Degrees or advanced diplomas?: that is the question

Traditionally, the employees and potential employees of both tourism and hospitality businesses in Australia have had a binary tertiary education system from which to choose. They could either enrol in vocational courses delivered at TAFE or they could enrol in university degrees. As of December 2011 figures suggest that there are 17 TAFEs delivering hospitality and nine delivering tourism courses, whilst there are two universities delivering hospitality and three universities delivering tourism degrees in Victoria. The purpose of this thesis is to examine which of these pathways to employment achieve the best outcomes for the graduates from either educational sector.

The research concentrates on the short to medium term employment of the research participants. The employment outcomes of those who graduated with an advanced diploma of tourism or hospitality will be compared with those who graduated with degrees in either specialty to try and identify which group is 'more successful'. Participants completed an online survey and 10 of them participated in focus groups or interviews. Representatives from industry were also interviewed, two from Australia and two from Thailand. Findings from the research demonstrate that qualifications, whether they are from TAFE or university are unlikely to play an important role in the early careers of employees but that as their careers mature degree qualifications in particular are more useful. Additionally, the degree graduates have identified that the skills and knowledge gained from the degree studies have enabled them to transfer into other industries and gain higher salaries. Advanced diploma graduates who have remained in the industries are earning more than their counterparts in the industries who have degrees.

Published abstract. Show less