The hotel as a complementary educational resource : evidence from the lives and careers of hotel employees

The identification of alternative venues of learning that provide people with life and professional skills is valuable in societies where educational resources are constrained. To better understand paths of learning not found in the traditional educational system, and the incidental benefits that accrue from those types of learning, this thesis examines the lives and careers of five-star hotel employees. The high-class hotel industry was chosen as an appropriate place in which to locate personal and professional benefits due to the sophisticated training programs offered in the industry and the multi-faceted nature of hotel work, which could potentially provide employees opportunities to gain a diversity of skills. By presenting one case in the hotel industry of a learning process that may be taking place more widely in other industries, the thesis seeks to provide evidence that could help governments more effectively reallocate educational resources. Based on criteria that included hotel type, hotel location, existence of training programs, and cooperation level of hotel employees, two hotels in Seoul, South Korea were selected for the study. Interviews were conducted in both hotels with employees from various departments and levels.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Olivia, M.C.P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John de Monchaux.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38655

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/38655