Abstract:

The implementation of Competency-Based Education (CBE) in the Spanish high education system has been facilitated by the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This new way to understand and apply the teaching-learning process has brought significant changes to the entire educational community and at the same time, has generated a broad debate on its suitability to combat high unemployment rates among young graduates. CBE model effectiveness requires a real awareness of everyone involved in the higher education system in order to give students the competencies demanded by the labor market nowadays and successfully meet the new needs and changes in a dynamic and uncertain world.

This paper proposes a discussion on the implementation of CBE in the Spanish high education system. The first part of this paper analyzes CBE within the European context as well as its role in developing employability skills. The second part focuses on the analysis Spanish young graduates’ employability and the challenges that Spanish educational institutions must face so that CBE programs can deploy all its benefits in terms of higher employability.

Keywords:

Competency-Based Education, employability, high education, Spain.