Abstract:

The Double Bachelor's Degree in Law and Business Administration is aimed at students who wish to receive competitive training in the different areas of business, public institutions, and legal entities at a national and international level. Through a rigorous quality training, students acquire solid knowledge, as well as develop essential skills to develop in the world of law and business. The joint and parallel organization of both degrees will allow students to obtain a professional qualification that is in high demand by both public administrations and private companies, as well as providing highly qualified professional training for the performance of their own activity as a lawyer or as an entrepreneur. Since the introduction of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the university system has undergone major changes. And one of them is focused on the acquisition of skills. In this context, at the University of Almeria there are three types of skills, present in all degrees. While some are defined in Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, others were established by the Governing Council on 17 June 2008. There are also other skills, known as specific skills, which are unique for each degree. In this work, the teaching guides of the sixty-four subjects of the Double Bachelor's Degree in Law and Business Administration have been examined, and the 10 generic skills of the University of Almeria have been analysed: UAL1 to UAL10. UAL1- Basic knowledge of profession, UAL2- Using Information and Communication Techniques (ICTs), UAL3- Capacity to solve problems successfully, UAL4- Writing and oral expressing with clarity in Spanish language, UAL5- Development of a sense of criticism and self-criticism, UAL6- Ability to work in a group, UAL7- Learning a foreigner language, UAL8- Commitment to Ethical Business, UAL9- Capacity to design, manage and undertake a task by oneself, and UAL10- Social Responsibility of Business. The aim of this paper is to assess the skill weakness till now in the afore mentioned Double Bachelor's Degree in Law and Business Administration and make a proposal for trying to improve it in the last academic year. The results show that the competence "oral and written communication in one's own language" comes first, "problem-solving skills" second, and "critical and self-critical skills" third. On the other hand, the least present competence is "learning a foreign language", followed by "social competence and global citizenship". The competences of skills in the use of Information and Communication Technologies and the ability to learn to work autonomously are above 70 %, which is considered quite adequate given the great progress that our society has experienced in recent years, particularly in this type of skills. As the main conclusion of this study, it is recommended that the competence to learn a foreign language should be reinforced, given that in a globalized world, professionals with knowledge of a second language will be the most in demand, and will be able to compete for jobs abroad.

Keywords:

Skills, Dual Bachelor’s Degree, second language, Curriculum, University of Almeria.