Following previous studies in the field of doctoral theses in history of education, this study continues the assessment of the institutional foundations of the discipline. Using the Spanish doctoral theses database TESEO, we retrieved and studied the 198 doctoral dissertations defended in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 which had among their descriptors “History of education” (HE). Three groups of variables were analysed. As these theses had this descriptor in common, we considered its position vis a vis the other descriptors for each thesis as a possible indicator of the authors’ concept of this discipline. The results are broken down by year and significant changes can be identified. We then moved on to institutional factors: we focused on the academic link between both advisors and institutions and the History of Education, and on the universities where the theses were defended. The gender perspective is taken into consideration with regard to the authors and supervisors of these theses. Generally speaking, research in Spain on HE is similar to that on education in Spain.
