The Role of Hospitality Education in Women's Career Advancement: Responses From Students, Educators, and Industry Recruiters

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the roles of hospitality education programs in preparing women for leadership roles in the industry and in reducing industry barriers to women's advancement. Literature reviews suggested both educators and industry leaders should take responsibility for preparing women for success as well as preparing education programs to create a more equitable environment for women. Data were collected through an online survey from a convenience sample of 226 hospitality students, educators, and industry recruiters. The sample groups were selected to represent the views of future leaders of the industry, the educators who prepare and mentor them, and those individuals who serve as industry gatekeepers. Major themes were identified through a content analysis of narrative responses to open-ended questions from the three groups. Themes identified for preparing women for leadership included: "focus on leadership skills," "mentoring," and "provide female role models." Themes identified for reducing barriers included: "educate women about the barriers they will face" and "teach women to value their abilities." The findings demonstrate that hospitality education programs can contribute to the creation of a more supportive industry environment for women.KEYWORDS women in the hospitality industry, hospitality education, hospitality industry

Barriers to the success of female leaders in the hospitality industry

“…Making women aware of the types of obstacles and impediments they could face during their career is a solution that will help female leaders developing strategies to succeed in dealing with certain challenges (Zhong et al, 2013). Also, Zhong et al (2013) suggested that it could be important to provide women with female role models to encourage them to value their skills and competences, as well as to make them more motivated and get inspiration to succeed. A work-life balance was also identified as a relevant issue, particularly for women in the hospitality industry.…”

“…This is in congruence with the literature. According to Zhong et al (2013), if women knew about potential barriers, they would consequently be able to put different strategies into action to cope with challenges. Additionally, as Segovia-Pérez et al (2019) state, by involving women in talent development programmes, they will have more opportunities to network with other women.…”

Determining and making sense of recruitment practices for tourism academics in the UK

“…Almost all tourism research focusing on recruitment is about recruitment in the industry (Garcia- Barrero and Erbina, 2021;Yen et al, 2018). Research about the recruitment of tourism academics is quasi-inexistent (Ladkin and Weber, 2009), even in specialised journals such as the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism (Meagher, 2017) or the Journal of Teaching Travel and Tourism (Zhong et al, 2013). The closest research related to recruitment of academics in tourism has examined career perspectives, opportunities and management (Harley et al, 2001), as well as career barriers, transitions and sustainability (Castro et al, 2020), and the role of gender in academic careers (Ozbilgin and Healy, 2001).…”

Music festival supervisor leadership style and organizational citizenship behavior: the effects of employee and volunteer relationships and dependence on their leader

“…Leadership has been highly researched extensively across most disciplines over the past several decades, but today, the prominence of managers' leadership qualities in the hospitality industry cannot be overstated (Zhong et al , 2013). Those in a leadership role can promote positive leadership among their employees by modeling prominent leadership characteristics and behavior (Guthrie and Jenkins, 2018) and enacting quality behaviors exhibited by employees that positively affect the organization (Organ, 1988), known as organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB).…”