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Career Development CUL 273

 

By

Module Author(s)

  • Mark Dowling (Coastal Carolina Community College)

Course Description

Course name, information, and description: CUL 273 – Career Development
This course within the Culinary Arts Department will uncover the systematic approaches to career development in the global tourism and travel industry. Today this industry generates about ten percent of total planet-wide GDP and provides more than 240 million jobs in 2020 representing nine percent of global employment.
Specific research topics include developing a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) personal statement and researching staffing, selection, and practices. Additionally, to discover career development and progression processes of the various related industries in the United States of America (USA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Particularly, students will research ethics, staff recruitment strategies, hiring steps, probationary evaluation, benefit administration, employee relations, labor regulations and laws, discipline, motivation, productivity, shift management, contract employees, and organizational culture in the United States as well as United Arab Emirates.

Number of Students Enrolled: 12-14

Student Global Learning Outcomes

1. Understand USA and UAE’s career trajectories and job practices in tourism, hospitality, and in related fields such as hotel and restaurant operations, hospitality IT/cybersecurity, retail food business, convention, and event planning.

2. Comprehend specific ways that tourism, travel, and popularity of a given tourist destination in the Middle East requires specific cultural skills to serve international guests.

Module Description and Activities

Description of Module:

Upon completion, students should be able to comprehend diverse and culturally sensitive career opportunities in the tourism and travel industries on an international scale. This global module will focus on the distinctive and common practices developed for the global hospitality industry in both the USA and the UAE. Students will learn about historical and contemporary UAE career ladders under the umbrella of tourism and travel industry.

Students will also compare practices in the USA and UAE. Students will learn that many factors influence how global tourism and travel industries in these two countries plan and execute recruitment and job promotion. Upon completion of this module, students will understand that norms and mores in a global industry, such as mode of dress, grooming, and employee conduct, are important and overlap in many cases with similarities in the physical space; and will identify these norms in both the USA and UAE as well as distinctive elements in other tourist/travel destination sites.

Activities

Activity 1: Career Development Practices Analysis Exercise

Objective:

Students will be able to articulate why USA and UAE career trajectories and practices differ. They will be able to explain how each country’ processes for establishing staff culture and hierarchy reflect societal values.

Procedure:

This exercise will take place during the third week of class as part of a unit that broadly discusses career development practices. A brief video will be shared with students that shows distinctive greeting elements by staff members at a 6-star rated destination at various sites. These sessions will also look into hospitality IT and cybersecurity career paths.

We will have seated class discussion or Blackboard Discussion board and/or Voice Thread, in which students will compare the following aspects:

  • Appearance of the staff
  • Job descriptions common to 6-star destinations, including roles in IT and cybersecurity
  • How people are selected for various roles, i.e., career development and progression
  • Use of welcoming ceremonies and amenities offered to guests upon arrival

Through this comparison, they will see that USA and UAE operations may have different career trajectories and gender roles expected of staff.

Students will then use prior knowledge from the class to articulate the reasons for these differences. They have already learned that UAE hotels and resorts have specific cultural priorities when welcoming guests. These cultural greeting practices emphasize refreshment of guests upon arrival at their destination.

Assignment and Assessment:

Following this in-class activity, students will write a short informal journal entry (one of three they complete during the course) in which they complete an analysis of the entry level skills needed and sought after by leading destination resorts in the 6-star rated category. They may choose IT and cybersecurity career paths.

Students will be given a list of websites of international companies in tourism and travel and related fields to help them select their topics. They will also complete a personal response and self-reflection in which they describe what it is like to discover initial career practices in the related fields.

Resources:

Activity 2: Cross-Cultural Influences in Career Development

Objective:

Students will be able to identify and explain ways in which plural Arab cultures have similarities with plural American cultures. Of note will be to include the United Arab Emirates’ caravanserai (Al Khan), Jumeirah Archaeological Site, and presentations of this form of hostel for travelers in the Middle East and Central Asia. Consider adding a quick reference to the American point of comparison.

Procedure:

This activity will take place during the unit about Arab customs and traditions.

Students will explore several examples of some signature Arab customs and traditions discussed during lecture.  Then through small group discussion followed by large group discussion, students will articulate ways that the various Arab cultures, tourism, and travel industry intertwine. Students will then learn that during business and cultural interaction a proper greeting is required.

Assignment and Assessment:

Arab Cultures as featured during this class unit will be included on the course quizzes. Students will complete short-answer responses in which they articulate the present in destination resort development and the cultural reasons for differences.

Resources:

Activity 3: Contemporary Influences in Career Development

Objective:

Students will be able to see that hospitality, friendliness, and generosity to visitors is an expression of ‘sacred duties’ in cultures based on Islam.

It will be interesting to note that contemporary or international career and/or initial selection practices in the hospitality industry can be influenced by these traditions. The range of responsibilities and functions of hiring the ‘right fit talent’ has been increased drastically over the previous decade. Companies are no longer just about hiring people and making payroll. Thus, the importance and influence of initial and ongoing career progression and development of employees makes for a successful and long-term employee and has a direct impact on the overall success of the hotel/resort.

Procedure:

This activity will take place during the unit on contemporary American/Western Hospitality career development practices. In this case the students will have just completed a lesson about these practices. Students will then watch a film about the contemporary practices in Tourism and Travel Industries, as well as in related Hospitality IT and Cybersecurity career paths.

During a film on the infrastructure development of the greater Dubai kingdom, the students will observe historic hospitality practices. This will be followed by small and large group discussions about hospitality contemporary practices.

Additionally, as a point of architectural and outstanding tourist destination is the city of Abu Dhabi, the capital of Dubai, which is within the UAE seven kingdoms, this city has become known for its successful and awe-inspiring guest lodging projects, including the Burj Al Arab, the world’s tallest freestanding hotel. Another wonder of real estate development is the Palm Islands, a spectacular construction of three artificial islands in the shape of date palm, on which residential, commercial and destination properties are built. To round out the multi-billion-dollar real estate development projects are the World Islands, a massive man-made archipelago of 300 islands in the shape of the world. Lastly, it is also home to the Burj Khalifa which is the world’s tallest man-made structure.

Assignment and Assessment:

Students will select a Tourism and Travel Industry subcategory and present a Google slide deck. The work can include music or animation. The students will describe the elements in the work that include the various cultures. Students will also have the opportunity to compare similarities and how Tourism/Travel and Hospitality IT and/or related industries in the chosen countries maintain a high level of repeat business.

Resources:

Resources and References Used in the Creation of the Module

See above.

World View, a public service program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, equips K-12 and community college educators with global knowledge, best practices and resources to prepare students to engage in our interconnected and diverse world.

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