Higher education and the social relationships of teaching and administrative staff with students can be understood as „calculated instrumental exchanges, whereby, in exchange for the fee they pay, students expect to receive an education designed to ensure they have the knowledge, skills and innovative capabilities required by businesses and the economy in the competitive global market place" (Leach, 2019, p. 155). The key concept of higher education is certainly the creation of employment opportunities and employment is the main expectation that students have from university education (Cheng at al., 2022; Gorgodze et al., 2020; Khan & Hemsley-Brown, 2024). Also, the perception of employment opportunities after graduation is one of the key factors influencing students’ satisfaction during their studies, as well as the likelihood that they will recommend their higher education institution to others (Khan & Hemsley-Brown, 2024). Despite all the above, the authors of this study share the opinion of Leach (2019) that higher education is "more than the instrumental ‘value for money’ meeting of the needs of business and the economy ", as well as that one of its most valuable characteristics is giving purpose and meaning to people "to envisage, plan and manage their career journeys in a complex world of work and contested employment relationships" (Kusluvan & Kusluvan, 2000).

The responsibility for ensuring efficient and fair employment after graduation should be shared among key stakeholders—including higher education institutions, students, governments, and employers—and should not be placed solely on the education institution, as is the case in some countries (Cheng at al., 2022). At the same time, understanding the expectations of students by their universities is extremely important, especially if higher education institutions want to attract young people and if they strive to create teaching programs in accordance with the demands and expectations of young people and trends in the labor market (Goh & Lee, 2018). In modern higher education, receiving feedback from students is standard practice for teachers around the world and this feedback can effectively contribute to the design of higher education and teaching policies (El-Houshy, 2014)(Paraušić et al., 2025). Many higher education institutions prepare reports on the quality and self-evaluation of the institution (Ross, 1993). Such reviews are created as an implication for quality assessment within the activity and focus on students' learning experiences, their achievements and feedback. Therefore, university teachers have the task of balancing all the factors that affect the teaching process, in order to achieve inviting feedback, all with the aim of effective and quality education system.

This paper focuses on feedback from students of the University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism in Vrnjačka Banja. The Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism consists of 2 study programs of undergraduate academic studies: study program Hospitality and Tourism and study program Gastronomic Management. The faculty has about 800 active students who attend studies in the Serbian language. Furthermore, undergraduate, master's and doctoral academic studies are available to students. The Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism in Vrnjačka Banja is part of the University of Kragujevac, which is the fourth largest state university in the Republic of Serbia. The reason for choosing the subject institution for the analysis is because it is the only state faculty for tourism in the Republic of Serbia (Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism in Vrnjačka Banja, 2025). The opinions of first-year students were defined as the experimental group, while the control group was the opinion of 4th-year students. The findings of the research relate to general questions about quality and future employment in tourism, and those related to accepting jobs after graduation and advice to younger generations regarding choosing tourism as a future career are the most important.

The paper is composed of several chapters that follow. First, the study begins with the introductory part of the paper, followed by the theoretical framework of previous findings in the field of cognitive research of students, especially focusing on tourism students. Subsequently, the applied methodology is outlined. The results obtained after an extensive analysis were presented and analyzed through a discussion and a conclusion at the end of the paper.

Sample and Participants. The study involved a total of 137 undergraduate students enrolled at the Department of Hotel Management and Tourism, Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia. The sample consisted of 79 first-year students and 58 fourth-year students. Data were collected across two academic years: 2023/2024 (n = 79) and 2024/2025 (n = 58). All first-year participants were enrolled in the course Principles of Tourism and Hospitality, while fourth-year participants attended the Cultural Tourism course. In addition, all students had completed at least one mandatory internship during the academic year in which they participated in the study, ensuring that respondents had some level of practical exposure to the tourism and hospitality industry.

Source: Authors

Data Collection Procedure. During the 2023/2024 academic year, 79 first-year students participated in the study. At the final class of the Principles of Tourism and Hospitality course, students were provided with practical information about the study and informed about the expectations for participation. They were given a period of seven days to complete and return the questionnaire. In the 2024/2025 academic year, 58 fourth-year students participated in the study during the summer semester. These students had completed the majority of their courses, undertaken three internships, or were in the process of completing their final thesis. Similarly, they were given seven days to submit the completed questionnaire. All responses were collected anonymously to ensure confidentiality and encourage honest feedback.

Study Description. For data collection, the authors employed a survey research method, which Goodfellow (2023) describes as significant in the social sciences because “surveys can provide evidence for good practice, knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes.” To this end, a semi-structured questionnaire was developed. Although the questionnaire included a large number of items, only a specific subset was used in this study (Paraušić et al., 2025). The questions were adapted and refined based on findings from previous research (Kusluvan & Kusluvan, 2000; El-Houshy, 2014; Sadikoglu & Oktay, 2017). The final version of the questionnaire was created after correcting unclear or ambiguous items. Data were collected by distributing the questionnaire to participants, who were asked to complete it. To facilitate easier collection and processing of responses, the questionnaire was also administered online via Google Forms. The online survey was conducted from November 2023 to May 2025, resulting in a final sample size of 137 students.

Research Question. The central research question of this study is: “ Are there differences in perceptions of future employment in tourism sector between two groups of students: experimental (first year students) and control group (fourth year students)“. It is anticipated that students during studies will gain deeper insights into career opportunities in tourism, develop more critical and reflective attitudes toward future employment, and better understand both the challenges and advantages of working in the tourism sector.

Variables. To address the research question, two groups of participants were included in the study. The opinions of first-year students were defined as the experimental group, while the fourth-year students served as the control group. A Likert scale was used for assessing respondents’ perceptions, with scores ranging from 1 to 5 (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). In addition to the Likert-scale variables, categorical variables were included to examine various factors related to employment and directly assess students’ attitudes toward careers in the tourism industry (Leung & Woo, 2025). These variables were selected based on a comprehensive review of the literature, ensuring that they capture relevant aspects of students’ expectations, career motivations, and perceptions of industry realities.

Authors used 5 criteria for the research (Table 2) and for each criteria the scale of the number of points was created for each level within each criterion (a typical five-level Likert item, with marks 1-Strongly disagree, 2-Disagree, 3- Neither agree nor disagree, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly agree). Based on all those five criteria, the total number of points for this student research was calculated. Since the total number of points scored by the students for the five criteria mentioned, did not have a normal distribution, the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the results of the experimental (first year students) and control groups (forth year students). The Mann-Whitney U test, as a non-parametric statistical technique, proved to be the best, that is, the most suitable for testing hypotheses for several reasons: (a) it is a technique used to examine differences between two independent groups on a continuous scale; (b) the data are on an ordinal measurement scale and do not have a normal distribution; (c) small sample. For the application of this statistical technique, the basic assumptions, in the form of a random sample and independent observations, were met.

Source: Authors

The first aspect of the research that was evaluated was “I believe that the drawbacks of working in tourism outweigh the benefits”. Looking at Table 1, as the medians of the given characteristics for both groups are equal to 3.00, we can conclude that more than half of the students in both groups had the maximum number of evaluations. Anyway the number evaluation “I believe that the drawbacks of working in tourism outweigh the benefits” is not statistically significantly different for the students of the experimental group and the control group.

Source: Authors

Another aspect that was valued in research was related to “I would do any work in the tourism sector”. With the appropriate statistical analysis, it was established that there statistically significant differences in the answers of students in the control and experimental groups in the case “I would do any work in the tourism sector“ (W=-2.060, p=0.039) (see Fig 1. And Table 1.).

There are no significant differences in the students’ results regarding the third criterion “I would do jobs outside the tourism sector”, (Z=-0.665, p=0.506).

Source: Authors

The next criterion considered during this student research was related to the “I would only take on managerial roles in the tourism sector“. The results of the statistical analysis, i.e., the Mann-Whitney test, support the fact that the distribution of the number of evaluations of students in the experimental group and the number of points of students in the control group is statistically significantly different (Z=-3.306, p=0.01) (see Fig 2. and Table 1.). The box-plot (Fig. 2) illustrates differences between the experimental and the control regarding this statement. The median value for first-year students is around 3 (Neither agree nor disagree), while for fourth-year students it is 2 (Disagree). This suggests that younger students tend to be more neutral or moderately agree that managerial positions are imperative (only acceptable options) in the tourism sector, whereas older students are more skeptical of this statement. Moreover, the wider interquartile range in the first-year group indicates greater variability in their responses, while the fourth-year students show a more consistent pattern of disagreement.

Source: Authors

The last criterion is “Recommendation for studies in the field of tourism“. These differences were confirmed with the Mann-Whitney test, so we can conclude that the differences in students’ future recommendation is statistically significant (Z=-2.279, p=0.023) in favor of the experimental group (Table1 and Fig 3.). The results, presented in the boxplot, indicate a difference in attitudes between the two groups regarding the statement: "I would strongly recommend studies in the field of tourism." First-year students showed a median response of 4 (neutral), with a wider spread of answers, while fourth-year students had a median of 3 (agree), suggesting a more favorable attitude toward recommending tourism studies. This may imply that with more years of study, students develop a more positive perception of the field. If confirmed by statistical significance, these results point to the importance of academic experience in shaping students’ views about the value of tourism education. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (p < 0.05), indicating that study level has a measurable influence on students' attitudes.

Source: Authors

The distribution of grades in percentages for the variable “Recommendation for studies in the field of tourism” for the control and experimental groups are given in the Figure 4. In addition to the boxplot analysis, a detailed comparison of frequencies for each response level on the Likert scale (Figure 4) provides further insight into differences between first-year (experimental group) and fourth-year students (control group). The data show that 44.8% of fourth-year students stated they would strongly recommend tourism studies, compared to 35.4% of first-year students. Furthermore, 22.4% of fourth-year students selected likely to recommend, whereas only 8.9% of first-year students chose this option. On the other hand, first-year students showed higher percentages in the negative categories: 13.9% were unlikely to recommend and 12.7% would not recommend at all, compared to only 5.2% in both categories among fourth-year students. These findings suggest a clear trend: students with more academic experience in tourism (fourth-year students) are generally more inclined to recommend tourism studies to others, whereas first-year students show more hesitation or uncertainty. This shift may reflect increased familiarity with the field, better understanding of career opportunities, or greater confidence in the quality and relevance of the program.

The Mann–Whitney U test results indicated significant differences between the experimental (first-year) and control (fourth-year) groups regarding students’ perceptions of work in tourism. The most pronounced difference was observed for the criterion “Only managerial jobs” (Z = –3.306, p = 0.01), where first-year students (median = 3) expressed higher agreement compared to fourth-year students (median = 2). This result suggests that as students advance through their studies, they develop a more critical and realistic view of managerial opportunities in the tourism sector. Overall, the findings highlight a transition from more idealistic perceptions among freshmen to a more pragmatic understanding among senior students. Also, fourth-year students have a more favorable attitude toward recommending tourism studies in relation to the group of first-year students (the difference between the groups was statistically significant, p < 0.05). This may imply that with more years of study, students develop a more positive perception of the field.

As a limitation of the research, the issue of subjectivity certainly arises, given that the opinions (opinions) of students were examined, who were asked by the researcher to fill out a questionnaire. However, this limitation could not be avoided, given that in the social sciences, as Shipman (2014) points out, it is impossible to confirm objectivity. Another limitation of the study is the involvement of students from only one scientific institution in the research (Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia). This can be partially justified by the author's position that this is the only state faculty in Serbia in the field of tourism and hotel management.

The results point to the need for educational institutions to include practical and experiential forms of learning, such as field teaching, guest lectures and tasks based on real situations, even during studies. This would reduce the gap between the expectations of freshmen and the reality of working in tourism. Also, the more positive attitude of final year students towards their studies can be used through peer mentoring programs, where older students would provide support to younger ones. Strengthening cooperation with the tourism industry would additionally help align the curricula with the needs of the labor market, all with the aim of better preparing students for professional challenges. Strengthening cooperation between universities and the tourism industry, as well as integrating more experiential learning components, could help bridge the gap between academic expectations and professional realities.

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia by the Decision on the scientific research funding for teaching staff at the accredited higher education institutions in 2025 (No. 451-03-137/2025-03/200375 of February 4, 2025).

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflict of interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Conceptualization, D.P. N.V. and V.P.; methodology, D.P. N.V. software, D.P.; formal analysis, D.P. N.V. and T.E.C.; writing—original draft preparation, D.P. and N.V..; writing—review and editing, D.P. N.V.. and V.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.