An Industry-Oriented Approach to University Hospitality Curriculum in Vietnam

Author(s):

Leah Le(presenting / submitting)Helen Klieve Christine McDonald

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

ERG SES H 05, Society and Education

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-23

11:00-12:30

Room:

OB-H2.12

Chair:

Daniel Fischer

Contribution

The travel and tourism sector has become an increasingly important driver of growth and prosperity for many countries, with a reported contribution of around 9% of the World’s GDP and employment in 2011 (World Economic Forum, 2012). In Vietnam this sector accounted for over $US 5.6 billion, or around 5% of 2011 GDP. While this is a significant contribution to the economy, it is markedly less than the contribution of the sector in neighbouring Thailand, where a contribution of $US 26 billion, or more than 8% of GDP.

International hospitality and tourism has been widely recognised as a fast-growing, labour-intensive industry (Korpi & Mertens, 2004). The interactions between tourists, and hospitality and tourism industry personnel, are an integral part of the tourist’s total experience, and thus a critical element of success. One factor behind the success of the hospitality industry is the availability of high quality personnel to deliver, operate and manage tourist products, with such personnel preferentially sourced locally through hospitality higher education.

A key role of hospitality education is to support the emerging profession, thus there needs to be a close partnership between the hospitality industry and education providers (Tesone & Ricci, 2005; Zopiatis & Constanti, 2007). Through such a partnership, industry needs and requirements can be successfully identified and addressed, with skilled staff trained under an appropriately designed curriculum (Smith & Cooper, 2000). A competitive education system requires the identification and response to the needs and expectations of those involved, i.e. industry employers, students, and educational providers (World Tourism Organisation, 2004).

Recent research indicates that the full benefits from hospitality and tourism are not being achieved in Vietnam, with concerns expressed regarding the rationale and approach of hospitality and tourism programs (Nguyen & Chaisawat, 2011; Oliver, 2002). There has been dissatisfaction expressed by various groups within the industry, including hospitality and tourism educators, industry professionals and graduates; regarding the mismatch between the knowledge provided in the education system, and employer requirements (Hearns, Devine, & Baum, 2007; Zopiatis & Constanti, 2007).

Efforts in developing and improving the education system are dependent on a collective response from three primary stakeholders, which include government agencies, universities, and industry (Jafari, 2002). However, research indicates there is limited collaboration to accommodate the competing interests of these stakeholders in hospitality management curriculum development in higher education (Jafari, 2002; Tran & Swierczek, 2009). University programs are perceived to provide a balance between the development of academic knowledge, and the acquisition of professional skills required by industry to effectively prepare graduates for entering the workplace (Baum, 1990; Christou, 2002). In the Vietnamese context, cooperation between educational institutions and industry is limited (Ketels, Nguyen, Nguyen, & Do, 2010; The World Bank, 2008; Trinh, 2008).

Given the comparatively low contribution of the tourism sector to the economy, a more in-depth exploration of aspects of the industry are worthy of further consideration. One such aspect is the human resource aspect of the sector. This study focuses on the preparation of such resources through the higher education sector. The study aims to explore factors influencing the development of high-quality hospitality curriculum in Vietnam that supports the on-going development of the industry through the availability of quality human resources. In addition, the study assesses the alignment between knowledge and skills developed in education institutions, and those required by industry professionals. These aims will be evidenced through the following research questions seeking:

hospitality academics’, and industry professionals’ views of Vietnamese hospitality education?
students’ views of hospitality education and experience of professional development?
students’ perceptions of working in the hospitality industry?
factors influence the development of high quality hospitality curriculum in Vietnam?

Method

An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used in this study. Data collection was conducted in two phases, i.e. qualitative and quantitative. Phase 1 involved 26 in-depth interviews with 7 hospitality academics, and 9 students from nine universities in South Vietnam regarding their expectations, preparation and internship experience, and with 10 industry professionals from different sectors within hospitality industry across the south central area of Vietnam. Phase 2 involved the administration of an online survey to gauge the views of post-internship students and 234 responses obtained. Data obtained in Phases 1 and 2 were used to provide evidence to address Research Question 4. This mixed methods study will draw on data collected through several different methods from students, academics and industry representatives. In the case of this study, the collection of data from different stakeholders places different challenges on the researcher. Thus, while surveys are seen as appropriate to collect the views of a large number of students, more in-depth interviews with key industry representatives, academics, and students offer a far more effective mechanism through which their views and perceptions can be documented.

Expected Outcomes

It was found that industry employers had a primary concern about the attitudes and attributes of interns for workplace environment. The academics criticised the industry's inaccurate perception of university education. With their presence in both environments, the students reported on negative internship experiences as well as work-related issues, which oriented them away from working in the industry. The debate is centred on students’ work readiness and work-related issues. Common to these groups of stakeholders was the matter of hospitality workplaces, their needs, requirements, and offers. Emerged in the interviews, degree students, to some extent, were compared to diploma students in terms of their performances during work placements. The degree students also confirmed better performances of their diploma counterparts during internships. A further exploration of the perceptions of a larger population of students, both degree and diploma, was therefore needed to appraise the current university hospitality curriculum. Initial analysis of survey data shows statistically significant difference in views between the two groups in response to various dimensions of hospitality workplaces. Diploma students were more consistent in their responses, suggesting a higher degree of decisiveness. They also indicated a generally happier attitude towards hospitality workplaces. The integrated results of two data sets posit important implications for universities and the hospitality industry in Vietnam. Collaborative efforts between educational institutions and the industry have to be formally established in hospitality curriculum development. Interests among primary stakeholders, i.e. educational institutions, students, and the hospitality industry, need to be balanced through the realisation of the collaborative curriculum development process. It is imperative for Vietnam, a developing hospitality system, to employ practices from developed industry such as Switzerland’s, a pioneer in the European hospitality industry who has successfully explored the industry-education relationship via the systematic integration of theoretical classroom teaching and industry placements (Zopiatis & Constanti, 2007).

References

Baum, T. (1990). Competencies for Hotel Management: Industry Expectations of Education. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2(4), 13-16. Christou, E. (2002). Revisiting Competencies for Hospitality Management: Contemporary Views of the Stakeholders. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 14(1), 25-32. Hearns, N., Devine, F., & Baum, T. (2007). The implications of contemporary cultural diversity for the hospitality curriculum. Education + Training, 49(5), 350-363. Jafari, J. (2002). Tourism education and training models, getting to the core of destination planning and management. TedQual, 1, 29-34. Ketels, C, Nguyen, D. C., Nguyen, T. T. A., & Do, H. H. (2010). Vietnam competitiveness report. Hanoi: Central Institute for Economic Management. Korpi, T., & Mertens, A. (2004). Training and industrial restructuring: Structural change and labour mobility in West Germany and Sweden. . International Journal of Manpower, 25, 90-103. doi: 10.1108/01437720410525018 Nguyen, H., & Chaisawat, M. (2011). The Current Situation and Future Development of Hospitality and Tourism Higher Education in Vietnam. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality & Culinary Arts, 3(2), 57-67. Oliver, D. (2002). The US community college model and Vietnam’s higher education system. Paper presented at the Texas Tech University Vietnam center’s 4th triennial symposium, Lubbock, TX. Smith, G., & Cooper, C. (2000). Competitive approaches to tourism and hospitality curriculum design. Journal of Travel Research, 39(1), 90. Tesone, D. V. (2005). Human resource management for the hospitality industry: A practitioner’s perspective. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Tran, Q. T., & Swierczek, F. W. (2009). Skills development in higher education in Vietnam. Asia Pacific Business Review, 15(4), 565-586. Trinh, T. H. M. (2008). Education association between universities and enterprises in Vietnam. Journal of Economy-Law, Vietnam National University Hanoi, 24, 30-34. WB, The World Bank (2008). Vietnam: Higher education and skills for growth. Hanoi: Human Development Department East Asia and Pacific Region. WEF, World Economic Forum. (2012). The ASEAN Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2012: Fostering Prosperity and Regional Integration Through Travel and Tourism: World Economic Forum. WTO. (2004). WTO recommendations to governments for supporting and/or establishing national certification systems for sustainable tourism. from http ://www.world-tourism .org/sustainable/doc/certification-gov-recomm .pdf Zopiatis, A., & Constanti, P. (2007). "And Never the Twain Shall Meet": Investigating the Hospitality Industry-Education Relationship in Cyprus. Education & Training, 49(5), 391-407.

Author Information

Leah Le (presenting / submitting)

Griffith University

School of Education and Professional Studies

Brisbane

Helen Klieve

Griffith.edu.au

Education & Professional Studies

Brisbane

Christine McDonald

Griffith University, Australia

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