Addressing Research Anxieties and Skill Deficiencies Among Hospitality Management Faculty and Students: Evidence from a Public Higher EducationInstitution in the Philippines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajth.v4i1.7209Keywords:
Academic Writing, Focus Group Discussion, Higher Education Philippines, Hospitality Management Education, Research AnxietyAbstract
Research engagement in hospitality management education remains a persistently underexplored dimension of academic preparation, despite the discipline’s growing emphasis on evidence-based innovation and industry-responsive knowledge production. This study investigates the research anxieties and skill deficiencies experienced by Hospitality Management faculty and students in a public higher education institution in the Philippines, where the tension between vocational identity and scholarly expectation is particularly acute. Grounded in Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory (1982), Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory (1988), and Lent, Brown, and Hackett’s Social Cognitive Career Theory (1994), the study employed a qualitative descriptive design using Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) with 20 purposively selected faculty members and senior students. Thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke (2006) revealed seven interconnected themes: psychological paralysis rooted in fear of failure, knowledge and skill deficiencies arising from practice-theory disconnects, challenges in identifying hospitality-relevant research problems, difficulties in academic writing and scholarly communication, complexities in conducting literature reviews and data analysis, institutional resource constraints, and the absence of meaningful recognition for research output. Findings expose critical gaps in how research support systems are designed and delivered within hospitality programs, where students are trained primarily for industry roles rather than scholarly inquiry. The study proposes targeted, discipline-specific interventions that address both the affective and structural barriers unique to hospitality management education, with implications for program administrators, faculty developers, and policymakers committed to building a sustainable research culture in applied hospitality programs.
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