Pressures and resistance to the introduction of skills in business administration and accounting education in Spain : a new institutional theory analysis

Teachers, students and professionals have confirmed the need to introduce skills into business administration and accounting education in Spain. However, this change has not taken place at any desirable level. This paper uses the New Institutional Sociology (NIS) to analyse the pressures to introduce the policy that consists of the incorporation of skills in business administration and accounting education in Spain, the strategic response adopted by Spanish universities and the institutional characteristics which have determined that response. To achieve that objective, the study uses multiple sources including interviews, questionnaires, observation, informal discussions and documents. The paper evidences that the strategy developed by Spanish universities has been the ‘avoidance’ of pressures to change. Nevertheless, due to the evolution of some institutional characteristics, the strategy has become a ‘compromise’ strategy in the second part of the decade. The NIS is also suitable to develop future research about the changes caused by the implementation of the European Higher Education Area in most countries of the EU. Keywords: business administration and accounting education; skills; resistance to change; institutional theory