Students' career management skills and employment at a University of Applied Sciences
Keywords:
University of Applied Sciences, students at the Bachelor of Hospitality Management study programme, employment, career management skills (CMS)Abstract
In this article, we discuss how employability and career management skills (CMS) of students at a University of Applied Sciences (UAS) have developed during their studies. We concentrate on the Bachelor of Hospitality Management study programme. The number of the students graduating from higher education has increased. This has resulted in an increase in competition for working places, especially during the economic depression. We used a framework that includes context, career management skills, professional identity, individual adaptability, and social and human capital as a background theory in the study. Nine students and seven employees who had graduated from the same study program of the same UAS were interviewed. After presenting the main results, we give proposals on how to develop higher education teaching to better support students’ employment and development of CMS during their studies.
