Stairway to the Stars: Comparing Health and Tourism Professionals Views About Critical Thinking

Abstract

The relevance of critical thinking in the twenty-first century is indisputable. Although several authors discuss the need for preparing Health and Tourism students for careers in the twenty-first century some recognize the need to bridge the gap between the market needs – employers view – and the graduate profile – higher education institutions view. The CRITHINKEDU ERASMUS+ project started questioning professionals about their views about the critical thinking needs in their areas. This work reports the results from the Portuguese focus group interviews in Health and Tourism areas. After a qualitative analysis, the outcomes for the Health area presented more mentions in critical thinking skills than the Tourism area. In turn, the Tourism area had more mentions in the critical thinking dispositions