Social representations of the hotel and catering sector and their influence on the individual perception of entrepreneurial risk taking: the case of students from a higher program specializing in gastronomy and hospitality
Our study aims to address the question of the social representation of the hotel and restaurant sector (HR) and its potential effects on the individual perception of entrepreneurial risk taking. The underlying objective of this research is to identify certain obstacles and/or factors intended to facilitate the entrepreneurial vocation in this sector, in order to better integrate them into the practices of awareness of entrepreneurship or training. A sample of 279 students from a higher school specializing in gastronomy and hospitality was interviewed in January 2018. A measurement scale of social representations of the sector was first validated, then compared statistically with the scale of individual representation of entrepreneurial risk taking by Barbosa (2008). Our results show a clear influence of representations linked to the working conditions of the sector on the one hand, of pleasure, sharing and hedonism on the other hand, on various dimensions linked to the perception of the risk to go into business. These findings pave the way for further, confirmatory research with larger samples.