RELEVANCE OF COMPETENCES TO GRADUATE-EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE IN FOODSERVICE MANAGEMENT

The objectives of this research were to identify professional and educ ational characteristics of graduates from master's degree programs in foodservice management; determine the relevance of specific concepts t o present professional responsibilities; rate the quality of master's degree educational preparation; and determine whether competence was g ained from sources other than the graduate program. Participants were 85 graduates of master's degree programs in foodservice management (19 80 through 1988) from five universities. The research instrument conta ined three scales to assess 43 foodservice management concepts regardi ng relevance, educational preparation, and competence gained from othe r sources. Demographic information was also requested. The most common ly held present position was foodservice director. Graduates were most likely to be employed in health care facilities or colleges and unive rsities. All concepts were rated as relevant to graduates' present pro fessional responsibilities, and quality of educational preparation was rated satisfactory or better. Principal component analysis, using a v arimax rotation, resulted in four factors, which were titled food prod uction, management, organizational communication, and strategic thinki ng. Analysis of variance was conducted to determine whether difference s existed in the factor scores on the basis of position title or gradu ate program attended. Foodservice directors rated the food production and management of organization factors more relevant to their present position than did clinical dietitians. Scores for quality of education al preparation for the four factors did not differ on the basis of gra duate program attended.