Abstract
Hong Kong is one of the developing countries in the world, with high prospects of opportunities. However, the main problem facing many youths, particularly those graduating from colleges, is unemployment. In the events industry, competition is very stiff implying that each company must come up with strategies that would help in boosting profits.
Employing skilled workforce is one of the strategies that would help an events company outsmart competitors. Students graduating from Swiss Hotel management school have high chances of being employed in the events industry because of the skills they possess (Tepeci & Bartlett 2002, p. 154). Swiss Hotel Management School is known for producing qualified personnel because the institution engages students in practical work before allowing them to graduate.
Female students have high chances of landing jobs in the events industry given the fact that employers have a tendency of employing women in the events organizations. Female employees are believed to attract customers in the events industry that is why they are preferred as compared to men.
Based on this, female graduates would probably land jobs in the events organizations. It should be noted that college graduates in Hong Kong are finding it hard to secure jobs because of the rising number of graduates.
Introduction
This paper would conduct a study to establish the employability of female graduates from Swiss Hotel School of Management in the events industry. The paper will come up with clear objectives and research questions, which would act as the guide. The literature review section will discuss some of the challenges facing female students as regards to employment.
In other sectors, employers prefer recruiting men because of their masculinity as opposed to women, who are perceived to be weak and unproductive. However, the case is different in the events industry. The paper will move on to discuss the methods of data collection and analysis. This would be under the methodology section whereby the article will employ quantitative methods of data collection.
Objectives
- To establish the prevalence of female unemployment rates in the events industry in Hong Kong
- To determine the factors that hinder female employment in the events industry
- To establish the level of satisfaction among women in the event industry
Literature Review
Gender Discrimination and Unavailability of Jobs
Women in Hong Kong face various challenges because of their physical conditions. These challenges are known to destabilize women in the labor market since employers would prefer recruiting men as opposed to women (Staniec 2004, p. 564). Due to discriminations based on physical features, the chances of women getting jobs in the male dominated industries are minimal.
Research shows that women joining colleges are few because female students are discouraged from taking courses perceived to be reserved for men. For instance, women are discouraged from pursuing courses such as engineering and architecture since no employer would be willing to offer them jobs. This leaves women with an option of fighting for spaces in the arts and hospitality courses.
In Hong Kong, just like in other parts of the world, women are forced to pursue traditional courses associated with women such as public relations, hospitality management, and secretarial. In some companies, employment policies suggest that only men are eligible for employment.
Therefore, female graduates would never have an opportunity of going through an interview. In the events industry, women stand a high chance of being employed but they face strict competition from fellow women who are already in the market (Zhao 1991, p. 362).
Strict Requirements of Employers
Many employers in Hong Kong would demand that employees explain their educational backgrounds and their physical abilities. Employers in the events industry are always after profits meaning they would demand that women explain their physical abilities. In fact, women are usually taken through additional assessment after the usual interview process.
This places women in a disadvantaged position. Female employees are always believed to be ineffective given the fact that they cannot perform in the same way as men. Therefore, women are expected to work hard if they are to be employed in the events industry. Research shows that fresh male graduates are highly productive as compared to their female counterparts.
This misconception distracts the attention of employers. In any organization, women would be expected to perform secondary roles in any management unit. It is rare to find a female head in any department. This affects the carrier development of women employees (Wang 2011, p. 362).
Why Women Encounter Difficulties in finding Jobs in the Event Industry
Subjective Factors
In the labor market, ability is the basic condition that guarantees success. The event industry needs knowledgeable employees who are capable of identifying uncertainties and dealing with them before they cause havoc in the company. In other words, it can be observed that the economy in the modern society is referred to as the knowledge economy, which demands high abilities and qualities.
Employers in the events industry focus more on dedication, hard work, practical skill, and other physical qualities (Purcell & Quinn 1996, p. 60). This means employers look for multiple talents, which might be a challenge to many female students graduating from the Swiss school of business. Research shows that women who perform well in exams tend to ignore other important areas, such as cultural participation.
In fact, women who excel in academics do not participate in other activities that would improve their knowledge base. Some do not engage in adventurous activities, such as visiting places. Adventure is an important activity to individuals who wish to work in the events industry (Han 2011, p. 59). Through adventure, individuals are exposed to the realities of other societies and cultures.
A recent study proved that women tend to treasure working in big companies, urban areas and in well-known organizations. However, research shows that an individual would develop his or her career if he or she decides to swallow the pride and work in small companies, rural areas and in emerging companies.
Physical features affect the employability of women in the events industry. Women have to experience menstruation, carry pregnancy, breast feed, and give birth. The above factors are some of the things that reduce their chances of being employed in the events industry. During menstruation, employers know that women would not devote themselves to work.
Moreover, a female employee is to be given maternity leave of over two months. During this period, the organization must employ another person on temporary basis to replace the female employment. Many employers in the events industry would be reluctant to incur this extra cost (Qiao & Li 2010, p. 161).
Objective Factors
In the events industry, the labor force exceeds the industry expectations. The universities are manufacturing graduates who are not needed in the labor market. In every organization, women are expected to be few. Therefore, the employability of women is expected to be low. Feminine organizations observe that the labor market is unfair to women since many female graduates are unemployed as compared to male graduates.
Methodology
This chapter focuses on various aspects of research development. It includes methods of data collection, its analysis and presentation procedures. Every research project applies a certain research method to achieve its objectives depending on its goals. The methods used to conduct research in this project would compare closely with the methods proposed in the project proposal.
This was because the project proposal had been proven to be workable. In research, design deals primarily with aims, uses, purposes, intentions, and plans within the practical constraints of time, location, money, and availability of staff (Hakim, 2000, p. 21).
In this study, respondents were briefed in advance. This was necessary to ensure that respondents were prepared psychologically for the task ahead. This would also help in ensuring that response was given in time to allow timely analysis. The officials of events industry were given relevant notice by the researcher. The study population was also amicably informed in order to get prepared for the study.
Briefing was important because it could enhance reliability of the study. It is also ethical to inform people before researching on them (Badenhorst, 2007, p. 64). The findings were also made public to the researched, as one way of ensuring morality in the study. Furthermore, the researcher observed researcher-researcher ethics by keeping away from criticism.
This chapter also focuses on the literature review as one of the methods used in collection of secondary sources of information. It gives the reason why literature review was used as a method to collect data.
The chapter gives an overview of the purpose of collecting and analyzing data and the basic questions used to gather the desired responses. Alternative methods of data collection are very important in research for they avail to the researcher a number of ways through which data can be collected.
The chapter brings back the research hypotheses. This is important because it is at this stage that the researcher goes into the field to gather information. It is therefore necessary that the research hypotheses are brought to focus because they would be the guiding light in the process of gathering data (Baily, 1996, p. 17).
The researcher would be trying to confirm the hypotheses. In order to eliminate criticism, this chapter clearly states the scope of the study. There are limits beyond which this research may not hold because of the method used in data collection and analysis. It is therefore important that limitations are clearly stated to make it clear to readers of this material how far this research reveals what it purports to (Murray 2006, p. 36).
Since the main method of data collection would be primary source, the questionnaire would be the main instrument used to collect data. This chapter brings out the questionnaire format, reasons for choosing this format, its advantages and disadvantages. Briefly discused in this chapter is the pilot study and its results.
In a research process, sampling is very important because certain population could be too big to facilitate a study of the whole population (Bell, 2001, p. 97). This chapter discusses sampling theories, importance of research design and methods of sampling. The chapter goes a notch higher to give the advantages and disadvantages of sampling.
Also discussed in this chapter is the data analysis technique. In so doing, the researcher hopes to bring to focus the channell through which data would be collected. This is not only meant to bring clarity to this research but also help young researchers who will be intereseted in futhering research in this field to know the steps necessary to reach the desired results in a given research.
The researcher has ensured that the methodology is not only important to the professionals in the managerial sector, but also to other related sectors such as insurance, marketing and procurement.
Research Approach
Many researchers such as Sekaran (2006, p. 90) and Malhotra (2009, p. 56) point out that there are mainly two research methods. These include qualitative and quantitative approach. However, Malhotra (2009, p. 60) further states that the quantitative research approach is an unstructured exploratory research methodology based on small samples that gives insights of the problem setting.
On the other hand, quantitative approach seeks to quantify the data by applying some form of statistical analysis, such as excel tools. However, Malhotra (2009, p. 64) states that the difference between these two methodologies depend on the objective of the research, sample size, data collection methods, questionnaire design, data analysis process, and the outcome of research.
According to the marketing researchers such as Malhotra, a study should use both qualitative and quantitative research approaches to obtain successful outcomes. This would mean qualitative approach would help to explain the findings obtained from quantitative research. However, limitation of time, resources and materials would restrict this study to the use of quantitative method only.
List of References
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