Administrative Challenges in Hospitality Management Education

Abstract

Leaders in hospitality management education face diverse challenges in today's competitive and changing environment. One of the keys to success is the understanding of the administrative challenges that will define the necessary skills for effective leadership. This study applied qualitative and quantitative methods and examined the opinions of 50 faculty members and administrators. The data were analyzed in two levels; the examination of aggregate data and the comparison of opinions between the two groups. Key challenges include dealing with faculty, budgetary and fiscal challenges, administrative management, curriculum and program development, increasing the diversity of faculty and students, and technological challenges. This study also notes the importance of the relationship between leadership skills and challenges, and the dynamics between the two concepts, while suggesting the importance for hospitality institutions to invest more fully in formally training their academic leadership.

Key words:

• Leadership
• Administrators
• hospitality management education
• challenges
• department chairs
• academia
• higher education
• hospitality