Management has been identified as an element of dietetics practice that is not recognized as important by many practitioners and students. Recent research has shown that dietitians are ranked as less than competent compared to other foodservice leaders in some management competencies. One of 7 specific recommendations of the Management Task Force of the American Dietetic Association was to integrate the teaching of management skills across the curriculum and across practice.

This research examines how undergraduate dietetics programs integrate management knowledge, skills and competencies into the curriculum and describes the methods used to teach them, faculty perceptions of student outcomes and perceived barriers to the integration of management across the curriculum.

A web-based quantitative survey was distributed to 946 faculty members (including program directors) in didactic and coordinated programs in the United States. A total of 266 faculty members completed the survey (28.1%). In addition a purposive sample of 13 dietetics faculty members representing all DEP regions participated in a qualitative interview to gather information about best practices of successful integration of management, barriers to integration of management across the curriculum and faculty perception of student outcomes. Of the respondents, 29 faculty members also answered a non-responder question to provide insight into those who chose not to participate.

Findings indicate the following: (1) The Management Task Force campaign recommendation to promote teaching management across the dietetics curriculum has not been widely embraced by faculty in DPD and CP programs. (2) Faculty members with management experience are no more likely to include management in their courses than those without management experience. (3) Faculty members who voluntarily participated in the qualitative interviews are enthusiastic about incorporating management across the curriculum. (4) Faculty perceived barriers to including management in their courses. (5) Students’ level of enthusiasm for management careers or graduate studies seems dependent on the class context. (6) Faculty members employ traditional faculty-centered instruction as the most common method when teaching management. (7) The non-responder survey provided important insight into non-responder bias toward management in the dietetics curriculum.