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Purpose – This paper aims to present the opinions of teaching staff at Spanish universities regarding the relative importance of a number of quality factors, and perceived levels of development of those factors in the context of their work. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes an empirical approach, with the opinions of teaching staff being collected via questionnaires and by telematic means. Findings – Lecturers surveyed are particularly pessimistic in regard to the conditions in which students enter university, and probably do not share the priorities that education policy authorities and university management bodies proclaim in their discourses and policies. Research limitations/implications – This research may be supplemented with the use of more qualitative methods and extended to other geographical and cultural contexts. Practical implications – The opinions of teaching staff comprise useful information for the design of education policies and quality management systems applicable to Spanish universities. Originality/value – No studies have to date been conducted in Spain to identify the opinions of university teaching staff in regard to determinants of quality. Taken as a whole, the paper enables a diagnostic analysis to be made of university education quality conditions in Spain from the viewpoint of teaching staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the problems that has to be faced by university teachers is the large number of students that start doing a degree without actually knowing the professional profile they will have after finishing it, as well as without knowing what the profession they are being trained for actually consists in. Furthermore, one can usually find definitions of professional identities which only take into account the technical and legal aspects while overlooking emotional and social components. University provides us with an appropriate space for the development of that identity on the basis of a comprehensive concept of training. However, at the same time, the compartmentalized structures of the degrees, which are subdivided into different subjects, mean an obstacle for the implementation of that development. Hence, we decided to create a team of university teachers specialized in different subjects in order to suggest a proposal to be implemented in the classroom. This proposal is intended to put an end to the rigidity of a structure organized by subjects through the design and implementation of a number of joint activities whose ultimate aim is the acquisition of competences. This paper presents our personal views about the professional identity of those degrees relating to Economics and Business, suggesting a comprehensive team work proposal which integrates different views on different subjects in order to design activities which may help students to achieve a better understanding of their future profession. This paper includes a summary of the designed activities, the evaluation tools and the results of their implementation during the first years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]