Spain as a Training Pole for Social Scientists in the National System of Researchers in Northeast Mexico

Abstract

The objective of this research was to analyze Spain as a doctoral training pole for social scientists of the National System of Researchers (SNI), specifically for those who live in the northeast of Mexico, and to identify more specific patterns by training and affiliation institutions, by discipline and recognition level of recognition within the system. For this purpose, a quantitative methodology was used to quantify and analyze the ratios of the members of Area V (corresponding to Social Sciences) of the SNI registry for the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. The findings show that Spain is the quantitatively most important pole of foreign training, especially for public state universities; although there are institutions that prefer other —and more traditional— training poles. A preference to study in certain Spanish universities for disciplines such as economics and sociology was also found. Moreover, it was observed that social scientists with Spanish doctorates received greater levels of recognition in SNI than their peers trained in Mexico, but below the recognition granted to graduates in other foreign countries. Thus, results show Spain as the most important training pole in the regional field of social sciences, but most researchers trained in this country reach less recognition than those trained in countries with wider scientific tradition.