New report makes recommendations for addressing gender equality in hospitality

A new report from researchers and academics from the University of Greenwich and University of Surrey has set out a series of key recommendations to the hospitality sector so it can better redress the imbalance of the sector.

This report seeks to redress this balance through three key areas of recommendations:

• Create and foster a culture of open dialogue where issues of gender can be freely discussed by all employees, irrespective of gender;
• The patriarchal norm in organisational practices and culture should be challenged and the structure and training of organisations should be reimagined through a less patriarchal gaze;
• Hospitality education institutions should integrate the subject of gender into tourism and hospitality curriculums.

According to a 2019 World Tourism Organization report, women account for more than 50% of the labour workforce but earn 14.7% less than men and hold less than one fifth of leadership roles in the tourism industry – particularly the hospitality sector.

The report said employees need to feel able to discuss gender-related issues among one another as well as with their employers or line managers to reduce the stigma attached to the subject. Techniques recommended included participation in the Lego Serious Play method, implementing 360-degree feedback, appointment of a lead for the diversity and inclusion agenda, and compulsory unconscious bias training.

Wenjie Cai, senior lecturer in tourism and hospitality at the University of Greenwich, said: “Although gender issues have received quite a lot of attention in the past few years, I found there is still too little been done in practice. I believe in tackling the issue of gender equality fundamentally, so we need to have a holistic approach and involves multiple stakeholders working together.

“We have focused on these three elements because we believe the issues can only be fundamentally addressed through educations, listening and inclusive environment, and men's supports. Each of these dimensions also connects a series of aspects required to make a change ranging from societal opinions of gender roles, labour division at home, organisational culture and leadership traits, as well as policy-making and legislation.”

Dr Maria Gebbels, senior lecturer in hospitality management at the University of Greenwich, said: “In comparison to other sectors, the hospitality industry has a long-standing history of being male-dominated, traditional, and paternalistic, resulting in conflicts of power and gender inequality.

"Despite women making up 60% of the total industry workforce, they continue being under-presented at the senior management, leadership and board levels, although some but insufficient improvements have been observed at the non-executive director (NED) level.

“This leads to at least one conclusion that women tend to be employed at the lower, junior-level roles then struggling to break the glass-ceiling to top management positions. Those who manage still belong to a minority. Issues of gender become very visible in situations when women take on caring responsibilities whether for elderly relatives or children, and many operational roles within the industry do not offer the full range of different flexible working arrangements.”

Dr Xiongbin Gao from the University of Surrey added: “Our action-oriented reflection on women's career development in hospitality provides holistic recommendations that addresses to multiple stakeholders such as hospitality businesses, educational institutions and policymakers. Not only can the adaptation of these recommendations encourage gender equality in the hospitality industry, it may well be an important step to tackle the long-standing gender labour division that continues to shape gender relations in our society.”

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