Representation of women managers in hospitality and tourism: a content analysis of related magazine articles

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the representation of women managers through a content analysis of related magazine articles within the hospitality industry in the Maldives. Evidence suggests an increase in the number of working women, yet there is relative neglect toward identifying issues involving women in the industry. Design/methodology/approach Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to content-analyze the narrative on the sampled articles from a Maldives-based hospitality magazine, Hotelier Maldives. Qualitative content analysis and quantitative methods report on the challenges faced by women managers and reasons for their success based on the narratives. Findings This study revealed that although women managers are underrepresented in management, there has been a broad increase in the participation of women within the industry. This study falsified the perception that gender is a limiting factor to hold senior positions in the hospitality industry and that increased participation of women managers may be driven by the changing social and cultural contexts. Originality/value This study is one of the first to examine how women managers are represented in hospitality magazines. Despite its relevance, previous tourism research has not focused on this kind of measurement.

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“…The finding also contributes to the previous studies from other scholars that female practitioners mostly fill the jobs of public relations (Grunig et al, 2013;Kriyantono and Rakhmawati, 2020;Simorangkir, 2013), whereas male practitioners are considered more dominant in the position as manager (Erzikova and Berger, 2016). It links to other study that an increase in the number of women working, but women managers are underrepresented in management in hospitality and tourism (Nagar, 2021).…”

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“…Likewise, the Global Report of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) stated that -women in tourism are still underpaid, under-utilized, undereducated and under-represented‖ (UNWTO, 2019, p. ii). Similarly, Al-Ismail et al (2019) and Nagar (2021) pointed out that the nature of jobs in the tourism industry is often gendered, with males prevalent in senior positions, which in turn, enhances the low status and amplifies the low position in society. While women represent more than 50% of the workforce, however, they gain 14.7% less than males and occupy less than a fifth of leadership positions in the tourism industry (UNWTO, 2019).…”

“…While women represent more than 50% of the workforce, however, they gain 14.7% less than males and occupy less than a fifth of leadership positions in the tourism industry (UNWTO, 2019). Yet women are still generally misrepresented in senior management positions and being in leadership roles is the exception, not the rule (Gebbels et al, 2020;Nagar, 2021). Therefore, the integration of women in the labor market is still in process, as gender inequality at the workplace is still found (BoyolNgan & Litwin, 2019).…”

“…Studies have also revealed that the decisions of women's employment are usually linked to family considerations e.g. marital status and children's ages (Nagar, 2021). Motherhood drives women to isolate themselves in less innovative and less skilled jobs, and thus they are paid less (Pastore et al, 2020).…”

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