Research paper
Abstract
Hospitality management competencies: do faculty and students concur on employability
skills?
This paper is one in a series of establishing what competencies the various stakeholders
(students, industry mentors, faculty) think are the ideal competencies needed by employees in the
hospitality field in places such as hotels, food service providers, restaurants and lodges,
compared to those actually displayed by hospitality management students. This particular paper
reports on a comparison drawn between what the faculty and students believe are the ideal
competencies compared to those that they actually have on completion of their academic studies,
prior to the students engaging in their semester of work-integrated learning (WIL). The results
would be used by faculty to focus on ensuring students are aware of the employability and
management competencies they need (Hind, Moss & McKellan, 2007) in order to conduct
themselves in the business world of hospitality with confidence and competently.
Key Words: Competencies, hospitality, soft skills, South Africa, work-integrated learning.