Abstract:

The culinary and tourism sectors are defined as a stressful occupational group due to the direct interaction with customers and the heavy workload inherent in the service industry. The purpose of this study is to reveal the dimensions of stress levels experienced by students who have studied and completed internships in the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts undergraduate program in Turkey. In this way, the dimensions of stress factors experienced by students and how new professionals manage this process will be revealed. A qualitative research design was used for the study, and content analysis was performed. Semi-structured interview forms were used to interview 25 students studying in the gastronomy and culinary arts department. Themes and sub-themes were created based on the answers to the questions and discussed in the literature. The study results indicate that students perceive the profession of chef/cook as a stressful process. They are burdened with heavy workloads such as kitchen cleaning, kitchen management, inventory management, meal preparation, and food preparation. In addition, responses related to work intensity and fear of disapproval by superiors were associated with pressure as stress factors. As symptoms of stress, students gave answers such as being irritable, distracted, and unsure of what to do. Stress management generally takes the form of control or ignoring. Students express that they are not fully aware of stress management techniques and believe that education is necessary. Furthermore, it is thought that regulating the behavior of chefs and managers, increasing wages, and reducing working hours will reduce stress levels.

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