Understanding Motivations, Employability Skills, Employment Aspiration, and Training of Hospitality Management Undergraduates

Abstract

University graduates are a major source for the hospitality workforce. Despite this, relevant studies show that a large share of hospitality management undergraduates are not motivated, qualified, or committed to work in the hospitality field after graduation. The aim of this study is threefold: (1) to examine the direct effect of the motivations of undergraduates for majoring in hospitality management on both their employability skills and employment aspiration; (2) to test the mediation effect of employment aspiration on the linkage between motivations of undergraduates and their employability skills; (3) to examine the moderation effect of practical training on the relationship between motivations of undergraduates and their employability skills as well as on the relationship between motivations of undergraduates and their employment aspiration. A self-report questionnaire survey was administered among junior and senior hospitality management undergraduates in Egypt. Based on collected data from 342 participants, this study employed PLS-SEM to test the conceptual model and hypotheses. The results showed that motivations of undergraduates have a significant positive impact on both employment aspiration and employability skills. The results also confirmed the positive moderation effect of practical training on the linkage between motivations and employability skills. The findings help educational institutions to understand and exploit motivations of undergraduates to stimulate their work commitment and employability skills, which reflects positively on the hospitality labor market.