Profile of university teaching staff in Spain: figures and statistics

The article provides an overview of the structure and composition of the faculty of Spanish universities, based on the exploitation of official data from the academic year 2021-2022, provided by the Integrated Information System of the University System (SIIU). The purpose of the study is to describe a set of characteristics to define this professional group reality, considering various variables: distribution by territories (Autonomous Communities), public and private universities, onsite and remote universities, student/teacher ratios, job categories, genders, age groups and areas of knowledge. The results reveal notable inequalities that affect Spanish universities teaching staff and researchers: high territorial concentration as well as in onsite public universities; fragmentation into multiple job categories;dualization between teachers with a stable job situation and teachers with high precariousness situation; elevated levels of aging and masculinization; and unequal number of teachers by areas of knowledge. As a conclusion to the analysis conducted, it is suggested that these inequalities, especially those that affect age, gender and job stability, can be an obstacle to progress towards the objectives of improving university quality that governments and higher education institutions propose.