The Industry Experience Gap by Phelan, Mejia, and Hertzman - Essay Example

? Article Summary Table of Contents I. Overview, Aims and Objectives 3 II. Literature Review 4 III. Methodology 4 IV. Discussion and Results 5 V. Implications 5 VI. Limitations 6 VII. Future Research 6 References 7 I. Overview, Aims and Objectives This paper provides a summary of the paper written by Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman (2013) entitled ‘The Industry Experience Gap: Hospitality Faculty Perceptions of the Importance of Faculty Industry Experience’. The paper tackles the problem of the importance of faculty experience in the hospitality industry in the context of hospitality education in the United States, as perceived by both educators and the students. This issue is relevant because the projection is that 50 percent of all current educators are slated to retire within the coming decade, and that those who will be left to fill the void are either new educator hires or the junior educators that are being left behind. These two groups arguably will have less to offer by way of industry experience, with possible implications on the perception and reality of the education quality from this revamped educator pool. The key thing is the study is in the culling of the perceptions of existing faculty and the student body tied to how important faculty experience in the industry is. The study findings are said to be relevant with regard to informing school planners and administrators on how best to keep the level of academic rigor high within their programs, with the perceptions being used as inputs in devising hiring programs for educators moving forward (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). The study proponents listed down three objectives for the study. One is the determination of the importance faculty place on experience in the industry preceding the teaching phase. Two is the determination of how faculty perceives how important industry experience is to the teaching posts in different disciplines within the hospitality umbrella discipline. Three is the determination how related the industry experience of faculty member is to the importance placed on industry experience prior to the teaching phase (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). II. Literature Review The literature review traces the roots of the hospitality field as an academic discipline and as a professional practice to the trainings that were given in the course of employees doing their work in restaurants as well as hotels. This vocational education gave rise to more structured educational programs that soon became full-fledged academic programs. Having its roots in practice, however, the hospitality academic education is seen as benefitting from the experience gained by educators in the field, doing the actual work, and then supplementing the experience with the academic rigor associated with structured educational programs that grant degrees. The problem lies precisely in the perceptions with regard to the lack of experiential grounding in the industry for some of the academic practitioners and how that lack of experience leads to a disconnect between theory or academics and actual industry experience or practice. The literature review then goes on to examine studies relating to practices to bridge the divide between practice on the one hand and theory on the other, with the emphasis on improving learning outcomes by making sure that educators are properly grounded in substantial experience in the industry (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). III. Methodology An online survey of 445 faculty in the hospitality discipline was conducted, with the survey being self-directed and the link to the survey being sent out via emails to the potential respondents, and out of that total population a total of 39.3 percent sent responses via email of their completed surveys. Of the respondents, just 4 percent had no prior industry experience in the hospitality field, and the respondents represented faculty in 18 different countries, with most of the respondents coming from the United States. The other represented countries in the survey are the following: “Aruba, Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom” (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). IV. Discussion and Results The demographics of the respondents are such that 40 percent of them were 51 years or older, with that same percentage expected to leave teaching due to retirement within the next decade, lower than the national average of one in two. That said, the findings are that faculty expected incoming faculty to have about 5.17 years of experience prior to teaching, and that the expectations of faculty with regard to experience for new faculty rose with the faculty members’ length of experience themselves in the industry. Moreover, faculty rated operational disciplines higher in terms of needing concrete and substantial industry experience, including purchasing, beverage management and control, personnel, general operations in hotels, controlling costs, management of the facilities, and culinary management. About 24.4 percent of those surveyed had experience that was shorter than five years, indicating that the respondents fell within the national average of having experience that amounted to just one to two years prior to teaching, with the experience being gained in internship arrangements in the field. The expected massive drop in senior faculty due to retirement in the coming decade poses problems with regard to having faculty with adequate work experience prior to teaching, as can be gleaned from the numbers presented above (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). V. Implications The preceding discussion on the non-price factors that impact the supply and demand for owner-occupied housing in the UK partly touches on the notion of economies VI. Limitations There are limitations in the research instruments crafting, with regard to drafting questions that do not surface the quality of the experience for those who reported having ten years or more of experience in the industry, so that length of experience may not translate to quality of experience, and this limits the applicability and power of the research findings. Moreover, the research instrument scales were determined ad hoc and with no reference to other studies, which can be improved on, and a source of uncertainty with regard to the wisdom and appropriateness of the measurement scales used in the survey (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). VII. Future Research The proponents recommend further research on how important industry experience is in other disciplines. Other areas of future research include examining variances in expectations of experience in the industry for the 15 different disciplines in hospitality that were considered for the investigation; and longitudinal studies on changes in perceptions and attitudes for faculty relating to industry experience and how important that is in hospitality education (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). . References Phelan, V., Mejia, C. and Hertzman, J. 2013. The Industry Experience Gap: Hospitality Faculty Perceptions of the Importance of Faculty Industry Experience. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education 25(3). Read More