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The authors explore the usefulness of orientation programs for students aged 27 and older who delayed entry to graduate school and whether differences in personal importance of orientation programs, willingness to participate in them, and preferences in matters of scheduling and topics. The results indicated that several demographic variables affected the interest level in some topics, suggesting that a cafeteria-workshop style format, which would allow students to select just those sessions that were of interest to them, may be the best for this group.

The purpose of the study was to explore the roles of hospitality education programs in preparing women for leadership roles in the industry and in reducing industry barriers to women's advancement. Literature reviews suggested both educators and industry leaders should take responsibility for preparing women for success as well as preparing education programs to create a more equitable environment for women. Data were collected through an online survey from a convenience sample of 226 hospitality students, educators, and industry recruiters. The sample groups were selected to represent the views of future leaders of the industry, the educators who prepare and mentor them, and those individuals who serve as industry gatekeepers. Major themes were identified through a content analysis of narrative responses to open-ended questions from the three groups. Themes identified for preparing women for leadership included: "focus on leadership skills," "mentoring," and "provide female role models." Themes identified for reducing barriers included: "educate women about the barriers they will face" and "teach women to value their abilities." The findings demonstrate that hospitality education programs can contribute to the creation of a more supportive industry environment for women.KEYWORDS women in the hospitality industry, hospitality education, hospitality industry

The increased number of women in the hospitality industry and their underrepresentation in top management positions makes women's status in the industry a great concern. The purposes of the study were to examine hospitality students' perceptions of factors that contribute to and constrain women's career advancement and determine whether there were significant differences in the perceptions of men and women. Data were collected from a sample of 128 hospitality students in a large state university. The findings revealed that male and female students agreed on the most important facilitators, such as communication skills and hard work. Female students viewed equity‐related factors as the biggest constraints to women's advancement, whereas male students rated family issues highest. The results showed significant effects for gender and ethnicity. Suggestions are provided for ways in which hospitality education programs could address gender issues and contribute to the creation of a more supportive industry environment for women.

Evidence suggests that adults in school settings are doing less than they should to stop student peer sexual harassment. When such behavior persists, it creates an intrusive environment that may interfere with learning. The study was designed to determine teachers' attitudes toward sexual harassment; their perceptions of sexually harassing student behaviors; how they would respond to these behaviors; and the influence of teachers' age, sex, sex role identity, and size of school on their attitudes, perceptions, and actions. The two hundred and seventy survey respondents represented 20 randomly selected high schools in a 20-county region of one southwestern state. The results show that the teachers were intolerant in their attitudes toward sexual harassment. They recognized student peer sexual harassment, particularly in its more severe forms, and indicated that they would take action to stop such behavior when it occurred. The teachers were relatively homogeneous in their attitudes toward and perceptions of sexual harassment. However, the set of four predictors, age, sex, sex-role identity, and size of school, did influence the actions teachers would take in response to peer harassment, particularly with regard to the most frequently chosen actions, report the behavior to the designated authority and tell the initiator to stop.