2 27_1 MIlena Vukic:tipska.qxd 11 Milena Vukić1*, Marija Kuzmanović2, Milorad Vukić1 1Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, College of Hotel Management, Serbia 2University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia Management: Journal of Sustainable Business and Management Solutions in Emerging Economies 2022/27(1) * Corresponding author: Milena Vukić, e-mail: milena.vukic12@gmail.com Students' perspective of internship in vocational higher education DOI: 10.7595/management.fon.2020.0018 Abstract: 1. Introduction Tourism is becoming an increasingly important service sector in the economy of many countries, as reflected in various direct and indirect impacts (Vukic & Kuzmanovic, 2017). The World Travel and Tourism Council, in its annual report (WTTC, 2019) points out that this sector provides opportunities to create jobs and accelerate exports and prosperity all over the world. The travel and tourism sectors are estimated to account for 10.4% of global GDP and are projected to rise by 3.6% in 2019. In terms of employment, in 2018, the sector accounted for 10% of total employment and is expected to grow by 2.9% in 2019. The tourism sector provides a significant economic contribution to the Republic of Serbia as well, accounting for 2.3% of total GDP and 1.9% of total employment in 2017. Over the next ten years, the number of new jobs is estimated to grow by 0.9% annually, resulting in 39,000 jobs by 2028 (WTTC, 2019). Given the rapid development of the service sector, one of the key factors of success is the recruitment of highly qualified staff, which increases the demand for education in this field. This is supported by the fact that many higher education institutions worldwide strive to increase the number of hospitality and tourism study programmes (Kim, Lee, & Cohen, 2008). According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Serbia for 2018, the total number of students enrolled in state higher education institutions in the field of services for the academic year 2016/2017 was 5847, while the number of those enrolled in private institutions was 452 (Statistical Office of RS, 2018). These numbers show that state higher education institutions still dominate in the field of services in Serbia despite the fact that competition in the market is getting fiercer. Research Question: This study aims to determine students’ satisfaction, experience and attitude toward internship in hospitality higher education. Motivation: Work integrated learning in the system of vocational higher education should enable young people, who have acquired theoretical and practical knowledge, to increase their employability, develop expertise through the process of socialization in the workplace, as well as to develop work habits and have a better understanding of the work culture. According to Hussien and La Lopa (2018), well-organized internship with detailed feedback, flexible working hours, adequate institutional support, and the ability to acquire a diverse range of skills, can increase satisfaction of all stakeholders. Idea: The main idea is to examine students’ experience, attitudes and satisfaction with internship, in order to propose practical implications for internship improvement. Data: The data were collected by means of a questionnaire during the summer term of 2017/18 academic year. The survey involved 189 students of The College of Hotel Management. Tools: Collected data were analysed and interpreted using some descriptive statistics techniques, as well as non-parametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H Test and Spearman's Rho. Findings: A vast majority of students were given employment opportunities during internship, which has increased their satisfaction. Gastronomy and hospitality students most often worked in the profession, while junior and senior students find the curriculum to a lesser extent consistent with the internship program. Students were most satisfied with the mentor’s objectivity in the assessment, and least satisfied with the school support during internship. Student satisfaction is also affected by better alignment of theory and practice, adequately rewarding overtime and doing the job for which they have been trained. Contribution: This study contributes to the identification and understanding of factors affecting satisfaction of hospitality students with internship and proposes measures to better internship organization. Keywords: vocational higher education, work integrated learning, hospitality internship, satisfaction. JEL Classification: I21, I23, L83, Z22 In order to become active partners in fostering local and regional development, higher education institutions (HEI) must become much more flexible as regards new opportunities and challenges. The fastest way for HEIs to respond to the labour market needs for skilled workforce is through redesigning internships. Developing an effective and well-organized internship program can help retain talent, reduce dropouts, and facilitate future career retention (Lin & Anantharajah, 2019). In order to increase students’ satisfaction and the success of internship, strong faculty support and intensive participation of faculty supervisor are necessary . Hussien and La Lopa (2018) state that cooperation between industry, HEIs and students provides more opportunities to identify different needs, expectations and interests of students, leading to excellence in vocational education. According to the mentioned authors, the key factors of internship satisfaction are the following: self-initiative, university support, job characteristics (feedback is of the highest importance to students), an organizational environment that provides them with learning opportunities, and working hours. The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the experience and satisfaction of internships in vocational higher education, but also to explore students’ attitudes towards various aspects of the internship. For this purpose, a survey was conducted among current students of the College of Hotel Management in Belgrade. The paper is organized as follows. The introductory section is followed by a theoretical section explaining the concept of work integrated learning with special reference to its application in the hospitality industry, as well as a literature review of students' motivations for studying tourism and hospitality programmes. Section 3 sets out the research hypotheses and describes the research methodology. The results of the study are presented in Section 4, while Section 5 provides recommendations and concluding remarks. 2. Theoretical Background 2.1. Work Integrated Learning in hospitality The term most commonly used to describe cooperation between the HEIs and businesses is Work Integrated Learning (WIL). WIL is a learning approach in the higher education system that brings vocational education closer to the academic one. This is especially true for HEIs in the tourism and hospitality sector, given that most tourism courses are partly academic and partly professional, depending on competencies (Ndlovu, 2015). It is quite challenging to define the term ‘work integrated learning’ as it covers a wide range of trainings such as internships, job shadowing, practicums, simulations, field work, cooperative education, work placement, cadetships, apprenticeships, and many others (Groenewald, 2004; von Treuer, Sturre, Keele, & McLeod, 2010; Smith, 2012; Wardle, 2014). For the purpose of strategic positioning in the market, HEIs strive to use any form of professional trainings, as this primarily helps students create generic skills, understand organizational culture and their own careers (Cameron, Freudenberg, Giddings, & Klopper, 2017). A key point of WIL is the integration of practical and relevant work experience within curricula, which would result in proactive and qualified graduates (Wardle, 2014). However, for the implementation of any type of VIL to be successful, the presence of strong links between all actors is necessary (Cam, 2016). One of the main benefits of WIL is the saving of time and money that future hospitality employers would spend on long-term trainings (Vukic & Vukic, 2018). In addition to employers, HEIs also benefit from WIL because industry requirements foster creation of relevant and attractive tourism and hospitality curricula (Caldicott, Wilson, Donnelly, & Edelheim, 2019). A proactive nature of internship helps different types of stakeholders to get connected and create an environment which will ensure hospitality HE to be equipped with latest skills and knowledge from industry (Nicolaides, 2015). An international component of WIL allows students to get familiar with foreign cultures, to travel and gain global perspective of host-guest relations (Ruhanen, Robinson, & Breakey, 2013). Smith (2012) emphasizes that WIL enables students to make a much faster return on money invested in education, which also has an impact on the increase in gross domestic product. Despite the increase in the number of students involved in the hospitality internships, these programmes are often criticized for poor organization and lack of structure (Lee & Chao, 2008). A negative experience during internship may lead to student dissatisfaction which impact their decision to continue their career in the hospitality industry (Seyitoglu & Yirik, 2015).To overcome these problems, university mentors need to be constantly in touch with industry recruiters, while internship mentors should be adequately trained to provide precise instructions as well as constructive feedback to help students do their job appropriately (Hussien & La Lopa, 2018). More internship hours can help students develop cognitive and generic skills but also improve affective qualities such as passion and adaptability which are of great importance in the hotel industry. Their positive attitude towards guests in term of providing exceptional service can help them to secure long-term careers in this industry (Sonnenschein, Barker, & Hibbins, 2019). On the other hand, educational institutions should draw students’ attention to the fact that the problems they encounter during internship, such as poor working conditions, problems with guests, work accidents, inadequate pay, can help them become better 12 Milena Vukić, Marija Kuzmanović, Milorad Vukić 2022/27(1) managers or business owners once they have completed their schooling (Seyitoglu, Gastronomy students’ internship experience: benefits, challenges, and future career, 2019). Insufficiently trained and motivated staff can negatively affect the quality of service provided, customers’ satisfaction and loyalty, and thus the competitiveness of the sector itself (Le, McDonald, & Klieve, 2018). The internship also provides students’ immediate experience after which they have a better understanding of the classroom teaching process, but also provides teachers with the opportunity to improve their teaching skills (Gupta, 2019). 2.2. Students’ motives for studying tourism and hospitality programme Understanding the students’ motives for enrolling a hospitality or tourism programme is crucial to create a competitive curriculum, but also a strategy for positioning these HEIs. Many researchers investigated students' motivation for hospitality and tourism management courses, but there is still a limited body of research exploring students’ motivations for majoring in this field (Walmsley, 2012; Lee, Olds, & Lee, 2013; Juaneda, Herranza, & Montano, 2017). Several conclusions can be drawn from the literature review. First, most studies addressing students' motivations for choosing courses in tourism and hospitality have been conducted at universities and colleges in Asia or the United States, while there is a lack of empirical studies on European students. Furthermore, the main motivating factors can be grouped into several categories: job opportunities, chance for foreign experience, ease of study, and personal skill development. Finally, the most commonly method used for investigating motivational factors is the factor analysis. One of the earliest studies on hospitality and student motivation in tourism was conducted in China. The results showed that students are motivated to study hospitality and tourism management (HTM) as they believe that the tourism industry offers more employment opportunities, a high quality tertiary education experience abroad, and can lead to a respectable career (Zhao, 1991). A few years later, Huyton (1997) came up with similar findings, adding that the dominant motive for Chinese students was a greater chance of employment. Kim et al. (2007) compared the motivation of Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean HTM students and found that motivation varied by geographic origin, although six major factors were identified in all three groups: job opportunity, practical aspect, scholastic achievement, apparent attractiveness, interest in foreign culture, and ease of study. The results of Lee, Kim and Lo (2008) study conducted in Hong Kong among college students indicated that the most important reasons were job opportunity and self-actualization. Kim, Jung and Wang (2016) compared students from three Asian countries and concluded that all three groups were more motivated by practical learning than scholastic pursuits. Jamnia and Pan (2017) conducted a survey among students of a Taiwanese private university, suggesting low average grades earned by students in the joint entrance exam as one of the motives. In Sweden, students are mostly motivated by working and communicating with people and by obtaining higher qualification (Hjalager, 2003). According to Airey (2005) students choose tourism and hospitality programmes because of job opportunities, networking, international career opportunities, universal management and business skills. Dodds and Muchnick (2013) have shown that the Canadian students are motivated by school reputation, faculty teaching and assistance, the focus on degree in business and career/industry opportunities. What has proven to be very interesting is that students choose to study hospitality and tourism as their first choice, and their decision is not influenced by friends and family, which contrasts with the results of research conducted by O'Mahony et al. (2001) among Australian students. A factor analysis of US students' motivations to study HTM revealed six main motives: self-actualization, employment opportunity, field attractiveness, foreign experience, external influence, and ease of study (Lee, Olds, & Lee, 2013). Mohammad and Alsaleh (2013) applied a factor analysis of student motivations to study hospitality and tourism programmes, and the results show that social status, job opportunities, modern and attractive major, specific interest, ease of study and dream fulfillment are important influencing factors for students to study tourism. Airey (2016) considers that the increase in the number of students studying in tourism field is the result of the economic attractiveness of the sector itself. Examining the motives of tourism students in Spain, Juaneda, Herranz and Montano (2017) show that those motives do not much differ from the motives of students enrolled in social science studies. The authors conclude that the respondents attach importance to job prospects, interest in degree and personal skills, diploma reputation and job opportunities. 3. Methodology An empirical study was conducted to examine the experiences of vocational college students with internships, as well as their satisfaction and attitudes. The research, involving students from the College of Hotel Management in Belgrade, was conducted through a questionnaire in the summer semester 2017/18 academic year. The College of Hotel Management in Belgrade was chosen because it is one of the oldest 13 Management: Journal of Sustainable Business and Management Solutions in Emerging Economies 2022/27(1) vocational colleges in Serbia, and was also awarded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia for its contribution to dual education in Serbia. The questionnaire contained four sets of questions: demographics, seven statements related to experience and as many related to student attitudes towards internship, as well as eight statements regarding students’ satisfaction with internship. Students evaluated statements on a five-point Likert scale, where 1 stands for "strongly disagree", while 5 stands for "strongly agree". The collected data were analysed using SPSS. To answer the stated research questions, the following hypotheses were tested: H1: Frequency of internships outside of the profession varies depending on the study programme. H2: Frequency of internships outside of the profession varies depending on the student gender. H3: Students' perception of curriculum compatibility with internship depends on the study programme. H4: Students' perception of curriculum compatibility with internship depends on the year of study. H5: Students' attitude that the internship should be paid depends on the year of study. H6: Students’ satisfaction depends on the way they were informed about internship. H7: Students’ satisfaction is correlated with the perception of internship compatibility with the curriculum H8: Students’ satisfaction depends on whether they worked in profession during internship. H9: Students’ satisfaction depends on the employment opportunities after internship. H10: Students’ satisfaction depends on whether or not they worked overtime. H11: Satisfaction of students working overtime depends on the way the overtime was valued. Since the criteria for normally distributed data were not satisfied as assessed by Shapiro-Wilk's test (p < 0.01), non-parametric analyses for testing the hypotheses were applied. To test hypothesis H2, H8 and H11 the Mann-Whitney U Test was used, in order to test the equality of Mean Rank in two independent samples. For the testing of hypotheses H1, H3-H6, H9, and H10 it was suggested that the Kruskal-Wallis H Test be used, in order to obtain statistically significant evidence, that there is a difference in Mean Rank among more than two groups of an independent variables. Spearman's Rho was used to test hypothesis H7 in order to measure the strength of correlation between two variables that did not have a normal distribution. The Chrombach Alpha reliability test was used to check the internal consistency of the statements used for measuring summed satisfaction. 4. Results The total of 189 respondents completed the questionaire. Demographic data are given in Table 1, indicating slightly more male than female respondents in the sample. The average age of the respondents was 20.78 (SD = 1.63). Most of the respondents were second year students in the Hotel Management study programme. A slightly over half of the students have completed hospitality and tourism high school (55%), as expected. Table 1: Demographic structure of respondents 14 Milena Vukić, Marija Kuzmanović, Milorad Vukić 2022/27(1) ������� ����� �� �������� � ������� � �� ���� ���� � ��� �� ��� ����� �� ������������ �������� �� ��� ����� � ��������� �� ��� ����� � � ������ �� �� ���!� � ������������"� �� ���� !� ��!� ������#��"� ���� $��� �% � "������ ��� � � � � &��� �� ���% � "������ ��� � ��� � � ���������% � "������ !�� ����� '(�� "��"� ��������"��������� �����)��� �� ��� �� � � �� ��)�!� �� ��� ���� � !� ��)��� �� ��� �*��� � �� ��)��� ��+��,� ��� !��� �� ��������������� ��(��������������� ��� ���� � �� �)��� ����� ��� ����� $�" ��� �� � $��#�� ���� ����������� �" ��� �� � ���� ��� � -� �"�)#��# � ������� �� �+"� �� ���� �� ,� *!� ����� � �� ��� �" ��� �� � ��� ��� � .��������� �" ��� �� � * � ���*� � /� ���� **� ���!� � 4.1. Students’ experiences and attitudes toward internship Students' attitudes toward internships, expressed through the level of agreement with the seven statements, are given in Table 2. Average scores indicate that students largely agree with the statements that internships should increase employment opportunities in the profession (mean = 4.86) and develop professional and communication skills (4.80), while they least agree with the statement that internships should allow them to find a full-time job (4.29). Table 2: Students' attitudes towards internship An analysis of students' previous experience with internships showed that more than two-thirds of respondents used college ads as a source of information (74.1%), followed by a professor's recommendation (24.9%) and a recommendation from other students (1%), while no student stated another source of information. Students generally agree with the statement that during internship they were doing the jobs they were studying for (mean=3.52); namely, almost one third of all students (31.2%) stated that they had always done the job they were studying. As for the reasons why they continued to carry out internships outside their profession, the two most common reasons were the desire to learn something new (24.8% of responses) and the obligation to intern (19.7% of responses). Other, less common reasons were: desire to travel and learn about other cultures (9.8%) and avoid the demanding procedures necessary to change internships (8.5% of responses). Empirical results indicate a high rate of employability through internships (63.5%), which is a very encouraging information. Among those who were offered employment, the majority were students of hotel management (44.2%) and gastronomy (41.7%) programmes, and the least number of students were offered an employment in restaurant management (14.2%). Only 12.7% of students have never worked overtime during internship and there is no statistically significant difference between study programmes concerning overtime (p> 0.05). One third of students (30.69%) stated that they were not paid overtime, 29.63% stated that they received pay, 26.98% said that overtime was recognized as working hours, while the rest did not work overtime. When it comes to compatibility between curriculum and internship programme, students are generally not sure to what degree they are aligned (mean = 3.08). Examining whether students worked during the internship in the jobs they were educated for, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the students of different study programmes (29.169, p < 0.001). A post hoc analysis has shown that there is a difference between the students of hotel management and students of restaurant management (31.642, p < 0.01), as well as between the students of restaurant management and students of gastronomy (44.789, p < 0.01). Therefore, we can conclude that gastronomy and restaurant management students do the job they were educated more often than hotel management students, thus confirming hypothesis H1. These results showed that hotel management students had a wider scope of work which qualified them more for employment in comparison with restaurant students. Regarding the frequency of work in the profession during the internship, a statistically significant difference was observed between males and females, as estimated by the Mann-Whitney U Test (3403.5, p < 0.05). The results show that males more often than females do the jobs for which they are educated, thus confirming Hypothesis H2. Concerning students' perception of curriculum compliance with the internship programme, no statistically significant differences between the three study programmes have been found, as estimated by Kruskal-Wallis Test (4.486, p > 0.05), so Hypothesis H3 is rejected. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis Test show statistically significant differences between students of different years of study in terms of perceived compatibility of the curriculum with internship programme (8.495, p < 0.05). Statistically significant differences in perception are found between third-year and first-year students (29.113, p < 0.01), as well as between second-year and first-year students (28.103, p < 0.01), thus confirming Hypothesis 4. It has been confirmed that students of all years agree that the internship should be paid (1.649, p > 0.05), therefore hypothesis H5 is rejected. 15 Management: Journal of Sustainable Business and Management Solutions in Emerging Economies 2022/27(1) ������� ��� ������ ��� ���� ��� ���� � ���� ���� ��� ���� ���� ���������� ����� �� �� ��� ������� ��� ���������� ����� ������ �� �� ���� � ���� ���������������� ������� ����� ���� � � �� ���� � ���������� ������� �� ����� ��� �� �� �� ��� ���� ��!�� ������ "� �� ������ � �� ��#� �� ������# ��$��$���������� ���� ����� ���"�� "� �� ����������� ��������� �����$���� ��� �� �����������$����$������ ����� ������ "� �� ��������� ����� �� �� ��� ����� � ����� ������ ���� � � ���� �� �� ������ "� �� � 4..2. Student satisfaction with internship In addition to experiences and attitudes, this study examined the students’ satisfaction with internship and with mentors from the industry (Table 3). Looking at the arithmetic mean at individual items of students’ satisfaction with internship, it can be concluded that the students are most satisfied with mentors’ objectivity in evaluation (means=3.83) and least satisfied with the support given by the college during internship (means=3.22). Students’ average satisfaction with treatment during internship is not very high (Mean = 3.52) and there is not much difference between the respondents' individual responses (St. dev. = 0.90). The total score was obtained by summing up the answers to questions shown in Table 3 and then dividing by the number of items representing satisfaction. The result obtained is the measure of students’ total satisfaction with internship. Further in the study, hypotheses concerning students’ satisfaction were tested, whereby all the tests were calculated with the scale of summed satisfaction. With the aim to calculate the reliability of the created scale, Chrombach Alpha reliability test was used which equals 0.882 and gives information on the satisfactory reliability of the scale (>0.7), indicating that the data obtained in this study can be considered relevant. Table 3: Students' satisfaction with various aspects of the internship The results of the Kruskal Wallis Test suggest no statistically significant difference in the degree of student satisfaction with the internship, depending on the way they were informed about the internship (p > 0.05), so hypothesis H6 is rejected. Furthermore, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient showed a statistically significant correlation between student satisfaction with internships and perceptions of internship compatibility with the curriculum (0.486; p < 0.01). Namely, the stronger student perception of compatibility between the internship programme and the curricula, the more satisfied they are with the internship, so hypothesis H7 is confirmed. Mann-Whitney U Test results confirm statistically significant differences in student satisfaction depending on whether they did the jobs they were educated for, whereby higher ratings on the satisfaction scale gave those who did such jobs (see Table 4). Therefore, hypothesis H8 is also confirmed. Further analysis shows that there is a statistically significant difference in the level of satisfaction between the students who continued their internship even though they were not doing the jobs they were studying for, depending on the reasons to stay. Table 4 shows a statistically significant difference between students who explicitly state that they continued internship because of its compulsory status, and other students (p < 0.01), wherethe latter group were more satisfied. A difference in satisfaction also appears between the students who find the procedure of quitting internship complicated and other students (p < 0.01), who do not consider the procedure complicated and who are more satisfied. Other reasons, such as travelling and learning something new, are not statistically significant predictors of satisfaction of students who worked outside of the profession during internship (p > 0.05). Table 4: Student satisfaction with internship depending on whether they worked in profession 16 Milena Vukić, Marija Kuzmanović, Milorad Vukić 2022/27(1) ������� ���� ���� � �� ��� � ��� �� ������������ ��������� ���� ������ � ������� ������� ���� ������ ��� ������������ �� ���������� ������ ���������� ���� ����� ��� �������� � �� ����� ��������� ���� ����� ���������� ������ � ��� �� ����� �� �������� ��� ���� � ��!" ��#�# ������ � ������ �� ���� ��������� � ��"! ��#�� ��� $������ �� ��������% ����% �� �������� ��� � ���� � $����� ��&& ���!� ��� $������ �� ������ ����� ����� �� ��� ������ �� ������� � ����� ���� ��� ��&� ��#�" ��������� �� ��� ������ ���� �������� �� ������ �� ������� �������� ��#" ���#& ������ �����% ������� ��� ��� �� ������ �������� � �� ����� �� ������ ��## ����# �������� �� �� ������� � �������� ������ ��������� ���������� �������� ������ �� �� �������� �� ���� �� ����� �� ����� � � � � ��� ���� � �������� ������� ������ �� � ������ � � � �������� ��������� ��� ����� ���� �� ����� � � � � ��� ������� � ����� �!� !�� ������ �� � ������ � � � ���������� ���������� � � � � � ��� �� �� �"���"��� �!� ��� ������ �� � �� ���� � � � � Using the Kruskal-Wallis Test, a statistically significant difference in satisfaction was found between students who were offered a job after completing internships, those who were not sure and those who were not offered a job (p <0.05). It was found that students who were offered a job were more satisfied with the internship than those who were not offered (p < 0.05). Students uncertain about employment after completing internships do not show a statistically significant difference in the level of satisfaction with the internship, in comparison with two other groups (p > 0.05). Therefore, hypothesis H9 is confirmed. Kruskal-Wallis test indicates no significant difference in the degree of student satisfaction depending on whether they worked overtime (often or occasionally) or not (p > 0.05). Therefore, hypothesis H10 is rejected. In order to examine whether there is a difference in the degree of satisfaction in those students who worked overtime, depending on if and how the work was rewarded, an analysis was made whose results are shown in Table 5. The overtime was treated in one of three different ways: it was paid, converted to internship hours, or was not compensated at all. Each of the ways was a separate question in the questionnaire, and students stated whether overtime was valued that way or not. For all three options, there is a statistically significant difference (p < 0.01), indicating that those students who were paid or whose overtime was converted into internship hours are more satisfied. Therefore, hypothesis H11 is confirmed. Table 5: Internship satisfaction depending on how overtime is rewarded 17 Management: Journal of Sustainable Business and Management Solutions in Emerging Economies 2022/27(1) �������� ��� ������� ������ ���������� ������� ������� �� �� ������� �� � � � � ���� ������ ������� ������ ������ ����� ��� � � � � �� ��� � � � � ���� � � �� ��������� � ��� �� ����� � ���� � � � ���� ��� ������� ������ �� ���� �� � � � � ���� � ���� � ������� ���� � ��� �� ����� ������ � � � � The research results in this study indicate a very high possibility of preliminary selection and recruitment of personnel by companies in the hospitality industry. Such possibilities have positive effects on satisfaction with internship. A better interaction and compatibility between the higher education institutions and the industry would result in the creation of such contents and outcomes that would facilitate a quicker solving of practical problems, which would increase the students’ satisfaction. Considering the fact that employment is least offered to students of hotel management, it is necessary to innovate the curriculum programme. A possible solution can also be to offer more elective subjects from the restaurant management field so that hotel management students could acquire a more complex knowledge that may improve their employment prospects. To avoid the dissatisfaction of students working outside the profession when the procedure of changing internships is complicated, it is necessary to organize start-up meetings of industry mentors and students so that companies can provide as much detail as possible about the positions in which the student will work. Furthermore, communication between the school supervisor and students should be intensified by mobile phones, e-mail or direct contact. Allowing mobility during the internship would reduce dissatisfaction with school support during the internship. The school should at least keep records of unsatisfied students so that during the next internship they will be given the opportunity to make up for the training they have missed. As the most common reason to continue internship although not doing the jobs in profession students cite the opportunity to learn something new. This indicates that the students are satisfied with the quality of the knowledge gained; however, the improvement of pedagogical skills and perhaps the introduction of a licence for working with students would certainly improve the performance of the mentors from the industry even further. Paid overtime work can increase students’ motivation and their productivity as well. As overtime was mostly done by the students of gastronomy, school mentors should check the conditions under which these students worked taking into account the fact that their job is often more physically strenuous than that of the others. 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A current look at hospitality and tourism education in China’s colleges and universities. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 10(4), 357-367. Received: 2019-08-11 Revision requested: 2020-04-26 Revised: 2020-06-25 Accepted: 2020-07-12 Milena Vukić Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, College of Hotel Management, Serbia milena.vukic12@gmail.com Milena Vukić is a professor of applied studies at the College of Hotel Management, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade. Her research interest focus on consumer behaviour, marketing strategies, service sector, higher education and applicaton of quantittive methods and analytical techniques. She is member of Business association of hotel and restaurant industry – Serbia and Serbian Marketing Association. About the Authors 20 Milena Vukić, Marija Kuzmanović, Milorad Vukić 2022/27(1) Marija Kuzmanović University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia marija.kuzmanovic@fon.bg.ac.rs Marija Kuzmanović, PhD, is an associate professor in the Operations Research, Business Analytics and Game Theory at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences. She is author or co-author of 8 chapters in international monographs and over 25 papers in leading scientific journals including Expert Systems with Application, Mathematics, Higher Education and International Journal of Tourism Research. In addition to being the co-editor of the Springer monograph, Advances in Operational Research in the Balkans, she is also the author of two national monographs. Her research interests include mathematical modelling and optimization, data analytics, methods of preference measurement, and game theory. Milorad Vukić Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, College of Hotel Management, Serbia milorad.vukic@vhs.edu.rs Milorad Vukić is a professor of applied studies at the College of Hospitality Management, Academy of Applied Studies, Belgrade. He has written more than 20 books on gastronomy and hospitality management. Professor Vukić is Chief of Department of Gastronomy at the Academy of Applied Studies, Belgrade and member of team for development of the National Qualifications Framework in Serbia. He is also an executive trainer and business consultant in projects with the private (medium and small enterprises) as well as the public hospitality sectors. 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