Analysis of Academic Competences in Business Administration Academic Programs: Empirical Study in the University of Tolima (Colombia)

Abstract

In the Business Administration academic program offered by the University of Tolima (Ibagué-Tolima, Colombia), a methodological framework was used by the Interinstitutional Research Group on Competencies –GRIICA-Colombia–, in order to identify the most important specific competencies that students considered must be developed in training areas that compose the curricular structure of the program. Data collection was made by using a structured survey applied to 49,6 % of the students enrolled in the A-2015 academic period. The statistical program SPSS (version 21, 2012) was used for data processing. It was found that specific competencies weighted with high importance by the students had a sufficient level of performance in the Business Administration program at the University of Tolima. However, it is necessary to propose a strategy to increase the performance of these specific competencies in each of training areas within the curricular structure of the academic program, especially working towards quality accreditation.