Determinants of Career Paths of Ecotourism and Hospitality Management Graduates of Maseno University

Abstract

In the recent past, there has been an influx of hospitality management university graduate employees into non hospitality organizations in Kenya. However, the main causes of this career change have not been examined. The purpose of the study was to investigate determinants of career paths of ecotourism and hospitality management graduates of Maseno University. The objectives of the study were to: determine the factors that affect career decisions of ecotourism and hospitality management graduates: ascertain the career change intentions of ecotourism and hospitality management graduates working within and outside the hospitality industry and assess the implications of the career decisions of ecotourism and hospitality management graduates on human resource management strategies of non hospitality organizations. The study also sought to find out how the graduates respond to the human resource management strategies of non hospitality organizations. The population of study was ecotourism, hotel and' institution management graduates of Maseno University and their employers. The employees sampling frame was employees who graduated from Maseno University in the years 2005 to 20 I0 working within and outside the hospitality industry. The employers sampling frame consisted of non hospitality organizations that recruit ecotourism and hospitality management university graduates from Maseno University. Snowballing and convenience sampling were used to identify 150 employees and 4 employer representatives respectively. The survey tools used were selfadministered questionnaires and structured interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data was analyzed and presented using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 17 and thematic analysis respectively. The means, frequencies, percentages, regression and significance tests were computed and presented using tables. Exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring was used to identify key factors. Any themes, similarities and differences in the qualitative data were also established. The study revealed that the graduates main career path determinants are unpredictable events, career satisfaction, chance and permanency of employment. Most of the graduates (n=73, 69.50%) have also secured jobs in the hospitality industry where they work as either hospital ity practitioners or tutors in academic institutions. The others working in non hospitality organizations (n=32, .30.50%) were graduate clerks, sales persons, management trainees among other positions. The findings indicate that a significant number of graduates (n=52, 49.50%) would like to build permanent careers outside the hospitality industry particularly in the banking sector. The findings further show that the graduates career decisions affect the compensation, training and recruitment strategies of employers and that the employers human resource management strategies also influence the graduates career decisions. The study was significant for several reasons. First, results arising from this study revealed why most hospitality graduates accept employment in non hospitality organizations and the value they offer to their employers. The study also established human resource management strategies non hospitality organizations use to make the graduates add value to the organization considering that most of the graduates hold hospitality management qualifications and thus are not professionals outside the hospitality arena. Further to this, information arising from it was added to the existing knowledge on the opportunities that exist in the prevailing business environment for managing the negative impact that career change amongst hospitality graduates has on employees, employers and the nation at large. Lastly, the study provided insights into the way the academic curriculum can be geared towards positively responding to the more general and flexible labour markets that exist in the modern business