ICT skills gap in Spain: Before and after a decade of harmonizing the European Higher Education Area

Abstract This study examines the impact that the implementation of the European Higher Education Area has had on engineers in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Specifically, we focus on the case of Spain and compare the key professional skills most demanded by the sector in 2008 and in 2018, coinciding with a decade since its implementation. We also investigate if the skills acquired by students at the university are aligned with those demanded in the marketplace. Therefore, with this study we answer the following question: Are ICT students trained adequately? To do so we conduct an empirical study based on a representative sample of Spanish companies working in the ICT sector. Our results reveal the presence of a skill gap between employers’ expectations and the abilities that are actually acquired by students. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.