Exploring the Relationships between University Course Branding, Length of Study and Employment Outcomes in Undergraduate Tourism Education

Abstract

This paper reports on employment and graduate attribute outcomes based on a case study of business/tourism graduates over a four-year period. It provides a model and methods that can be replicated elsewhere in order to build a more comprehensive picture of the relationships between university education, employment success, and graduate attribute outcomes of graduates. The two independent variables examined are course branding (i.e., the name of the degree) and length of study (a 3-year single degree versus a 4-year double degree), and the dependent variables are ‘employment success’ and graduate attribute competence. Based on 113 telephone interviews (57% of the sampling frame), a relationship between the branding of a course and selected measures of employment outcomes was found. Graduates of degree programmes with a business brand enjoyed a higher rate of success in gaining relevant employment than did graduates with a tourism brand. Surprisingly, the study found no significant differences in employment outcomes between graduates who had completed three years versus four years of study. Further, the study found no significant differences in graduate attribute outcomes, regardless of the course brand or the number of years of study. The paper explores conceptual and methodological implications for higher education, including recommendations for replication and extension of the research into other contexts.

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