Investigating sustainability education within Australian hospitality management undergraduate curricula

Abstract

This study investigates the extent that sustainability education (SE) is incorporated within the curricula of Australian undergraduate Bachelor of hospitality management degree programs. The study included two data collection and analysis stages, with the first involving content analysis (CA) of all Australian university offerings of hospitality management and the second on qualitative semi-structured interviews (SSIs) with hospitality academics. Data was analysed using Microsoft Excel matrices and NVivo software for thematic similarities. The CA revealed that undergraduate hospitality courses offered in Australia vary significantly in focus and orientation. Ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) were canvassed in the CA, as was sustainability and its related topics. This revealed integration varied between the incorporation of stand-alone units dedicated to sustainability and the merging sustainability topics with other areas of study. Interviews were utilised to triangulate the data and this prompted the findings that quality and quantity measures of SE offerings were insufficiently represented in the published data. In the second stage of data collection, 12 educators involved in teaching and designing undergraduate hospitality courses in Australian tertiary institutions were interviewed. Findings suggested that much of the information and learning was dependant on personal factors, such as the enthusiasm and interest in sustainability topics of the unit designers and of the lecturers delivering the subject. Results from academic respondents indicated that sustainability is a secondary issue to the hospitality industry and is limited to its environmental and operational aspects. This showed that social dimensions of SE - and the role of responsible leadership with solid values on sustainability - need to be reflected in educational institutions and evinced in curriculums and operations. Findings also clearly exhibited that the sudden move to online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic involved extraordinary efforts and significant challenges for both hospitality academics and students. The impact of the pandemic on hospitality students involved financial, learning and personal and social challenges. This research enhances the understanding of the integration aspects of SE into the hospitality curricula, given the importance of sustainable practices and knowledge in the consumption-rich hospitality industry. Moreover, it is recommended it also include professional development opportunities such as staff training to motivate and support educators to implement and deliver sustainability across the curriculum. Professional development and training courses are necessary to enable educators to deal with and deliver sustainability topics effectively and engagingly, using a blended-learning approach. Combined, these actions will enhance SE integration into hospitality curricula.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English