When dirty work meets social identity: decoding career avoidance intentions of Chinese hospitality students

Introduction: A long-standing structural imbalance exists between the talent supply of hospitality management programs in China's higher education system and the actual demand of the hotel industry. Integrating Social Identity Theory (SIT) with Face Theory, this study constructs a theoretical model to explore the dual-path mediating effects of dirty work perception and face concern, as well as the moderating role of face concern. Its core objective is to reveal how social identity influences tourism management students' avoidance tendency toward employment in the hotel industry through the mediating chains of dirty work perception and face concern. Methods: Data were collected from 416 Chinese students majoring in tourism management and related fields via online questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the research hypotheses. Results: The results indicate that dirty work perception and face concern exert a significant serial mediating effect on the relationship between social identity and career choice intention. Additionally, face concern plays a negative moderating role in the association between dirty work perception and career choice intention. The measurement model demonstrates excellent reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Discussion: Theoretically, this study innovatively integrates Social Identity Theory with Face Theory, delves into the interactive mechanism between social-level and individual-level work cognition, thereby expanding the research boundary in the field of tourism education. Practically, the research findings provide strategic insights for hotel enterprises to optimize job design, for educational institutions to improve vocational guidance systems, and for industry associations to establish mechanisms for eliminating occupational prejudice-all of which are of great significance for promoting the reform of China's tourism talent supply system.