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Minorities in Hospitality Management: The State of Diversity in Hospitality Education

There is a shortage of minorities in hospitality leadership positions. Minority employees mainly fill lower, hourly jobs in the hospitality industry. The literature identifies that the lack of a hospitality education degree may disqualify these employees from upper level management positions; however, few researchers have examined this phenomenon. The current study suggests that hospitality education programs are inadequately recruiting and retaining minority students who are qualified to fill leadership positions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate top hospitality programs’ current enrollment levels of minority students. Using the university academic ledgers of these top hospitality programs, enrollment data for minority students from 2007 to 2011 were examined. These data were then compared to the historical minority enrollment data of these same institutions. Findings indicate that the number of minorities enrolled in hospitality education is increasing but not in proportion to the number of minorities enrolled at the university. Theoretical and practical implications for both hospitality education and industry as well as future research directions are discussed.