although the

Spanish system differs from the Anglo-Saxon one, the

government has set up undergraduate public relations

education as a major - one of the two main content,

alongside advertising, as a degree that is official

nationwide.

In light of this data and in line with the Spanish

university system structure, one might reasonably believe

this to be a mature country in terms of public relations

education. However, reality does not permit such optimism

because the system is not shored up by a scientific

community that is strong enough to transfer the right

knowledge to students. According to MEC data (www.mec.es),

195 scholars are registered in the Audiovisual

Communication and Advertising knowledge area1 (the area to

which public relations scholars belong), of whom only 38

(19.48%) are public relations researchers and scholars. It

is therefore possible to conclude that public relations

teaching in Spain is not unaffected by the global problem

pointed to by Botan & Hazleton (2006): “some ‘professors’

of public relations with zero academics training in the

subject area” (p. 3).

Thus, the main purpose of this study is to investigate if

the degree in public relations meets the primary target of

preparing students for an entry-level position in public

relations and advancing “advance over the course of their

careers into leadership roles” (Commission on Public

Relations Education, 2006, p. 43).

The Spanish government groups knowledge into what are known as“knowledge areas”. Spain has a closed catalogue of knowledge areas. Ascholar can only belong to one knowledge area by virtue of his/herqualifications and experience.

In addition, this situation must be contextualized in the

framework of the so-called “Bologna Process” which will

entail a total overhaul to the structure of university

studies in Spain.

2. The Bologna Process

The Bologna Process aims to establish by 2010 a European

area for higher education formed by 45 countries, achieving

full student mobility and mutual recognition of credits and

degrees. This will no doubt affect academics, researchers

and staff working in the higher education sector.

It is named after the place where it was proposed, the

University of Bologna, with the signing, in 1999, of the

Bologna declaration by ministers of education from 29

European countries in Bologna (Italy). This was opened up

to other countries and further governmental meetings have

been held in Prague (2001), Berlin (2003) Bergen (2005) and

London (2007).

The basic framework adopted is of three cycles of higher

education qualification: bachelors, masters and doctoral

degrees (the actual naming of the degrees may vary from

country to country). In most cases, these will take three,

two, and three years respectively to complete, but the

framework is moving towards defining qualifications in

terms of learning outcomes and the length in years is in no

way set in stone. A framework of qualifications for the

European area for higher education was adopted by the

ministers responsible for higher education at a meeting in

Bergen in May 2005. These levels are closer to the current

model in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland than

that which exists in most of Continental Europe, where the

model is often based on the magister or diploma. In any

case, program length tends to vary from country to country,

and less often between institutions within a country.

The Bologna Process does not mean that the European

countries that have adopted it are going to apply common

standards for degrees in various disciplines. In fact, the

process is now moving away from strict convergence in terms

of time spent on qualifications, towards a skill-based

system.

During this implementation, in addition to setting the

contents of degrees according to the skills students are

expected to acquire, Spain has decided to eliminate state

regulation and increase universities’ autonomy and

flexibility in determining their own courses. Each

university will henceforth be free to decide upon the

degrees and contents it so desires.

Additionally, the Spanish government has decided to delay

adaptation to the European area of higher education until

the very last minute (2010), which should be enough time to

ensure the survival of public relations education within

the new context.

3. Undergraduate public relations education in Spain:

structure and paradoxes

The Spanish curricula are organized in cycles. There are

three types of undergraduate studies.

First cycle studies only. They are three year long, and besides

basic and general education contents, they also include

courses oriented to carrying out determinate professional

activities.

First and second cycle studies. The first cycle is at least a two-

year period, and it includes basic and general knowledge.

The second cycle, which is also at least a two-year period,

gives the student a deeper and more specialized knowledge

of the respective studies and also to a training to carry

out determinate professional activities. The Degree in

Advertising and Public Relations is a first and second

cycle studies, although students who have already completed

a different first-cycle course can gain admission in the

second cycle providing they take complementary courses.

Second-cycle studies only. The student can enter in them if

he/she has already finished a different degree, or the

first cycle of similar degrees, and has the requirements

established by the respective curricula, or the required

formation complements.

Studies are organized by credits, which make up the system

of assessment bound to the duration of the courses. One

credit corresponds to 10 hours (lecture, working-class or

equivalent). Each course is assigned a number of credits.

The degree is awarded after passing a certain number of

credits, pursuant to the structure established by the

degree’s curriculum. First- and second-cycle degrees must

have a minimum of 300 credits. The degrees in Advertising

and Public Relations range from 300 to 332 credits.

The curricula are classified by subjects, which may be of

four different types. Core subjects (materias troncales) are

courses decided by the Ministry of Education and Science;

they are the same in every Spanish university for studies

leading to the same degree. Compulsory subjects (materias

obligatorias) are courses that each university freely decides

and includes them in the curriculum for a given degree. All

the students following a determinate degree have to pass

them. Elective subjects (materias optativas) are freely decided

by each university and offered to all the students

following a given degree. Subjects are organized in

courses. The student takes courses.

Therefore, the Spanish university system lies somewhere

between universities’ right to autonomy as set down in the

1978 Constitution and the aforementioned governmental

regulation on core subjects and their content. University

autonomy means that universities are free to set their own

compulsory and elective subjects when drawing up the

curriculum. The regulation of core subjects determines

approximately one third of the curriculum. In the case of

the Degree in Advertising and Public Relations, which has

108 core credits, this percentage ranges from 36% for most

curricula, those with 300 credits, and 32.5% for curricula

with 332 credits.

The core subjects in the first cycle are: Analysis of the Social

Environment and its Evolution (8 credits), Audiovisual Communication

(12), Newspaper Journalism (12), Informative Documentation (6),

Language (8), Advertising and Public Relations (12), and Theory of

Communication and Information (10). The second cycle ones are:

Advertising Creativity (10 credits), Advertising Media Planning (10),

Systems and Processes of Advertising and Public Relations (10), and Public

Relations Theory and Techniques (10).

In The Professional Bond — Public Relations Education and the Practice, the

Commission report on Public Relations Education (2006), the

Commission states that “public relations education must be

interdisciplinary and broad, particularly in the liberal

arts and sciences” (p. 43). Additionally, according to this

recommendation, the Commission reports that the ideal

public relations major would include a minimum of five

courses. Thus, an academic emphasis should minimally

include these courses: Introduction to public relations (including

theory, origin and principles); Public relations research,

measurement and evaluation; Public relations writing and production;

Supervised work experience in public relations (internship), and an

additional public relations course in law and ethics,

planning and management, case studies or campaigns.

The governmental regulation of core subjects does not

account for liberal arts, social sciences and business

courses. It is incumbent upon the universities to set these

subjects (as compulsory or elective) according to their

university autonomy.

There is only one core subject specific to the field of

public relations - Public Relations Theory and Techniques, whilst

two are shared with advertising – Advertising and Public Relations,

and Systems and Processes of Advertising and Public Relations.

Conversely, the subjects specific to the field of

advertising are Advertising Creativity, and Advertising Media Planning.

In terms of credit numbers, then, a first imbalance can be

seen here. Whilst 21 credits are allocated to the domain of

public relations, advertising receives 31 credits.

The descriptions of the subject contents are also

incoherent. The Advertising and Public Relations descriptor states:

“Theoretical and practical introduction to advertising and

public relations and to their organizational structures”;

and that of Systems and Processes of Advertising and Public Relations:

“Description and research of communication processes and

the interrelations between those involved in advertising

and public relations: advertisers, institutions, companies,

media and receivers”. Lastly, the Public Relations Theory and

Techniques descriptor is as follows: “Designing,

implementing and developing persuasive communication policy

strategies and applications in institutions and public and

private organizations”.

What immediately stands out in these descriptions of the

compulsory contents of core subjects that have been set by

the state is the contradiction in the title and descriptor

for both Advertising and Public Relations and Public Relations Theory and

Techniques. Whereas the descriptor for the first mentions a

“theoretical introduction”, the second – which carries the

word ‘Theory' in its title - makes no reference whatsoever

to theoretical analysis. This paradox reveals a rather

unfortunate choice of subject names.

On the other hand, if we list the descriptors for core

subjects in public relations set by the MEC, the following

core contents are obtained: introduction to the theory and

practice of public relations (core subject Advertising and

Public Relations), strategies and techniques in public

relations (core subject Public Relations Theory and Techniques),

and implementation of public relations campaigns (core

subject Systems and Processes of Advertising and Public Relations).

Therefore, the state regulation of core subjects covers

some of the knowledge suggested in The Professional Bond report

but by no means all, with the absence of practical training

being of particular significance. Moreover, the number of

public relations scholars (38) indicates that most

universities only have one scholar in each field. This

means that many contents are taught by scholars who are not

specialists in public relations. As a result, the following

research question and hypotheses were proposed:

RQ1. Given their autonomy, how have Spanish universities

complemented the core subjects through compulsory and

elective subjects in public relations?

H1. In Spanish undergraduate public relations curricula,

liberal arts, social sciences and business education is

lacking.

H2. In Spanish undergraduate public relations curricula,

specific public relations education is all but confined to

core subjects and is not as comprehensive as required to

prepare students for an entry-level position in public

relations.

4. Method

A survey was sent out on the occasion of the III

Interuniversity Forum of Public Relations Researchers (Tarragona, April

2005), to public relations scholars from all 32

universities that offer the Degree in Advertising and

Public Relations. They were asked to state all courses

(name, syllabi, and credit value) in public relations

teaching by category (core, compulsory and elective) and to

say whether courses that covered both advertising and

public relations contents were taught by two scholars, one

from each specialty. Twenty-three answers were received and

information on the remaining curricula and syllabi was

obtained from the other university websites. This enabled

us to gather the necessary data on all 32 universities. A

reliability check for these variables was unnecessary

because the coding required only careful transcription of

the title of each course. The syllabi for each course were

examined in order to ascertain if they included knowledge

that was not covered by specific subjects.

The only directory (an unofficial one) of public relations

scholars and researchers in Spain is the AIRP’s

(Association of Public Relations Academics) one which lists

38 Spanish scholars in the field. In order to glean

opinions on students’ practical education, qualitative

interviews were conducted with public relations scholars.

Interviews lasted from 10 to 20 minutes on average. Twenty-

nine responses were received, which as a sample fraction of

76.31% is considered acceptable (Wimmer & Dominick, 2000).

5. Findings and discussion

5.1. Interdisciplinary education

As The Professional Bond report warns, “public relations

education must be interdisciplinary and broad, particularly

in the liberal arts and sciences” (p. 42). Likewise, when

it comes to setting the contents of directed electives, the

Commission on Public Relations Education (2006) states:

“Certain content in other disciplines should be considered

essential for the development and preparation of public

relations professionals” (p. 47).

Table 1. Undergraduate contents offered by Spanish universities

CONTENTS Number ofuniversities

Percentageof

universities

INTERDISCIPLINARYBusiness management 18 56.25Marketing 32 100Accounting 0 0Finance 0 0Economics 22 70.4Consumer behavior 29 90.62Political science and the political system 6 18.75Public administration 6 18.75Social psychology 27 84.37Sociology 25 78.12Cultural anthropology 3 9.37Spanish and Spanish writing 32 100Government and political campaigns 6 18.75Intercultural communication 2 6.25Ethnic and feminist studies 0 0International business and communication 0 0PUBLIC RELATIONSTheory, origin, principles and professionalpractice of public relations

32 100

Public relations law and ethics 9 28.12Public relations research, measurement andperformance evaluation

16 50

Public relations planning and management 24 75Public relations writing and production 19 59.37Public relations action and implementation 5 15.62Supervised work experience in public relations 4 12.5

As can be seen in Table 1, some interdisciplinary contents

are included in most curricula. These contents belong to

the courses offered under the umbrella of the core subject

Analysis of the Social Environment and its Evolution. The same applies to

Spanish and Spanish Writing which is the only content in the core

subject Language.

However, despite these cases, the data also suggest that

courses and contents in liberal arts, social sciences, and

business are the major oversight of core and compulsory

subjects. Thus, one of the most fruitful research fields in

recent years, the relational approach to public relations

(Ki and Shin, 2006), does not appear on any Spanish

curriculum. None of the universities offer relationships

and relationships building or interpersonal communication.

This confirms Hypothesis 1, which is further corroborated

by other significant absences such as courses on ethnic and

feminist studies or on international communication.

On the other hand, virtually all of curricula include

courses in consumer behavior. This is due to the fact that

the degree is partly in advertising. The same occurs with

marketing courses, which are taught at all universities.

The instrumental perspective that Spanish researchers have

on public relations (Xifra & Castillo, 2006) clearly comes

through as the knowledge that is imparted in undergraduate

education. Another fact that sheds light on this phenomenon

is that four interviewees considered the following subjects

to belong to the field of public relations: Direct and

Promotional Marketing, Promotion and Sales, and Advertiser-Agency

Relations (sic).

This technical vision of the field suggests that there is

no management function approach to it. As a result, courses

in business management and organizational behavior are not

equally weighted in all universities. More than half of

curricula offer contents in this field. Of these, barely

six universities have compulsory courses in business

management, whilst at the remaining 12 they are electives.

No university offers courses in finance and accounting.

Likewise, there is little teaching in political sciences

and administration. Merely six universities (18.75%) offer

courses in political science, political system, and public

administration.

5.2. Public relations education

Contents in advertising are given preference over those in

public relations. This is evident not only in the

quantitative imbalance of core subjects in favor of

advertising, but also in qualitative factors, such as

confining creativity to advertising alone (core subject

Advertising Creativity). This is only to be expected given the

fact that the knowledge area to which public relations

scholars belong, as mentioned above, provides no mention of

their own field - Audiovisual Communication and Advertising, with

public relations coming under the umbrella subject of

advertising. Besides the core subjects, the other contents

suggested in The Professional Bond report are insufficiently

well covered by Spanish universities, as predicted in

Hypothesis 2 (see table 1).

This imbalance in public relations contents is a result of

core subjects on the introduction to public relations, its

planning, and techniques, although not all universities

offer the contents of Public relations research, measurement and

performance evaluation and Public relations planning and management

(instead choosing to cover market research and marketing

management).

As far as the subject of ethics and law is concerned, it is

worth noting that only the University of Alicante and the

University of Barcelona have a course in public relations

law, albeit shared with advertising law. The University of

Alicante and the European University of Madrid are the only

ones to have a compulsory course in public relations

ethics. The University of Barcelona and University of

Gerona offer these contents as electives. Six universities

(18.75%) offer classes in ethics as part of their

introduction to public relations, demonstrating the paucity

of theoretical development of the field (Xifra & Castillo,

2006).

Although public relations techniques is a core subject, 18

universities have compulsory courses in corporate identity.

The Commission on Public Relations Education includes these

contents in the category Public Relations Writing and Production.

The paradox of this is that other more relevant and

essential matters in this category such as public relations

writing, are only offered by the University of Gerona in

its compulsory course Public Relations Writing and Production (12

credits) and on journalism writing and creative writing

courses. This corroborates the belief that the lack of

specialist public relations scholars has led to courses

being taught by specialists in corporate communication from

the areas of management or marketing. This also has a

bearing on the absence of integrated communications

courses. Indeed, in contrast to the United States where

“many universities are offering joint public

relations/advertising programs, in part because of the

growing trend in integrated marketing communications”

(Wilcox and Cameron, 2006, p. 23), public relations was

only attached to advertising because of the efforts of the

Deputy Director General of Advertising and Public Relations

at the Ministry of Information and Tourism during the last

years of Franco’s rule (Urzáiz, 1997). In Spain, the

instrumental understanding of public relations as a

marketing tool has prevented the creation of courses in

which integrated communications are approached as a new

trend.

Botan and Taylor (2004) have established how issues

management can apply across all areas of applied

communication, particularly in health, risk and political

communication. The shortcomings in public relations

teaching in Spain can also be seen in this field. Only the

Open University of Catalonia offers issues management

teaching on the Public Relations Theory and Techniques core course.

This university is also the only one to offer an elective

in pressure groups and lobbying, although the study of

lobbying is included as part of the contents of other

courses in 18.75% (N=6) of the curricula of Spanish

universities. Health communication or political

communication courses are available in one in three

universities. From this applied public relations

standpoint, is an irony that no more than one university,

the University of Vigo, has an elective in public relations

and tourism, the country’s main economic industry. The

results concerning management case studies or campaigns

courses are similarly dissatisfactory. Merely 15.62% (N=5)

of the universities have courses on these areas, all of

which are elective. This disjunction with industry can also

be seen by the scarcity of crisis management courses.

Barely 28.12% (N=9) of the universities have electives on

this matter, whereas 70% of public relations firms and

71.9% of integrated departments deal with crisis

communication (ADECEC, 2005).

As Heath and Coombs (2006) pointed out: “The classroom is

only part of the undergraduate educational experience”

(p.432). In Spain this is far from true. Internship is

offered in four (12.5%) universities, but only in the

University Jaime I practicum is a core course. One of the

interviewees neatly summed up what lies behind this: “It’s

hard enough finding public relations scholars, let alone

getting firms to take on our students”. According to data

from the National Agency for Quality Assessment and

Accreditation (ANECA, 2005), in the academic year 2003-

2004, 3,182 students enrolled on a degree in Advertising

and Public Relations in the whole of Spain2, 1,155 (36.3 %)

of whom went to universities in Madrid and Barcelona, the

nation’s two largest cities. Furthermore, in 2006, in

Catalonia alone 1,023 students applied to do a degree in

Advertising and Public Relations

(http://www10.gencat.net/dursi/).

2 In 2003-2004 27 universities were offering this degree.

These data suggest that the industry cannot cope with

practical training for so many students. One interviewee

said: “We offer in-company training as an elective because

we don’t want to end up with students stuffing envelopes in

an agency”. “University fees are regulated by law and are

far below those of practitioners for them to want to

dedicate their time to teaching”, said one scholar,

highlighting the shortfalls in the Spanish system in

involving the professional sector. However, the most

frequently stated reason behind the disjunction of theory

and practice is a lack of confidence amongst Spanish

practitioners, most of whom have no academic training in

this field. In this regard, Spain suffers from a universal

irony: “only a very small number of the nation’s senior-

level public relations executives and managers studied

public relations at a university” (Wright & Turk, 2007, p.

582). As another interviewee said: “We don’t have the

support from industry leaders”.

6. Conclusions

Undergraduate public relations education in Spain is not

strong enough in order to provide students with across-the-

board education in the liberal arts, social sciences and

specifically in public relations. Public relations is the

invisible subject in Spanish universities.

The autonomy given to universities allowing them to set

their own compulsory and elective contents has clearly

undermined public relations, relegating public relations

education to second place. Despite its name, the Degree in

Advertising and Public Relations doesn’t include two

majors. It is an Advertising major with a Public Relations

minor. The fact that public relations educational did not

appear until 1974 (three years after the degree in

Advertising was created) when the words “and public

relations” were merely tagged on to the titles of the main

advertising courses and that it was not consolidated as a

degree until 1991, has thwarted the growth of a community

scholars who are trained to impart the right knowledge.

These scholars have developed the core subjects set by the

government, but universities have failed to provide the

minimum required. Thus, there is no need for an “emphasis

on ethics and transparency, new technology, integration of

messages and tools, interdisciplinary problem solving,

diversity, global perspectives and research and results

measurement” (Commission on Public Relations Education,

2006, p. 6).

As L’Etang and Pieczka (2006) pointed out, “public

relations education should be integrated and

interdisciplinary” (p. 442). The results of this study

reveal that in Spain this is far from being the case, and

that the lack of specific teaching in public relations is

compounded by insufficient education in liberal arts,

social sciences, and business. The admissions rules for the

Degree in Advertising and Public Relations support this

claim. Students from any first-cycle degree can be admitted

straight onto the second cycle of the Degree in Advertising

and Public Relations simply by taking the core subjects in

public relations from the first cycle. Then, such students

graduate with no teaching in liberal arts, social sciences,

language, and business.

Nevertheless, the most alarming conclusion relates to the

forthcoming implementation of the new university education

system which began with the Bologna Process. In the field

of communications, universities will most likely take

advantage of the existing structure, but in light of the

situation described in this article, it would come as

little surprise if the current degree in Advertising and

Public Relations were to become a degree in Advertising,

with public relations education being confined to one or

two courses or wiped out altogether.

7. Lobbying for the future

In view of this situation, the AIRP (Association of Public

Relations Academics) has recently created a Commission on

Public Relations Education based around the existing model

in the United States. Its aims are to advise on the

implementation of new degrees and to monitor their

implementation. The primary goal of this undertaking is to

maintain and strengthen knowledge and skills so that

students graduating with undergraduate degrees in public

relations have both the knowledge and skills necessary to

enter the profession and to assume a leadership role over

the course of their careers.

One of the first initiatives in meeting this target has

been to make formal contact with members of the government

and the professional sector (represented by ADECEC, Spanish

Association of Public Relations and Communication

Consultants) with a view to setting up a working

relationship for the design of future curricula. This

alliance with practitioners also seeks to engage them

actively in teaching public relations.

In the coming three years the work of the AIRP and its

coalition with ADECEC should lead to greater academic

recognition of public relations teaching from the Spanish

government, resulting in degrees that combine the necessary

theory and practice for students to enter the profession

with every prospect of success.

.

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