| dc.description.abstract | Aim
This research investigates students’, employers’ and Higher Education (HE)
institutions’ perceptions of work-based placements and whether these improved
graduates’ employment chances within the Hospitality and Tourism (H&T) industry.
Design and Methodological Approach
For this research a qualitative research approach has been selected, using semistructured
and asynchronous electronic interviews as well as focus groups to obtain
data from a non-probability purposive sample of three semi-structured and two
asynchronous electronic interviews with International Hospitality and Tourism
Management (IHTM) graduates, five semi-structured interviews with academic staff of
Queen Margaret University (QMU) and four semi-structured interviews with senior
managers from five hospitality businesses in Edinburgh. Data source and
methodological triangulation was applied to the research design before a thematic
analysis was used to analyse the data and answer the research question.
Key Findings
The key findings highlight the importance of work-based placements by current
students, academics and industry. It is, however, also identified that there is a clear
divide between the industry’ expectations of hospitality graduates and what current
students’ and HE institutions’ believe the H&T industry is looking for. Moreover, the
findings also present a body of evidence relating specifically to the quality of
internships and the impact on students’ perceptions of pursuing a career in the H&T
industry. Finally, key findings also stated the importance of an enhanced partnership
between the stakeholders to enhance employment chances of hospitality graduates.
Future Recommendations
Key recommendations for future research include the need of further investigation such
as expanding the research to other H&T undergraduate programmes across Scotland
and the UK. Furthermore, it is recommended to focus on measures to improve the
quality of students’ work-based placement as the quality of internships was identified
as a significant reason of why practical experiences encourage or discourage students
entering into H&T industry. | en |
