Post-Pandemic Transformations: Rethinking Employability in Event Management Education

There is a growing field of literature concerning the concept of employability within Event Management Education, but few studies have attempted to provide a theoretically informed analysis of this concept through a post-pandemic lens. This thesis presents an explorative study investigating the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the skillsets required of graduates to work in the events industry in a post-pandemic climate. To achieve this, the research examines the perceptions of both employers and event management graduates currently in employment, analysing their opinions on the influence of the pandemic on the skills, attributes and characteristics needed to facilitate prospects for future employment within the events industry. It draws together their insights on how providers of Event Management Education within the Higher Education sector can facilitate students in developing the skillsets required for successful careers in the events industry as it re-emerges in a post COVID-19 landscape.

Within the context of a qualitative interpretivist epistemology, a range of in-depth semi-structured interviews were undertaken with employers and event management graduates from a variety of sectors within the events industry. Analysis of the interview data indicates that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has influenced the skills needed for employment in the events industry in a post-pandemic climate, shaping both the skills desired by employers and the skillsets required to successfully fulfil the requirements of many of the roles within the industry post-pandemic. These factors have been examined and recommendations offered which aim to contribute to an understanding of how Higher Education providers can better prepare their graduates for some of the complexities and idiosyncrasies of employment within the events industry, equipping them for the challenges of careers in events in a post-pandemic world.

The contextual position and timing of the research proposed presents an ideal opportunity to review and build upon what is already known and understood from previous literature in the field; whilst providing an original contribution to the existing knowledge and literature bodies of both employability and Event Management Education at a critical time within the events industry.