To stay or not to stay? The causal effect of interns’ career intention on enhanced employability and retention in the hospitality and tourism industry

Abstract

This study examines how the career intention and enhanced employability following an industry internship can affect the career choice of students in Hospitality and Tourism departments. The results of 918 valid questionnaires were tested and supported proposed conceptual models of 9 hypotheses and 5 regression models. The research findings of this study indicated that, in the case of Taiwan's Hospitality and Tourism Education, interns' career intention positively influenced their employability, and both career intention and enhanced employability had a positive impact on students' retention in the H/T industry after graduation. This study contributes to the H/T literature by confirming the mediating effect of employability on the relationship between career intention and retention in the H/T industry. It indicates stakeholders should work to build up students' career planning and confidence and to cultivate interns' positive work attitude. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Author Keywords

Internship employability Career intention hospitality and tourism industry

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Department of Chinese Culinary Arts, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Graduate Institute of Tourism Management, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Department of Applied English, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Funding & Acknowledgements

No funding information

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To stay or not to stay? The causal effect of interns’ career intention on enhanced employability and retention in the hospitality and tourism industry

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