Expectations, experiences and career intentions of hospitality and tourism interns in technical Universities of Ghana

Abstract

Globally, internships play a critical role in hospitality and tourism education. The main objective of this study was to assess the pre-internship activities, expectations, experiences, career intentions of hospitality interns and also to develop a structural model to examine the casual relationship among these constructs. The Expectation-Disconfirmation Theory was adopted to guide study. 684 questionnaires were administered on hospitality interns in eight technical universities in Ghana who were sampled using the simple random technique. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyse the data. AMOS v. 26 was used for the structural equation modelling. Results from the study show that technical universities organise orientation for students and allowed them to participate in on-campus practical training before the internship exercise. Further, it was observed that students mostly sourced for placements themselves. The study revealed that skills development, career path exploration and compensation constitute interns’ expectation. Also, experiences derived by interns from internship included skills development, career path and compensation. Five factors (individual factors, supervisor-task clarity, co-worker support, work environment and compensation) influenced internship experiences of interns. Majority of the interns intend pursuing hospitality and tourism careers. Results show that all nine hypotheses were significant. The study recommends that technical universities take steps to scout for placements for students. Management of facilities offering their premises for internship should provide a good working environment for interns and also provide financial support for interns.