Tourism Education and Employment Opportunities in the Industry - Literature review Example

Tourism Education and Employment Opportunities in the Industry Tourism Education and Employment Opportunities in the Industry (text 1) Most (approximately two-thirds) tourism undergraduate programmes have an ultimate aim of preparing students to eventually work in the tourism sector (Stuart-Hoyle, 2003). However, the reality is that most students do not easily secure opportunities in the tourism industry after completing their programmes. This is undoubtedly contrary to the mission of the government in relation to the policies regulating higher education in the country whose aim is to tailor both economic and employment benefits to graduates and the country at large. This is greatly supported by Dearing report (1997), which conceptualized the role of a degree as to equip students by broadening their intellectual capacity as well imparting skills necessary for working in the various industries. This in turn offers students with an opportunity to achieve their personal objectives (HEPI, 2003). However, despite having such knowledge, questions as to whether the above has been achieved in the case of tourism degree programs still lingers in the mind of many people. In addition, there are concerns about how this can be assessed and get the correct answers. Propositions for the above include interviewing employers in the tourism industry to get their views and concerns about tourism degree programs. In this case, questions of relevance and shortcomings of tourism degree programs to the industry will be greatly dealt with and this will help in explanation of the difference existing between the industry and training centers. Currently, several scholars have already tried to explain the situation according to their understanding. For example, Airey and Johnson cited lack of uniformity and standardization in the many courses of tourism that were introduced rapidly making the employers to be confused about the relevant courses (1999). In addition, the employers have also questioned the capability of tourism graduates to meet the minimum requirements for employment in the sector (Baum, 1995; Amoha and Baum, 1997; Thomas and Long, 2001). Lastly, Busby and Fiedel (2001) also notes that employers do not use tourism degrees solely as the basis for recruitment. Of much concern is that there is limited research aimed at discovering the reasons for the gap between employers and the institutions of higher education. Perception of Tourism Degrees and the Governments Policy in Higher Education From the above discussion, there is clear difference between the employer’s expectations and aims of tourism degree programs. This is well exemplified by the fact that the program is aimed at imparting skills, providing knowledge about the industry and increasing the employability chances for students. On the other hand, employers have a view that a ‘degree’ should contribute to individual development since they are interested in the ‘quality’ of the person they employ. This is well demonstrated by Petrova (2008) research which was carried out to assess the value of tourism degrees in UK. In this interview, employers’ answers included additional aspects of individual development as opposed to the traditional educational aspects. For example, the tourism degrees aimed to impart skill concerning the industry while the employers felt that any graduate should be trained in such a way that they can adjust to any changes in the sector. In the same interview, one employer stated that most companies would hire graduates from Oxford and Cambridge even though they are not specifically trained for the industry because they can greatly contribute in areas that they have not specialized in. Therefore, it is evident from Petrova research that most tourism graduate students may find it difficult to secure a graduate training program compared to ‘traditional’ graduates who can easily fit in different areas apart their specialization areas. In addition, it was also noted from the interview that employers also base their selection criterion on status of the universities attended by the candidates. This is because employers value the cultures of well known universities that impart skill to students enabling them to be flexible in their careers. This is demonstrated by the responded who stated that graduates from Oxford and Cambridge universities are given priority in most companies. From the above discussion, it is evident that employers feel that there is deficiency in tourism degree programs and that student should be trained with more specialties to the industry so that they can contribute at the entry. Employers also have a view that tourism degree graduate can contribute very little in the line management of the industry as well as in the graduate positions. It is also evident from Petrova research that employers have little contact with tourism graduates and this may form the basis of their answers. The interview farther pointed out the different expectations on tourism degree programs to the changes in the UK government higher education policy. The policy changes were set to target people of ages between 18 and 30 years to benefit from higher education by the year 2010. The interviewees in the research also seconded the idea of making university education open everybody regardless of different backgrounds. Consequently, employers are in search of measurable specialization benefits from the degree programs offered in the universities and they are of the view that the current policy changes mentioned above may not help much to achieve the said benefits. In addition, employers believe that the government should focus more on differentiating types of education. Farther, the employers feel that the policy change that focused on 50% of people aged 18-30 is a large percent and yet the degrees are not academic enough. In addition, the employers think that institutions should add a particular advantage to graduating students to enable them to acquire jobs in the industry easily. Therefore, tourism degrees seem to have lost on two basis of perception by the employer. According to Stuart, there are two types of tourism degrees, one which is designed to solve issues surrounding the industry and another form that is designed to give general awareness about the tourism sector in relation to different activities that revolve around the sector (2002). The view by Stuart has greatly contributed to the confusion among the employers concerning tourism graduates. However, this may not be the main reason because employers feel that training does not increase profitability and competitiveness in the industry. In addition, some managers in the tourism industry have not received higher education and may not value educational background. Lastly, the Petrova (2008) research was concluded with mixed perceptions on tourism degree programs. It was confirmed that some employers saw the programs as less sufficient and not equipped to address issues in the industry while others proposed of lower but more vocational tourism programs. In addition, the research recommended that students should be aware that at entry level, their potential managers are more concerned with interpersonal skill and personality and les on their qualifications (Hjalager’s, 2008). UK (text 2) The number of graduates seeking employment has greatly increased over the years surpassing the usual number of graduate job openings (Department of Education and Employment, 1998). This is also the case in the tourism degree programs whereby the numbers of student enrolled yearly have exceeded the needs and growth rate of the industry (Ryan, 1995; Airey and Johnson, 1999; Kusluvan and Kusluvan, 2000). This has also been brought about by the increased number of institutions offering tourism degree programs in the UK. In addition, huge promotions carried out by the institutions have made the programs to be popular among students (Airey & Johnson, 1999; Leslie & Richardson, 2000). Conceptualizing the Tourism Curriculum: the Stakeholder’s Perspective a Framework for Analysis. (Text 3) According to Lewis (2004), the tourism educators should use economic and socio-cultural challenges they face to develop a curriculum that can tailor the expected results in the industry. In addition, Tribe (2002) argues that different curriculum frames can exist in the same course making students to graduate having different perspectives and competences. Tribe (2002) farther makes a curriculum frame which can be divided into vocational action, reflective vocational, reflective liberal and liberal action. Emphasis is given to the four aspects of the curriculum in order to make students to be all round prepared in relation to the industry demands. The vocational action of the curriculum is tailored to produce graduates who can contribute towards profitability of the industry emphasizing mostly on the relevance and utility of the students. In this part, students are prepared to transit smoothly from school to work place equipped by being equipped with the necessary skills that can result into customer satisfaction thereby increasing profitability in the industry. Tourism curriculum should also be liberal. This kind of curriculum provides students with better understanding of tourism not only as an industry but also as a phenomenon with the later being much emphasized. This ensures that the student knowledge range is greatly increased to understand issues such as customer wants and satisfaction, government involvement in the sector, environment and other factors of concern to the industry and how the interplay to enable profit realization. In addition, liberal tourism enables students to diversify and apply the knowledge gained through class work to various situations in work settings hence demonstrating how higher education is of great importance individually and also to the economy. Curriculum Space and Stakeholder Influences Stake holders play a crucial role in educational process by ensuring performance mainly through quality management in addition to formulating the curriculum (Cooper and Westlake, 1998). In the case of tourism programs, stake holders involve people who in one way or another are affected by or affect the tourism curriculum decisions. According to Tribe (1999), the stake holders involve employers, professional bodies, students, government, environmentalists and other groups of interest. Different stake holders have specific interests which can form the basis of curriculum frame. For example, employers are portrayed to be interested in the profitability of their investment hence encourage vocational tourism curriculum tailored for profit making while on the other hand, the government and the local community encourage liberal tourism aiming to make students more informed about the sector. According to Lewis (2004), a good tourism curriculum should address some key issues. Firstly, the curriculum should aim to provide better tourism services and also contribute to the development of the sector. Secondly, the curriculum should be framed in consideration of interests of the stakeholders involved. From the above discussion there is a clear difference between liberal and vocational tourism. However, the balance of interests between all the stakeholders will lead to the balance between liberal and vocational tourism program (Lewis, 2004). Farther, the balance between vocational and liberal tourism training will result into a well framed curriculum that is not partial hence producing well equipped graduates. Lewis (2004), farther argues that the tourism sector contributes majorly to the economy and therefore, tourism education should be given priority in terms of curriculum development in order to address economic and socio-cultural issues key to the development of tourism industry. References Texts Read More