Aug 2026· Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning· pp. 1-18· 0 citations· 40 references
TL;DR
The study shows that job intention is shaped by both capability-related and identity-related mechanisms, and extends research on graduate employability by highlighting the role of identity-related mechanisms in students’ career decision-making in AI-enabled service environments.
Abstract
Although practical learning is central to hospitality and tourism (H&T) education, limited research has examined how it shapes students’ intentions to pursue careers in the industry, particularly in AI-enabled service contexts. Drawing on social cognitive career theory, this study examines whether practical learning influences job intention through perceived employability, AI readiness and self-congruence with future professional roles.
An online survey was conducted with 547 third- and fourth-year H&T students in Vietnam who had participated in practical learning activities. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Practical learning positively influences perceived employability and AI readiness. These factors, in turn, contribute to job intention through actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence. The results further show that employability dimensions do not operate uniformly, with general competence and work attitude displaying different relationships with self-congruence. The study therefore shows that job intention is shaped by both capability-related and identity-related mechanisms.
H&T educators and industry partners should design practical learning experiences that support not only competence development and AI readiness but also students’ reflection on their fit with future professional roles in increasingly technology-mediated work settings.
This study contributes to the H&T education literature by explaining job intention through the joint effects of perceived employability, AI readiness and self-congruence. It also extends research on graduate employability by highlighting the role of identity-related mechanisms in students’ career decision-making in AI-enabled service environments.
The persistent gap between vocational education and industry expectations highlights the need to understand how industry-based learning environments shape students’ work readiness. This study examines the effects of hospitality organizational culture and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) compliance on the work readiness of vocational hospitality students, with self-discipline as a mediating variable. Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory, the study employed a quantitative explanatory design involving 134 Grade XI and XII hospitality students participating in Teaching Factory practices at an educational hotel in East Java, Indonesia. Data were collected through a census approach and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4. The results demonstrate that hospitality organizational culture and SOP compliance have positive and significant effects on both self-discipline and student work readiness. Self-discipline also significantly enhances work readiness and partially mediates the effects of hospitality organizational culture and SOP compliance on work readiness. Notably, SOP compliance emerged as the strongest predictor of self-discipline, suggesting that repeated exposure to structured workplace procedures plays an important role in developing students’ self-regulatory behavior. The model explained 69.0% of the variance in self-discipline and 65.1% of the variance in work readiness. These findings extend Social Cognitive Theory to the vocational hospitality education context by demonstrating that environmental factors can shape work readiness both directly and through students’ self-regulatory mechanisms. Practically, the study highlights the importance of strengthening SOP internalization, professional role modeling, and industry-oriented learning practices within Teaching Factory programs to better prepare vocational students for employment.
Aprilani Tri Kurniawati, Andini Risfandini, Fitria Earlike Anwar Sani· International Journal of Man...· 0 citations
This study investigated the employability and career outcomes of graduates with a Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management (BSTM) from a local college in Olongapo City, spanning cohorts from 2020 and 2022–2025, through a graduate tracer study. Its objectives encompassed assessing graduates’ employment status, career profiles, the relevance of their education, and the usefulness of the competencies acquired in college to inform curriculum enhancement and institutional quality improvement. A quantitative descriptive research design was employed, utilizing a modified CHED Graduate Tracer Study questionnaire administered to all 350 traced graduates. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that the majority of graduates were employed in tourism-related occupations and regarded their college education as highly pertinent to their professional roles. The results provide evidence to support curriculum development, industry partnerships, and initiatives aimed at improving graduate employability.
Jenny Mae Lagman, Lizette Ann Sia, Mychale Williams et al.· Formosa Journal of Multidisc...· 0 citations
Although special education teachers are in short supply and preservice special education teachers' teaching intention is a critical predictor of future workforce supply, the mechanism through which career exploration is related to preservice teachers' teaching intentions in a family-oriented collectivist culture remains unknown. Grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between career exploration and teaching intention, examining the chain mediating roles of career calling and perceived employability.
METHOD
Using a convenience sampling method, 436 preservice special education teachers in China participated in the study. Mediation effect analysis was conducted using bootstrapping in SPSS.
RESULTS
The results revealed: (a) Career exploration was positively associated with teaching intention in the direct effect model, but the direct relationship became significantly negative in the chain mediation model (β = -0.14, SE = 0.07, 95% Bootstrap CIs [-0.27, -0.004]); (b) career calling independently mediated this association (β = 0.30, SE = 0.05, 95% Bootstrap CIs [0.21, 0.39]); (c) perceived employability independently mediated this association (β = 0.10, SE = 0.03, 95% Bootstrap CIs [0.05, 0.17]); and (d) a significant chain mediation effect was observed through career calling and perceived employability sequentially (β = 0.03, SE = 0.01, 95% Bootstrap CIs [0.01, 0.05]).
RECOMMENDATIONS
These results suggest that strengthening legal and institutional support, improving social recognition, and optimizing training and practicum experiences with professional instruction, feedback, reflection, and summary may guide positive career exploration and strengthen teaching intention.
Wangqian Fu, Tao Tao, Baihui Ouyang et al.· Acta Psychologica· 0 citations
Abstract Vocational education has regained strategic importance in many countries, yet little is known about how it builds employability at the student level. Drawing on the graduate capital perspective and career construction theory, this study examines the relationships among graduate capital, career adaptability, self-perceived employability, and internship experience among 4314 vocational education students in China. Data were collected through an online survey across 14 provinces or municipalities and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that graduate capital strongly and positively predicts career adaptability, while both graduate capital and career adaptability positively predict self-perceived employability. Career adaptability partially mediates the relationship between graduate capital and self-perceived employability. Internship experience positively moderates the relationship between graduate capital and career adaptability, although the effect is small in magnitude. The findings extend the graduate capital perspective to vocational education and show that Chinese vocational education can build employability by helping students develop broad career-related resources and transform these resources into adaptive career capacity.
Pei Zhang, Yang Zhao, Mingyu Su et al.· World Vocational and Technic...· 0 citations
The growing demand for entrepreneurial graduates has positioned vocational education as a frequently prescribed method for promoting self-employment among youth. Competency-based training is adopted within vocational high schools in Indonesia to increase applied skills and entrepreneurial potential among students. Therefore, this present study aims to explore how competency-based training influences entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions among vocational high school graduates. This study adopted a qualitative approach, and data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 vocational schools from various disciplines. The findings indicate that competency-based training drives the development of entrepreneurial attitudes, with the enhancement of self-efficacy and opportunity recognition. Additionally, this study shows that competency-based training and teacher feedback transformed perceptions of entrepreneurship from theory to action. However, the transition from intention to action was constrained by internal challenges faced by vocational high school graduates, such as low confidence and limited business knowledge, as well as external barriers like capital access and lack of mentorship. The results contribute to both theory and practice by explaining how mastery experiences and social modeling embedded in competency-based training influence entrepreneurial mindset formation among graduates. This contribution clarifies learning processes supporting entrepreneurial development and offers practical insights for designing vocational programs aligned with workforce and self-employment expectations.
L. Marliyah, E. Widiastuti, Fuad Abdillah et al.· International Journal of Edu...· 0 citations
This study explores the determinants of school-enterprise collaboration in tourism human resource training in South Central Viet Nam, where tourism plays a pivotal economic role. Building on the Theory of Planned Behavior and extending it with context-specific factors, including trust, competitive advantage, perceived risk, self-efficacy, social support, and barriers, the research develops a comprehensive framework to predict collaborative intention and behavior. Data were collected from 209 leaders and faculty members at universities, colleges, and vocational schools in South Central Viet Nam between March and June 2024 and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Results indicate that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly influence collaboration intention, which subsequently predicts collaborative behavior. Competitive advantage and trust positively affect attitudes, whereas perceived risk exerts a negative effect. Policies and social requirements strengthen subjective norms, while self-efficacy and social support enhance perceived behavioral control. The model explains 41.9% of the variance in intention and 47.0% in behavior, confirming its robustness. The study contributes to TPB literature by integrating tourism-specific and institutional factors and provides practical implications for policymakers and educators to strengthen partnerships, enhance capacity, build trust, and implement supportive policies to address skill mismatches in Viet Nam’s tourism sector.
An Phan Vinh, H. Ho, V. Nguyen· CTU Journal of Innovation an...· 0 citations
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