A comparison of university students', faculty, and industry assessments of characteristics and skills necessary for a successful career in restaurant and hotel management by American and Russian hospitality graduates

The hospitality industry is one of the world's largest employers. University hospitality programs have to be aware of what characteristics and skills future hospitality managers need to possess in order to meet the needs of the hospitality industry. Numerous studies have been conducted in the United States to determine what skills and characteristics future hospitality managers need to possess; however, hospitality management is a relatively new discipline in Russia.; Russia's recent adoption of a market-based economy coupled with long-term economic problems and political uncertainty has left Russia's hospitality industry with numerous challenges. If Russia's hospitality industry can assert itself then it has the potential to create more than 2 million jobs. It has only been during the last decade that Russian universities have started including hospitality as an area of study and university faculty often lack practical experience in the hospitality field.; American and Russian hospitality students, faculty, and industry recruiters were surveyed to assess the skills necessary for successful careers in restaurant and hotel management by university graduates. Respondents included hospitality students, faculty, and hospitality industry representatives in Texas and St. Petersburg (Russia). Respondents were asked to rate the importance of thirty-two different technical, conceptual, and human relations skills characteristics on a 9-point Likert scale and by using a forced ranking system. Several demographic questions were also included in the survey. The survey was a modified version of an instrument used by Su, Miller, & Shanklin (1997) in a similar American study.; Russian and American respondents agreed that human relations skills was the most important construct followed by conceptual and technical skills, respectively. Respondents also all rated hospitality work experience as an essential component of a student's educational experience. A major difference in American faculty and students compared to their Russian counterparts was the lack of hospitality work experience by Russians. Hospitality programs at Russian universities have to develop the means for students and faculty members to obtain hospitality work experience.