Do hospitality management curricula at public higher education institutions in South Africa comply with the standards suggested by a research-based competence framework?

Abstract

The employability demands of hospitality employers, combined with the requirements of the 2013 Higher Education (HE) Qualifications Sub-Framework, necessitated a thorough evaluation of the current hospitality management curricula at public HE institutions in South Africa. The evaluation described in this article was based on a comprehensive competence framework developed in a broader study that was aimed at enhancing the employability of hospitality management graduates in South Africa. The outcomes in existing curricula were compared with 127 essential competences in the framework. Hospitality management curricula at public higher education institutions in South Africa do not comply with all the standards suggested by the mentioned research-based competence framework. The key weaknesses identified relate to 36 competences in the framework, which are either not reflected or wrongly represented in the curricula. Arguments for improvement are substantiated by the results of an extensive Delphi evaluation of the competences in the framework by 38 experts in the field.