Hospitality Students and their Motivation to Study
For many years, the world has recognized the importance of hospitality education. Formal education is crucial to providing competent and skilled human resource. Schaller (2013) defines career goals as the intent and willingness to engage in particular activities and produce outcomes. The expectation of outcome encompasses anticipated materialistic outcomes (such as salaries expected), expected social outcomes (such as the anticipated job positions), and the anticipated self-evaluative outcomes (personal expectations) (Schaller, 2013). Career goals are divided into two: choice content goals and performance goals. Individuals are motivated by performance goals to become successful in their areas of choice; while choice content goals such as the intent to pursue a particular career path motivate individuals to pursue vocational and educational options (Lu & Adler 2009). This research proposal will focus on the motivation for American students to study hospitality (whether a bachelors or a diploma) and will present a quantitative analysis of relevant works on the area covering topics as on how students got to know about the program, any plans to work in the industry, whether the program will help them achieve their goals, their choices and expectations of the course.
Annotated Bibliography
Ushida E. (2005). The role of students’ attitudes and motivation in second language learning in online courses. CALICO Journal, 23(1), 49-78.
Ushida (2005) investigated role of students’ motivation in the learning second languages (L2) in an online language course context (LOL). The study purposed to examine the salience of factors shown to have influence L2 learning in other settings within the context that is becoming increasingly popular. Ushida examined the attitudes and motivation of students using the revised version of Gardner’s socio-educational framework whilst the contexts of learning were examined using the Dorneyi’s components of motivation to study foreign languages. The modified Attitude/Motivation Test Battery was used to measure the attitudes and motivation of students toward learning at the beginning and end of the semester in Fall 2002. The study reveals that attitude and motivation provide the primary impetus to learn and also serves as the impulsion force that sustains the tiring and long process of learning. L2 can be adversely affected if these two factors are not paid attention to. The study focused on establishing a relationship between the learning of a second language and the attitude of students toward it. The author concentrates on descriptive and analytical views to clarify the role of attitudes and motivation in the learning of a second language. The academic and systematic application of the implications of attitude and motivation issues in the field of hospitality are important in making the course more interesting to students. The amount of time and effort that students expend to engage in learning hospitality regularly and persistently are significantly affected by student motivation and attitude. Various designs and techniques (such as how teachers idiosyncratically implement the Hospitality course to create a unique culture in class, teacher’s authorities and school policies) can be implemented to achieve a positive student attitude toward learning hospitality.
Salih, K., & Zeynep K. (June 2000). Perceptions and attitudes of undergraduate tourism students towards working in the tourism industry in Turkey, Tourism Management. 21(3), 251-269.
The paper developed a multi-item and multi-dimensional scale to measure the undergraduates’ attitude towards engaging actively in paid work within the tourism industry, and provided an investigative view of the general attitudes the students using the new measure. The paper presents findings of tests using the new scale-development process among a randomly picked sample of four-year HTM school students in Turkey. It was reported overall that negative or unfavorable evaluations towards various dimensions of paid occupations in the HTM industry. The report conducted in Turkey revealed that career advancement opportunities were the most expected work value for the students- specifically expecting a good salary, peaceful workplace, authority and power. The findings of the research cannot be easily generalized to other tourism schools, but the results can be useful in providing information as to the perception and attitudes of tourism and hospitality students. The research notes students place great emphasis on “work” and the “people” in their career paths. Organizational and job attributes that were most desired by the students included good people to report to, good learning and training opportunities, advancement opportunities, good initial salaries and mentally challenging jobs. The authors note that pay and benefit are undesirably perceived by students from the hospitality industry. A third of the students interviewed stated that they were likely to stay at a single job for a maximum of five years- leaving mainly because of displeasure with the income.
Kim, S. S., Guo, Y., Wang, K., & Agrusa, J. (February 2007). The study motivations and study preferences of student groups from Asian nations majoring in hospitality and tourism management programs. Tourism Management, 28(1), 140-151.
Kim and his colleagues identified reasons as to why undergraduate and masters level students wanted to major in HTM in Korea, China and Taiwan, their preferences in studying abroad, and the selected assiduity of learning in the hospitality and tourism majors. The study selected groups of three Asian national students at both the masters and undergraduate levels. Various motivations for the HTM programs of the three groups of national students were compared revealing that Taiwanese students were highly motivated. They highly valued the US as the abroad country of choice to study. The three national groups gave different responses on their preferred major or subject areas during their studies abroad. The study reveals that the American institutions of learning affects the preferences and serves as a motivation for these groups of students to study abroad. This has been reflected in more colleges, graduate schools, and universities in the Unites States striving to create more tourism and hospitality courses to accommodate the increasing demand for the HTM field.
Richardson, S. (2009). Undergraduates’ perceptions of tourism and hospitality as a career choice. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 382-388.
In this study, Richardson explored the views of undergraduate HTM students on the subject matter of choosing the industry as a career choice. 379 students from eight Australian institutions were examined using a 20 question questionnaire rating of factors that influenced their choice of the vocation and the level to which they believed tourism and hospitality offered the factors. The study revealed that a number of students never significantly had faith that a career in hospitality and tourism was the way to go in terms of offering them factors they deem important. It revealed that having a degree in the area is a good thing as it can land one in an industry growing so fast that it is creating jobs it cannot fill, but a bad thing as self-satisfaction will not be realized. Families, parents, friends and role models may serve to motivate students to study hospitality, but it may not necessarily mean that the student would feel satisfied pursuing the course any beyond attainment of a degree or diploma. The perceptions of an individual on their career is pivotal to success in any context. The hospitality and tourism industry being of significance in the world, the true feelings and employment potential of the future employees and entrepreneurs is of importance to the success of the industry. These are reflected by the perceptions, attitudes and feelings of students and graduates who intend to join the industry. Positive perception is attributed to: compensation packages, positions received, available opportunities for career development and relevant skills and knowledge whilst negative perceptions are due to personal attitudes, working schedules, tough course outlines and perceived job environments.
Lee, M. J., Kim, S. S., & Lo, A. (November 2008). Perceptions of hospitality and tourism students towards study motivations and preferences: a study of Hong Kong students. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sports, and Tourism Education (Pre-2012), 7(2), 45-58.
In this study, reasons as to why Hong Kong college undergraduates want to study tourism and hospitality management and reasons for advancing their HTM academic degrees overseas are identified. A cohort of 384 HTM students were empirically followed and studied to find out the reason for action toward their desired goals in achieving the HTM choice. The report reveals the preferred work areas for the students too. Indices of motivated behavior such as agency, emotion, interest, effort, persistence and choice are examined. The results of the study indicated that there exist five motivational factors among the hospitality and tourism management students: job opportunities, ease of study, self-actualization, field attractiveness and scholastic achievements. An increased effort in pursuing degrees abroad combined with commitment to the task increases the likelihood of succeeding. If importance is attached to hospitality and tourism, students are more likely to commit themselves. Students with negative emotions tend produce avoidance behaviors, whereas positive emotions energize behaviors. In hospitality, students who tend to believe that they can organize and execute their courses of action more often achieve their desired goals. The willingness to complete the hospitality course (utility motivator) is powerful if a positive answer exists to the question “what is in it for me?”. Students feel more motivated to study if their parents, teachers and friends support, listen, understand them and take action accordingly.
Chirkov, V., Vansteenkiste, M., Tao, R., & Lynch, M. (2007). The role of self-determined motivation and goals for study abroad in the adaptation of international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31(2), 199-222.
The study was conducted to examine the raison d’etre of two motivational factors in the decision of two groups of Chinese undergraduates studying in the overseas countries of Belgium and Canada: the content of their goals and the levels of self-determined motivation. The students were examined using the newly developed Self-Regulation Questionnaire – Study Abroad to evaluate the hypothesis that the self-determined study motives in outside countries and foreign lands would be ambitiously realized to be more benefit for the resultant adaptation outcomes of the students than the non-self-determined motives. The hypothesis was supported by the subsequent test results. The Goals for Study Abroad Scale was used on the students and enabled the discovery of the multifactorial (two-factor) nature of students’ goals. The students’ goals consisted of a ‘Self-development’ causal result that which reflects on the end-all of chasing better career opportunities and education in oversea countries and the ‘Preservation factor’ which reflected the students’ goals of staying clear of or minimizing disadvantageous status and situations that were prevailing in the home country. The aims of the students in studying abroad and their levels of self-determination had an independent consequence on the ability of the undergraduates to adapt to the cultures in the new country. The preservation goals on the other hand had a negative relationship with indicators of cultural adaptation. These two student parameters can be potentially applied to motivation for hospitality students to study in that if students fully endorse opportunities presented by the course as goals and feel not just competent but well-rounded to deal with what the world presents them with, their efforts will reward them with a positive study behavior. Students with highly self-determined intrinsic motivation learn hospitality better and consequently develop higher levels of competence than those with low self-determination and extrinsic motivations.
Summary
Schwab et al. (2014) lists a broad range of career opportunities that are presented by hospitality courses: event planning and meeting, resorts and hotels, spa and wellness management, cruises, and airlines and other transportation. The hospitality industry operates in a highly competitive setting and requires that students aspiring to be part of it develop a strong set of customer service skills and a solid business-oriented mindset (Egger & Maurer 2014). Training that focuses on business skills in hospitality has the advantage of skill transferability to other careers beyond the ones related to the degree. Graduates from this highly service oriented career are more likely to have the upper hand over the competition in the global markets.
Williams (2016) examines the size of the hospitality and tourism industries on the global scale. The World Tourism and Travel Council (2016) estimates that 8% of the jobs in the world are accounted for by the hospitality and tourism; hospitality has the highest potential for growth compared to other service industries. Williams points out that with the annual tourism travel accounting for more than 840 million tourists annually, tourism has a vital impact on the social and economic aspects of life through improving the quality of life and the creation of sustainable jobs. As a rapidly growing and vast industry, hospitality and tourism presents those ambitious students who enjoy working with people a tremendous number of opportunities.
An examination of studies on career goals and expectations in the fields of math, hospitality, and science have been conducted, revealing many continuing themes. They include the perception that students have on long-term career goals as well as the preferred functional areas. These studies indicate that career choices in various subjects are differently affected by expectations, motivated behavior and career goals. Relevant studies in the area have their shortcomings too: they explored the general career expectation of college and university students; never narrowed down to examine specific key indices of motivated behavior such as salaries, particular areas of interest and expected job positions. Empirical research on the motivations, expectations and goals of hospitality, and tourism students in the American context is scarce. Few studies have addressed the image hospitality students have in the industry, with a number of them revealing negative attitudes. The attitudes of undergraduates need to be improved by putting emphasize on career progress that is in line with the basic knowledge acquired in universities and colleges. The paper would explore the issues affecting study motivations for hospitality, contemporary issues relevant to the field, student perspectives on the area in the context of cultural, social and local hospitality course study policies. The project would identify both opportunities and problems in student study motivation, analyze their causes and development, address the key issues noted, offer alternatives and make appropriate recommendations that will include clear provisions for implementation. As such, these limitations form the basis for this research and helps guide the researcher in achieving the objectives of this paper.
References
Chirkov, V., Vansteenkiste, M., Tao, R., & Lynch, M. (2007). The role of self-determined motivation and goals for study abroad in the adaptation of international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31(2), 199-222.
Egger, R., & Maurer, C., (2014). ISCONTOUR 2014- Tourism Research Perceptiveness Proceedings of the International Student Conference in Tourism Research. Norderstedt, Books on Demand.
Kim, S. S., Guo, Y., Wang, K., & Agrusa, J. (February 2007). The study motivations and study preferences of student groups from Asian nations majoring in hospitality and tourism management programs. Tourism Management, 28(1), 140-151.
Lee, M. J., Kim, S. S., & Lo, A. (November 2008). Perceptions of hospitality and tourism students towards study motivations and preferences: a study of Hong Kong students. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sports, and Tourism Education (Pre-2012), 7(2), 45-58.
Lu, T. Y., & Adler, H. (2009). Career Goals and Expectations of Hospitality and Tourism Students in China. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 9(1-2), 63-80.
Richardson, S. (2009). Undergraduates’ perceptions of tourism and hospitality as a career choice. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 382-388.
Salih, K., & Zeynep K. (June 2000). Perceptions and attitudes of undergraduate tourism students towards working in the tourism industry in Turkey. Tourism Management. 21(3), 251-269.
Schaller, R. (2013). Create your art career. Practical tools, visualizations, and self-assessment exercise for empowerment and success. New York: Allworth Press. Print.
Schwab, K., Stevens, C., Murphy, J. F., Allen, L., & Sheffield, E. A. (2014). A career with meaning: Recreation, parks, sports management, hospitality, and tourism. Urbana: Sagamore Publishing.
Research Concept
Suggested Subjects for Research Studies
- Motivation
- Hospitality Students
My research proposal would be about hospitality students and their motivation to study
- Decision making
- Motivation
- Attitude
In my research, I would like to know what is the major motivation for the students as well as where do most of them plan to work after graduation.
The topic would be Hospitality Students.
The research would be quantitative and focus on numerical data.
The research would be narrative.
The research would be conducted via survey. The questions in the survey will be about: age, gender, motivators (family, friends, role models, and parents), knowledge of the program, role of the program in influencing the students’ goals, and potential industries they wish to work in.
