Liberal Education as Part of the Hospitality Management Curriculum: Student and Alumni Perspectives

Abstract

This article reports on a study to assess student and alumni perceptions about the liberal education component of the hospitality management curriculum. Findings suggest that hospitality management students and alumni like hospitality-specific courses significantly more than liberal education courses. Students and alumni are also more appreciative of the impact of hospitality-specific courses on their personal and professional development. Freshmen and sophomore students appreciated liberal education courses significantly more than junior and senior students and alumni were more appreciative of both types of courses than students. Implications, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• liberal education
• hospitality management education
• curriculum
• students
• alumni

Notes

¹ As the t-test results for the students and alumni samples showed similar patterns, they were compiled in the report for brevity.