This research analyses the current self-reported level of proficiency of environmental skills, the required future level of proficiency, and the gaps between them. Given the increasingly urgent need for the tourism industry to take action to support environmental management practices, this research provides evidence of key environmental skill gaps. Mixed methods research is applied where the sample includes 1404 respondents to a questionnaire and 264 interviewees from senior management of organisations from five tourism sectors (accommodation establishments, food and beverage outlets, destination management organisations, tour operators and travel agents, visitor attractions) in eight European countries. Analysis of variance, t-tests, correlation and cluster analyses, and Pearson Chi-square tests were employed for data analysis. The findings revealed that the country of registration, the size and the tourism sector type influence significantly the current and future proficiency levels of environmental skills, and the gaps between them. Most respondents did not receive environmental skills training. Theoretical, managerial and policy implications are also discussed.
DOCUMENT
Purpose: This paper aims to present the findings from a European study on the digital skills gaps in tourism and hospitality companies. Design/methodology/approach: Mixed methods research was adopted. The sample includes 1,668 respondents (1,404 survey respondents and 264 interviewees) in 5 tourism sectors (accommodation establishments, tour operators and travel agents, food and beverage, visitor attractions and destination management organisations) in 8 European countries (UK, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands and Bulgaria). Findings: The most important future digital skills include online marketing and communication skills, social media skills, MS Office skills, operating systems use skills and skills to monitor online reviews. The largest gaps between the current and the future skill levels were identified for artificial intelligence and robotics skills and augmented reality and virtual reality skills, but these skills, together with computer programming skills, were considered also as the least important digital skills. Three clusters were identified on the basis of their reported gaps between the current level and the future needs of digital skills. The country of registration, sector and size shape respondents’ answers regarding the current and future skills levels and the skills gap between them. Originality/value: The paper discusses the digital skills gap of tourism and hospitality employees and identifies the most important digital skills they would need in the future.
MULTIFILE
The PANTOUR Sectoral Skills Intelligence Monitor (SSIM) consists of a toolkit for collecting and analysing data to assess skills and address skills gaps on the level of the tourism and hospitality sector. The SSIM for the tourism sector is designed to identify current and future workforce skills in order to enable evidence-based decision-making around workforce strategies required to achieve sustained organisational performance and to build a capable workforce. Workforce skills, in the broadest sense, are the capabilities, competencies, qualities, talents, and knowledge that enable people to perform successfully in the labour market.
MULTIFILE
Introduction: Digital technologies , such as big AI and cloud computing are driving digital transformation (DT) in organizations. The World Economic Forum ( reports that over 75% of organizations plan to adopt these technologies within five years, leading to a skills disruption as employees lack the necessary skills for DT. HRM departments are responsible for preparing their workforce for DT through reand upskilling initiatives (Ivaldi et al., 2022; Vereycken et al., To adapt HRM’s strategic talent management for tailored re and upskilling, insight is needed in workforce DT skills mastery. The objective of this study is to develop a validated instrument for measuring workforce DT skills mastery, building upon the Digital Transformations Skills Framework ( (Bouwmans et al., 2022, 2024). The instrument is a self assessment tool, allowing individuals to evaluate their proficiency across various skill dimensions.
DOCUMENT
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the AI-related skills and roles needed to bridge the AI skills gap in Europe. Using a mixed-method research approach, this study investigated the most in-demand AI expertise areas and roles by surveying 409 organizations in Europe, analyzing 2,563 AI-related job advertisements, and conducting 24 focus group sessions with 145 industry and policy experts. The findings underscore the importance of both general technical skills in AI related to big data, machine learning and deep learning, cyber and data security, large language models as well as AI soft skills such as problemsolving and effective communication. This study sets the foundation for future research directions, emphasizing the importance of upskilling initiatives and the evolving nature of AI skills demand, contributing to an EU-wide strategy for future AI skills development.
MULTIFILE
Using survey data gathered among Dutch public sector management accountants, this contribution shows that appreciative skills and personal skills are considered the most important competencies of these professionals. The authors found gaps between the assigned importance and the actual level of competencies in the fields of interpersonal skills and technical skills. As well, there were differences between age groups.
DOCUMENT
Background Digital transformation (DT) involves integrating digital technologies into organizations to improve productivity, efficiency, and quality. Investing in the workforce’s skillsets is essential for successful DT. However, it remains unclear which skillsets are essential. Objectives This study aims to identify and define the essential skillsets needed for exploiting the full potential of DT, and to consolidate the identified skills into a comprehensive framework of DT skills. Method A systematic literature review was conducted using the PRISMA approach for selecting studies. This led to the selection of 36 articles that were examined using thematic analysis for identifying and consolidating skills into a framework. Results The Digital Transformation Skills Framework (DTSF) was developed, which contains six overarching skillsets and 44 underlying skills. The framework covers key skillsets in the areas of digital work, entrepreneurship, evidence-based work, collaboration, communication, and adaptation. Conclusion and discussion The DTSF offers a comprehensive understanding of essential skills for today’s evolving organizations, addressing a critical gap in existing literature. It is valuable for organizations and HR professionals, serving as a foundation for re- and upskilling initiatives. Ongoing research should expand the framework to include domain-specific DT skills and emerging digital technologies.
DOCUMENT
The relevance of an internationalised home curriculum for all students is generally acknowledged. Other than study abroad, the home curriculum gives programs of study full control over the way students learn international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary perspectives. However, misconceptions, lack of strategies, lack of skills of academics, and lack of connection between stakeholders present major obstacles to internationalising teaching and learning “at home”. The practical trajectory outlined in this chapter presents programs of study with the opportunity to focus on employability skills instead of on a semantic discussion on internationalisation. By linking this orientation on employability skills with the articulation of intended learning outcomes (ILOs), a pathway for developing employability skills in all students will be created. Within this pathway, international, intercultural, interdisciplinary, and future-focused dimensions serve to enhance students’ acquiring employability skills. The trajectory presented here evolved out of action research on internationalisation with academics. During the action research, taking employability skills as a starting point emerged as an enabler for the internationalisation process. It helped to overcome lengthy and semantic discussions on the meaning of internationalisation. After that, international and intercultural dimensions are included in these employability skills. These skills are then translated into ILOs. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in Internationalization and employability in higher education on 19/25/06, available online: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351254885.
MULTIFILE
The aim of this study is to clarify how pre-service teachers perceive mentor teachers' use of mentoring skills. Sixty stimulated-recall interviews were conducted, each in connection with a previously recorded mentoring dialogue. A quantitative analysis showed that six types of mentoring skills appeared to be perceived by pre-service teachers as offering emotional support and five others as offering task assistance. After mentor teachers were trained in mentoring skills, shifts in their frequencies of use of distinct skills, as observed by independent raters, corresponded to a considerable extent with shifts in frequencies of pre-service teacher perceptions of mentor teachers' mentoring behaviour.
DOCUMENT
The importance of professional skills in future engineering jobs is beyond discussion. Increasing numbers of universities have integrated training for such skills in their engineering curricula to prepare students to become highly qualified employees. HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht also implemented professional skills training in the IT Bachelor program to help our students develop towards successful and highly demanded IT engineers. However, these courses consistently score low in our student satisfaction surveys. To find the cause of this negative evaluation, we previously studied the motivation, attitude and anxiety of IT students towards learning soft, or professional, skills. This former quantitative study indicates that our IT students tend to have a positive motivation and attitude toward learning professional skills, while ’anxiety’ in learning professional skills increases from the first to the third year. In this qualitative study, we try to find causes for the increasing anxiety among IT students. We interviewed six third and fourth year IT students and after analysing these interviews we found that these students have experienced the need for professional skills during their internship. Besides, they emphasize the need of obtaining these skills for future employment. From the analysis of the interviews, it also appears that IT students rather felt difficulty in obtaining communication skills then anxiety. A possible cause for this difficulty mentioned by students was the character of students and the influence of the teacher. To overcome this difficulty obtaining communication skills, students suggested that training skills in an authentic engineering situation is more effective than doing exercises with simulated cases. However, the results of this study did not yield a conclusive insight in the cause of increased anxiety, hence further research is needed.
DOCUMENT
