An exploration of culturally diverse experiences of the Disney Cultural Representative program

Abstract

Globalisation together with travel and tourism has become a driving force for the efficient movement of people, products and services internationally. People around the world appear to be increasingly open-minded in seeking international employment opportunities. In recent years, these opportunities have become more apparent to the theme park industry. The Walt Disney World Company in Orlando, Florida can be recognised as one of the major theme parks offering international employment opportunities. Therefore, the core focus on this research is the experiential aspects of the Disney Cultural Representative Program (DCRP). The present research aimed to explore the varying experiences encountered by participants in the DCRP with diverse demographic traits and assessed differences and similarities amongst the experiences; analysed motivational aspects to participate in the DCRP as an international employment opportunity and discovered what preconceptions and attributes were the most influential. The utilisation of the online self-administered Lime Surveys prior to conducting the semi-structured Skype interviews in this mixed methods design afforded the researcher familiarity into the n=33 participants lived experiences of the DCRP. This form of sequential data collection posed useful for identifying any gaps between the first phase and led to constructing the Skype interview guide for the n=5 participants that aimed at addressing these gaps between the overall research questions.

Participants revealed multiple motives for choosing to participate in the DCRP; however, the need for achievement and development was a common motivational aspect amongst the dichotomous demographic categorical variables. Although comparisons and conclusions were drawn from the findings in relation to nationality, gender and age, phenomenography described the variations of participants’ perceptions of the DCRP collectively. There were variations in the experiential aspects in terms of the multicultural living and working environment, meaningful, relevant and impactful experiences as well as discovering the cultural aspect of the DCRP experience that outweighed professional and personal development. These findings provided valuable insight into understanding the meanings of the way in which the DCRP was experienced to stimulate prospective participants in the future, render useful for Faculty members that play active roles in student placements with the DCRP and be of interest to the recruitment teams of Disney.