Assessing the Effectiveness of Internship in Hospitality Management Education_An Explanatory study in Indian context

Abstract

Hospitality and tourism is one of the largest service sectors in India and accounts for nearly eight percent of total employment in the country. Hospitality courses are major contributor among higher education institutions awarding professional degree in India. The main objective of hospitality management education is to provide industry specific knowledge along with relevant management competencies Hospitality education mostly depends on internship , which is the curricular requirement of any hospitality course in India. Internship is a prerequisite requirement of earning a hospitality degree. The training takes place at the real job site (functional/operational hospitality or allied unit); wherein someone who knows the job shows (train) another how to perform it. All the three stakeholders involved viz. students, educators and industry professionals should have continuous collaboration and partnership in order to fulfill the huge future demands for skilled workforce in the hospitality sector. Internship can work as a pillar to have such association and partnership. There is a huge requirement of well-trained, capable and educated workforce in the hospitality industry. Lectures cannot facilitate in imparting hands-on experience. There is a need to gauge the effectiveness of internship component by measuring employability skills enhancement because of the internship. The results could serve as a reference for curriculum design with regard to internship component for the students of Hospitality Management education. However, no study is done on how the internship component has changed the perception about the hospitality industry among the students. This study is an effort in the direction of identifying the change of perception about the hospitality industry among the students through the internship components. The present study also encompasses the perception of hospitality educators and industry employers about the enhancement of students competencies garnered after experiencing the internship component.