Report 01/30

Council for Hospitality Management Education

Getting ahead: graduate careers in hospitality management

Contents and introduction (read on-line)

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Report
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Appendix 1 - Sector Reports - executive summaries
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Appendix 2 - Small firms sector
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Appendix 3 - Outcomes of focus group meetings
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Appendix 4 - Membership of steering group
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Sector reports

As part of this study, six reports were commissioned exploring the impact of qualifications on careers in different sectors of the hospitality industry. Executive summaries of the reports are given in Appendix 1 of 01/30; the full versions can be downloaded below

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Key findings

Key actions

Background

Research approach

Management careers in the hospitality industry

Graduate recruitment and progression in the hospitality industry

References

Appendix one: Sector Reports - executive summaries

Appendix two: Small firms sector

Appendix three: Outcomes of focus group meetings

Appendix four: Membership of steering group

Introduction

This research emerged from a previous review of hospitality management higher education (HEFCE 98/15), which identified a need for a deeper exploration of the relevance of educational provision to careers in hospitality management. The research was commissioned to provide insight on a diverse industry and its response to the development of a higher education sector that provides vocational courses which produce graduates looking for management careers. It was in response to concern that there was a mismatch between the industry, higher education and student expectations. A significant finding of the research was that those concerns were largely unfounded.

The research represents one of the most comprehensive studies completed on the UK hospitality industry, covering both commercial and non-commercial sectors of the industry and considering all levels of management in both operational and functional roles. The research was conducted on behalf of the Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) by a team of five key researchers from four different universities.

There are strong reasons why the hospitality industry and its management should be considered a special domain. These include the scale of the industry, the diversity of its provision across a range of sectors each with its own particular characteristics, the speed of change within the industry, and the closeness to the customer. This closeness emphasises the need for the industry to keep ahead of changing customer requirements, and necessitates a unit-based structure that places special demands on management structures, roles and development.

HEFCE 98/15 reported strong evidence of good practice among the companies involved in the research, showing a high level of sophistication in human resources (HR) practices, management recruitment and management development. These companies welcomed the involvement of graduates in their organisations and indicated a clear preference for graduates of hospitality management courses.

The special nature of the hospitality industry has led to the development of higher education provision for students wishing to pursue careers in hospitality management that is distinct in its content and delivery from generic business studies programmes.

The research found that hospitality education was providing graduates with the range of knowledge and skills that the industry required and that they were preferred to graduates of more general disciplines. There was evidence that hospitality graduates also possessed the broader range of skills and knowledge that enabled them to take management positions in functional areas as well as those directly related to operations.

Even though the overall picture is a positive one there are still ways both industry and education can improve by learning from the examples of best practice that are detailed in the body of this report.