Investigation of Factors Influencing Career Decision-Making of Students in Foodservice Management and Culinary Arts Programs

Lee, Kyung Eun; Kim, Tae Hee

Abstract

The purposes of the study were to identify important attributes in foodservice management and culinary arts students' career decision-making and to investigate factors determining their preferred employment fields. A questionnaire that consisted of preferred employment fields, importance rating of 19 attributes related to job choices, and demographic information was developed based on a review of literature. A total of 319 students enrolled in food and nutrition, foodservice management, and culinary arts programs of eight 2-year colleges and 4-year universities in Seoul and Kyunggi Province participated in the survey. Data were analyzed using SPSS Win (version 10.0) with descriptive statistics, chisquare analysis, one-way analysis of variance, factor analysis, and discriminant analysis. Attributes of the highest importance scores included fringe benefits, wages and promotion opportunities, working environments, professional development opportunities, and organizational culture. The students who preferred non-commercial foodservice as a career choice depended more on "word-of-mouth from faculty" than those who preferred other fields (F = 3.094, p < .05) and rated importance of "participation in job fairs" higher than those who selected hotel food and beverage (F = 5.048, p < .01). A factor analysis of the 19 attributes resulted in five factors:job/compensation policy, impersonal communication, company image, word-of-mouth, and personal experience. The five factors explained 67% of the total variance. A discriminant analysis revealed that students who perceived "impersonal communication" and "word-of-mouth" more important were likely to prefer non-commercial foodservice as a career choice. The results would be used by university faculty in advising graduating students on career selection and by recruiters in developing effective and attractive recruiting programs.