“Paying Your Dues” in the Hospitality Industry: How Functional is the Belief?

Abstract

One of the central beliefs about career success within the hospitality industry is that new employees must “pay their dues.” In Study 1, free-response format interviews with 40 hospitality program graduates generated functional and dysfunctional connotations of this belief statement for both the individual and the organization. In Study 2, 35 graduating seniors were asked to describe the extent to which the “pay your dues” message was present during job interviews. Future research and implications for surfacing and rethinking this belief are discussed.