Undoubtedly, universities serve as institutions of social development and transformation by fostering the integral development of their graduates. In this context, the objective of this research is to design strategic guidelines to improve the competencies of university professors to foster critical thinking among their students, following a diagnostic assessment in this area. The study is based on theoretical references including Zambrano et al. (2018), Espinola and Santos (2022), López et al. (2021), and Rojas et al. (2017), among others. It employs a quantitative, descriptive, and projective approach; data was collected through surveys and interviews, using questionnaires and structured interviews as instruments. Three universities in Quito were selected for the study, with a population of 366 teachers, of whom 282 responded to the questionnaire, constituting the sample. Interviews were conducted with the directors of research, teaching, and community outreach. The findings reveal that, of six competencies considered desirable, only two (analytical capacity and innovation) show a significant level of possession by the professors, while the remaining four show moderate mastery. These results are aligned with the evaluations provided by the principals interviewed. Consequently, guidelines were formulated to address this situation.