Summarizing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summarizing - Essay Example These two groups arguably will have less to offer by way of industry experience, with possible implications on the perception and reality of the education quality from this revamped educator pool. The key thing is the study is in the culling of the perceptions of existing faculty and the student body tied to how important faculty experience in the industry is. The study findings are said to be relevant with regard to informing school planners and administrators on how best to keep the level of academic rigor high within their programs, with the perceptions being used as inputs in devising hiring programs for educators moving forward (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). The study proponents listed down three objectives for the study. One is the determination of the importance faculty place on experience in the industry preceding the teaching phase. Two is the determination of how faculty perceives how important industry experience is to the teaching posts in different disciplines within the hospitality umbrella discipline. Three is the determination how related the industry experience of faculty member is to the importance placed on industry experience prior to the teaching phase (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). II. Literature Review The literature review traces the roots of the hospitality field as an academic discipline and as a professional practice to the trainings that were given in the course of employees doing their work in restaurants as well as hotels. This vocational education gave rise to more structured educational programs that soon became full-fledged academic programs. Having its roots in practice, however, the hospitality academic education is seen as benefitting from the experience gained by educators in the field, doing the actual work, and then supplementing the experience with the academic rigor associated with structured educational programs that grant degrees. The problem lies precisely in the perceptions with regard to the lack of experien tial grounding in the industry for some of the academic practitioners and how that lack of experience leads to a disconnect between theory or academics and actual industry experience or practice. The literature review then goes on to examine studies relating to practices to bridge the divide between practice on the one hand and theory on the other, with the emphasis on improving learning outcomes by making sure that educators are properly grounded in substantial experience in the industry (Phelan, Mejia and Hertzman 2013). III. Methodology An online survey of 445 faculty in the hospitality discipline was conducted, with the survey being self-directed and the link to the survey being sent out via emails to the potential respondents, and out of that total population a total of 39.3 percent sent responses via email of their completed surveys. Of the respondents, just 4 percent had no prior industry experience in the hospitality field, and the respondents represented faculty in 18 diffe rent countries, with most of the respondents coming from the United States. The other represented countries in the survey are the following: