The aim of this study is to investigate how Chinese international hospitality students’ home and host culture orientation is related to their career adaptability. Home culture orientation and host culture orientation are the two strategies that travellers use to deal with the challenges of living in a new culture. “Home culture orientation helps individuals maintain and identify with their own cultural heritage, whereas host culture orientation motivates individuals to participate in and identify with the host society's culture’’ (Guan et al., 2018, p. 229). Career adaptability depends on the problem solving strategies of the individual which influence on his or her career control, concern, curiosity and confidence (Del Corso & Rehfuss, 2011).

According to Guan et al. (2018), acculturation (both home and host culture orientation) has an impact on international students’ career adaptability. This can be explained by the fact that international students often interact and socialise with students from their own culture, other international students and domestic students to seek support to understand how their cultural adaptation and career development are influenced by the environment. Guan et al., 2018 further suggest that international students’ home culture orientation may lead to difficulties in acculturating to the host culture which may demotivate them to engage in career exploration activities which impedes their career adaptability. Therefore, it is relevant to investigate further how home and host culture orientation is related to career adaptability. In the last decades, an increasing number of Chinese students are studying overseas in different Western countries (Liu, 2009).  Many Chinese students choose to study in Australia (Davis & Mackintosh, 2011; Yang, 2007) and hospitality management was the sixth most popular degree among Chinese international students within business and commerce in Australian higher education in 2016 (Australian Government Department of Education and Training 2016). Furthermore, Gribble and Li (2013) have argued that employment outcomes are a crucial factor for Chinese students and their families when considering study abroad options (Gribble and Li, 2013), which makes this case relevant for the current study. 

The methodology of the study is qualitative, including semi-structured interviews with 19 international Chinese students studying hospitality management in an Australian East Queensland university. The results demonstrated that in most cases the country of the students’ work /internship experience (either Australia or China) and their interaction on campus with local and international students had an influence on where they would like to work after the completion of their studies. Furthermore, the career control of their parents seemed to be significant having an influence on the students’ acculturation. Finally, most students seemed to have confidence about their future career. Even though some of them had a lack of confidence regarding their English language skills they might still want to pursue a career in Australia. 

The theoretical and methodological contribution of the study is the application of acculturation and career adaptability theories with a qualitative inductive perspective. Finally, the study will provide a practical contribution through recommendations about how universities can assist international students in their career development and acculturation process.

It is important for graduate employees and their employers that Australian graduates (both domestic and international) develop knowledge, skills, and other qualities that are easily transferrable to their employment in Australia, China, and the Asia-Pacific region. Much contemporary research addresses the appropriateness of graduate attributes such as leadership, teamwork, and communication skills in relation to meeting employers’ needs. This qualitative study contributes to these discussions by comparing how Chinese and domestic graduates apply a lesser regarded attribute, the use of connections, to the work setting. Since Chinese employers follow the principles of guanxi (being able to earn and use influential networks), this might complicate attempts by returned Chinese graduate employees (“sea-turtles”) who are graduates of Australian universities to transfer their use of connections. This study compares Australian graduates’ experiences of using connections and Chinese sea turtles’ experiences of using connections within the protocols of guanxi.

This chapter revises the professional socialization framework “Conceptualizing graduate and professional student socialization” by (Weidman JC, Twale DJ, Stein EL, Socialization of Graduate and Professional Students in Higher Education: A Perilous Passage? ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Volume 28, Number 3. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. San Fransisco, ERIC, 2001) through the findings of a broader study on the professional socialization of Chinese international tourism and hospitality students/graduates from an Australian university (Sonnenschein KB, Diverse stakeholders’ perceptions of the attributes needed by Chinese returned graduates in the hotel industry in China. Dissertation/Thesis. Griffith University, Australia, 2016). The study examined diverse stakeholders’ perceptions of attributes needed by Chinese graduates entering the Chinese hotel industry with overseas university qualifications in tourism and hospitality management. The diverse stakeholders included: managers working in the Chinese hotel industry; Chinese graduates holding either an undergraduate or postgraduate tourism and hospitality management degree from a particular university located in South-East Queensland, Australia; Chinese international students enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate tourism and hospitality management degree at the above-mentioned university; and academics teaching tourism and hospitality management courses at the same university.

The findings of the 46 semi-structured interviews with these stakeholders demonstrated that they have clear expectations about the outcomes of work-integrated learning (WIL) and workplace training, including the ability of such experiences to bridge theory and practice, and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for employability. By revising the Weidman et al. (Socialization of Graduate and Professional Students in Higher Education: A Perilous Passage? ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, volume 28, Number 3. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. San Fransisco, ERIC, 2001) professional socialization framework through the findings, this chapter suggests different processes for enhancing the socialization and career development of Chinese international students enrolled in and graduates with an Australian tourism and hospitality management degree through WIL and workplace training/mentoring respectively.

Moral dilemmas are ubiquitous aspects of organisational life. Tensions underlying many fundamental aspects of business, for example, between transparency and privacy, sustainability and growth, innovation and compliance, are not extraordinary occurrences. This paper aims to improve the understanding of moral dilemmas in organisations and how to develop pedagogical methods for coaching management students to resolve these challenges. We adopt a performative and action-based model of responsible management education. In exploring this performative approach to working with moral dilemmas, the project takes family business as a setting of special relevance for disclosing ethical tensions and the dilemmas emerging from those tensions. Family businesses are sites that intensify moral quandaries and disclose loyalties and values that highlight the need for responsible decision-making and action. The research will generate a series of outcomes ranging from classroom exercises to conceptual innovations for improving responsible management education about moral dilemmas.

This article explores the perceptions held by 2 stakeholder groups regarding the usefulness of work-integrated learning (WIL) in the hotel industry as part of tourism and hospitality students’ overseas studies. The 2 stakeholder groups are Chinese international students enrolled in tourism and hospitality degrees at a particular Australian university and managers working in the Chinese hotel industry. The findings from 31 interviews suggest that both groups have clear perceptions of the outcomes of the WIL component, including the ability of such experiences to bridge theory and practice and to develop the graduate attributes needed for employability in China. The study also explores themes regarding the particular university’s role in investigating and securing work placements within the Australian and Chinese contexts. The article recommends that internship programs be embedded in the tourism and hospitality degrees at the particular university and that engagement with the Chinese hotel industry be enhanced. 

The purpose of this study was to investigate the expectations of returned Chinese graduates with an Australian degree regarding their work situation in the Chinese hotel industry and the expectations of hotel managers in China regarding the graduates’ job attitude. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were undertaken. The results showed that most graduates were relatively satisfied with their current work situation in the Chinese hotel industry. However, managers argued that returned graduates have unrealistic expectations about the work requirements in the industry. The study found that universities and hotels in China need to assist the returned Chinese international students with their reentry. 

Research on professional socialisation in higher education has been conducted in nursing, pharmacy, teaching and law, but there is a lack of studies on professional socialisation in tourism and hospitality education. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by revising the professional socialisation framework ‘Conceptualising Graduate and Professional Student Socialisation’ through the findings of a broader study on the professional socialisation of Chinese international students enrolled in tourism and hospitality degrees at a particular Australian university. The study examined diverse stakeholders’ perceptions of attributes needed by Chinese graduates with Australian university qualifications in tourism and hospitality management entering the Chinese hotel industry. The revised framework, ‘Higher Education Students’ Professional Socialisation Framework’, suggests different processes for enhancing the socialisation and career development of Chinese international students with an Australian tourism and hospitality management degree through work-integrated learning; language learning and communication; teamwork and mentoring; and interactions among different stakeholders. Furthermore, workplace socialisation emphasises mentoring and recognises different approaches to career development. Finally, the revised framework explains how the different stakeholders impact on the professional socialisation of students and graduates. The revised framework, which has a cross-cultural dimension, is generic and can be applied to other fields of study and to both international and domestic students in higher education.