The Glass Ceiling of the Hospitality Industry - Essay Example

Supporting Women in Breaking Through The Glass Ceiling of the Hospitality Industry The nature of a career in the hospitality industry is perceived asmany as full of glamour, since workers are trained to package themselves as physically appealing to the customers they serve. Add to that, the expected magnificence of a hotel environment. It is no wonder more women than men now graduate from hotel management schools. Some 72 percent of the students enrolled in the hospitality management department at San Francisco State University in fall 2004 were women, according to Janet Sim, the department chair (Armstrong, 2006) "Women are drawn to hospitality because they like to work with people," Sim said. "It is a people business. Tourism is the largest employer of any industry in the world now; its growing by leaps and bounds. And tourism is the largest employer in San Francisco. This gives women a chance to hone their management skills." (Armstrong, 2006) Employment opportunities in the hospitality profession abound all over the world. In the majority of West European countries women predominate in the hotel staff but unfortunately, only a small number of women are in management positions. Purcell postulates that there are three mutually-reinforcing but distinct elements which influence the allocation or denial of particular work to women: labour cost, sexuality and patriarchal prescription (Purcell, 1996) A study by Kattara in 2005 on career challenges of female managers in Egyptian hotels found out that the majority of female managers were not in situations that would lead them to the positions of general managers. “The study detected several factors preventing female managers from reaching the glass ceiling. The stepwise multiple regression showed that 35.5 percent of the variance in the existence of challenges could be explained by four factors; gender discrimination, relationships at work, mentor support and lack of network access” (Kattara, 2005) In the hospitality sphere there also exists a strong gender-segregation in work. Burgess, in her research, claims that there exist considerable discrepancies between the career development and salaries of men and women in the hospitality industry. The most prestigious and, therefore, better-paid job positions are occupied by men (Burgess, 2003).. Female employees tend to work in housekeeping, the kitchen or in the food and beverage departments. While there tends to be an equal amount of men and women in front office, top managerial positions still tend to be held by men. There appears to be a constant conflict between mutually beneficial relationships and contemporary situations, where males dominate the social, political and professional spheres (Taylor, Kemeny, Reed, Bower, & Grunewald, 2000). . Many women claim that they have fewer opportunities to succeed in their work than men do and have to exert greater effort in order to be promoted in their jobs. Men are more readily employed and more supported by their employers than women (Bergman, 2003). . Within each occupation, a considerable hierarchy can be seen. Vertical segregation implies that women quite seldom occupy top posts in management in the European Union and in the rest of the countries (Equal Opportunities Policy and Statements). The Career Development Group maintains that there is social disadvantage due to the fact that there exist particular social roles which influence the public lives of both genders. These roles were established in patriarchal societies and are therefore strongly influenced by social power, which usually belong to men. Being influenced by the rules of society conduct people yield to these stereotypes (Equal Opportunities Policy and Statements). Many critics claim, that in exerting all their efforts to advance themselves in the professional sphere, women become unable to perform successfully as mothers, wives and life partners. However, the latter are among primary duties of all women. The issue of equal rights and family priority indicate that without neglecting their basic duties to family, women can still get an education, which is equal to the education of men. The majority of job placements should be available to women. Presently, women now can occupy positions even in professions considered male-dominated. Many researchers try to prove that women are more responsible and hard working and can perform with more efficiency than their male counterparts. The Gender Equality Duty, which is included in the new law, requires public bodies to eliminate sex discrimination and promote equality throughout their services, policies, and employment and recruitment practices. The problem of pay gap was well studied by the Women and Equality Unit and the Equal Opportunities Commission. These units aimed to improve the position of women in the workplace and to increase their wages (Advancing Women in the Workplace, 2004) They studied the employers’ actions and other factors which determine the lower payment of women’s wages. Research funded by the European Commission showed that generally women who work full-time, receive only three-fourths of the hourly earnings of men. This holds true in the European Union in all professions with equal qualification levels and ages of men and women (Equal Opportunity, 2006). The pay gap is partly explained by the fact that women are much more likely to be in lower-grade, lower-paid occupations than men. Another factor contributing to the pay gap is that women in management have less seniority and are rewarded at a lower rate. The pay survey of women in the City of London found a clear age-related factor in that salaries for men and women diverged during their mid-twenties and the gap increased with age (Wren, 1990). One of the researches, conducted in 2002 in the USA studying 500 companies showed that women occupied not more than 15.7 % of corporate-officer positions and only 5.2 % of women were top earners. The other characteristic feature is that the greatest part of all women, who occupy top positions, take not line but staff positions (Hymowitz, 2003). Staff positions are less prominent and therefore women are less likely to receive promotions and attain the very top of job hierarchy Studies have shown that workers’ job efficiency have much to do with how they perceive their responsibilities and significance in their particular job positions. Valentine (2001) indexed a variety of research studies on how perceptions of own jobs and expectations of other people in the workplace of one’s job efficiency may create self-fulfilling prophesies. Findings in these researches show that despite their managerial competencies, women must unfortunately deal with negative stereotypes that can impair their job mobility and advancement. As leaders, women may be viewed as passive, overly relationship-oriented and emotionally unstable. The masculine task-oriented styles of leadership highly favoured by management are not always exhibited by women. Many of the negative ideas about women in management may affect how they are treated and accepted at work. Despite representing almost half of the workforce, womens presence is much less noticeable in positions with executive responsibility. Even worse, women are frequently given assignments that are excluded from social and professional networking concluded that women reported greater career barriers and greater importance of performing well on the job than did men using matched samples of male and female executives. These negative ideas unfortunately lead some women to question their own supervisory abilities, to evaluate themselves harshly on performance appraisals, and to set low performance expectations. They experience more motivational problems and career uncertainties compared to men, and this could be attributed to their negative work experiences (Valentine, 2001). Employers are in a position to support workers in the workplace. Unger (2002) reports identified support needs culled from her study as categorized in four areas namely: employee training, career advancement, employee benefits, and workplace culture. Employee training needs focused on an individual’s ability to learn and perform the job and encompassed activities such as skill acquisition, completing regular job duties, performing independently, and other activities. Career advancement needs addressed an individual’s ability to advance within or between jobs and included activities such as learning additional duties, pursuing opportunities for promotion, and other related needs. Employee benefit needs focused on enabling the individual to take advantage of benefits provided by the employer, such as sick leave, pay raises, or other benefits. Finally, needs in the area of Workplace Culture focused on the ability of the employee to assimilate into the culture, social structure, and routines of a specific work setting.” (Unger, 2002, p. 185) Supporting women workers towards management positions entails more technical support strategies. These include networking, career tracking, mentoring, succession planning and the adoption of a comprehensive approach. (Wirth, 2001). Women who show much promise in leading a company usually outshine others in terms of skills and personality. However in reality, women often have to work harder than men do to achieve the same levels of responsibility. Being part of a network of equally competent workers brings a lot of benefits. It provides invaluable information, visibility and support, especially when job vacancies spring up. Visible women who exhibit the right qualifications may be easily recommended by members of the network. Employers may also “career track” female employees of high potential towards higher positions they qualify for. They can help these women gain visibility and experience by giving them challenging and high-profile assignments that can prove their worth. These women prospects may be provided special training in addition to mentoring by high-level managers who can provide useful advise and contacts. Employers need to monitor and report these women’s progress in the organization. “Mentoring involves the pairing of younger potential managers (sometimes referred to as “high flyers” of “fast trackers”) with older, experienced and more senior managers who provide coaching, support, advise and visibility.” (Wirth, 2001, p.128) It goes without saying that mentoring relationships depend much on the individual’s sincere desire to acquire and develop new skills and gain additional competencies. Some companies devise succession strategies to prepare deserving workers of managerial positions. Should a woman be chosen to be a successor in the future, then she must be provided with opportunities to gain the experience and skills necessary to merit the eventual promotion. Adopting a comprehensive approach in improving women’s career opportunities in the workplace, especially in the hospitality industry will be effective if strategies are fully implemented and sustained in the culture of the company. Employers need to consider and examine women’s issues and barriers that hinder them from attaining success. Employers may look into the following to guide them in choosing the right strategies to support their promising women workers: gender and family issues; reasons why women leave their jobs; flexibility in working time arrangements; attributes women may bring to management; communication styles; work relationships with peers; prevention of sexual harassment at work; including women in training programmes and establishing part-time management positions to enable women with family responsibilities to take the management route. (Wirth, 2001). It is inspiring to know that in spite of prevailing gender inequality in employment situations, there are still women who prove to be survivors. According to those that have already climbed high on the ladder, the outlook is promising for women who are willing to work hard and break down any barriers that may exist (Higgins, 2004). According to Lea Ann Kish, CEO of Milestone Hospitality International in Florida, some obstacles that women may face in the industry may be the possibility of relocation for advancement opportunities because of considerations for family and financial commitments. Also, top hotel companies have men in the executive positions and wage disparities among the genders can and do exist. However, as more women enter the hospitality industry, the traditional roles such as sales, revenue management and housekeeping have expanded into all areas of management. The opportunity to perform in corporate level and executive roles in these traditional areas is greater than that of senior-level operations. With a commitment to learning both in the classroom and in the field, women who make personal sacrifices early in their career for professional gain likely will have a greater opportunity to steadily progress. (Higgins, 2004) Two women exemplify achievers who have advanced to top positions in the hotel industry. Karima Zaki, is currently the managing director of the Hilton San Francisco and vice president for Hilton Hotels Corp. Anna Marie Presutti was recently named vice president and general manager of the Nikko Hotels Internationals Hotel Nikko San Francisco. While women still comprise less than half of hotel GMs locally and nationally, industry experts say its getting easier for women to fill top jobs in a field that -- like many others -- was long dominated by men in white shirts, dark suits and red ties. (Armstrong, 2006). Zaki asserts that "Within the hotel business, we have an engineering focus. We have public relations operations. We have retail shops. We have restaurants. We have catering operations. That kind of dynamism is appealing to managers who want to run a fast-moving business” She also claims that since there is currently much serious recognition of gender, ethnic and even age diversity and it is being embraced at the highest level. Zaki’s herculean responsibility is making decisions in running the Hilton hotel empire. Hilton operates 2,700 hotels in 80 countries. Presutti is likewise a living proof that barriers (and tradition) can be broken down. She is the first female officer at JAL Hotels Co. Ltd., the Hotel Nikkos parent firm. Japanese corporations have historically not been known for promoting women to senior management. These women serve as inspiration to those who continue to dream of higher heights. The hospitality industry needs to create an atmosphere, suitable for equal promotion of women and men. These equal opportunities should be applicable not only to junior staff but also to top management positions, which are still mainly male-occupied but are gradually being reached by more women. With greater awareness of the public, and better support from the government and private sectors in providing equal opportunities for both genders, there is hope for a better future of women in the workforce. References Advancing women in the workplace. Labour Market Trends. 2004 Armstrong, D.,(2006) “Cracks in glass ceiling Hotels are opening doors for women in management” Chronicle, May 11, 2006 Bergman, B. (2003) The validation of the women workplace culture questionnaire: gender-related stress and health for Swedish working women. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research .Burgess, C. (2003) “Gender and salaries in hotel financial management: it’s still a man’s world." Women in Management Review Equal Opportunities Commission. Retrieved on November 20, 2007 from http://www.eok.org.uk Equal Opportunities Policy and Statements. Retrieved on November 20, 2007 from http://www.careerdevelopmentgroup.org.uk Equal Opportunities Management Guidelines, Retrieved on November 20, 2007 from: http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8B9E4B30-7483-4919-B78C- 46454D9288A6/0/EqualOpportunitiesManagement.pdf Higgins, S. (2004),”Breaking down barriers.” Hotel & Motel Management,  August, 2004   Hymowitz, C. (2003) “Why Women Professionals Miss Great Opportunities”. The Wall Street Journal Kattara, H.,(2005) “Career challenges for female managers in Egyptian hotels.” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Purcell, K. (1996) “The relationship between career and job opportunities: women’s employment in the hospitality industry as a microcosm of women’s employment.” Women in Management Review Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., Reed, G. M., Bower J. E., & Grunewald, T. L. (2000) “Psychological resources, positive illusions, and health.” American Psychologist. Unger, D. (2002) “Workplace Supports: A View from Employers Who Have Hired Supported Employees” from Center for Workforce Preparation (2002) Employers’ Views of Workplace Supports: Virginia Commonwealth University Charter Business Roundtable’s National Study of Employers’ Experiences with Workers with Disabilities Valentine, S., (2001)Men and Women Supervisors Job Responsibility, Job Satisfaction and Employee Monitoring’. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. Plenum Publishing Corporation Wirth, L. (2001) Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management, Geneva: International Labour Office Wren, J. (1990) Women’s Pay in the City. London: Jonathan Wren Executive Read More