An occupational gender segregation in the hotel industry
Author: Meiju Lehtovuori
2 Commentries
Abstract: An occupational gender segregation is a major issue in the tourism industry. This paper will examine occupational gender segregation in the hotel industry, especially women who work in the housekeeping department in hotels. This paper will go more into the problems that complicate women moving on their careers.
Keywords: occupational gender segregation, hotel industry, housekeeping, women, inequality
Discussion Paper
The aim of this discussion paper is to identify different aspects of occupational gender segregation in the hotel industry, especially women who work in the housekeeping department in hotels. Also this paper will go into different gaps and barriers that complicate particularly women to move forward on their careers. As this idea of occupational gendered jobs should not exist today’s world.
Hotels, catering and tourism (HCT) is a major and quickly growing industry, women participation is 56 per cent at the global level and even 70 per cent in local level in the tourism industry. They are recruited to many roles, such as housekeepers, kitchen staff and front line customer service workers (90 per cent of these workers are women). Issues in the hotel industry relate to gender segregation, wage differences, career opportunities and different treatment between male and female workers (Baum, 2013).
Occupational gender segregation can be identified women and men work in different occupations and sectors. Tourism is a large and quickly growing industry which makes it challenging for the industry to be equal for both genders. The issues of the gender segregation may be identified by the size of the of the industry. The growth of the industry and social interactions associated with may have influence on occupational gender segregation.
Even though there may be skilled and valued workers, the managers (mainly men) do not appreciate those workers, which makes it difficult to move forward on their careers. By this the workers are stuck on those sectors they have started (Sinclair, 1997). The hotels employ a very high number of female workers (in the UK around 60 per cent of all hotel workers are women) which makes it clear that in hotel industry there is a gender segregation (Gurrier and Adib, 2000). Even though the seasonal and part-time jobs are occupied by women, the men are occupied by leadership roles in tourism industry. The women still have a lot of problems in the workplace, such as less than 40 per cent of managerial and supervisory positions are held by women (Simão and Breda, 2014).
The housekeeping department is important as it gives the image of the hotel to the customers. Almost every housekeeper in the hotel industry is a woman, and more likely an immigrant woman. They clean around 15 rooms or even more a day, this means they skip their breaks and work overtime to please their managers as they are scared to lose their jobs (Unitehere, 2016).
The working conditions in a housekeeping department is difficult as the demand for the job is harder than usual jobs. This type of job is normally seasonal or part-time job which means there are many new workers during the different seasons without any instructions. Also during the peak times, the housekeepers has to work quicker than usual, and the work is not as satisfying as it should be. Lastly the housekeeping staff is limited so the staff has to work harder and do more rooms than they are able to do during their work hours. Because of this the housekeepers work overtime and skip their breaks (Malik, 2010). The reason why women take part-time jobs more easily than men because it allows balance them between home and work (Campos-Soria et al., 2015).
Housekeeping should be a part of the overall team of the hotel, in order to the hotel to be able to succeed. Housekeeping is time-consuming and difficult and by this the housekeepers increase the risk of getting injured in the workplace. It is said that hotel industry has a 40% higher the injury rate than other service workers (Unitehere, 2016). Also this pressure makes a high employee turnover in the housekeeping department. The low wages and working on the weekends is frustrating to workers. As well the weak quality of supervision, no training and the difficulty of getting a promotion, keeps the employee turnover high. But also the high percentage of turnovers in the hotel industry is not only expensive to hotels, it may also impact on losing customers and negative reputation. The turnovers also effect on the quality of service as well to low employee morale (Chien, 1997).
To conclude this discussion paper, it tried to understand the different perspectives of occupational gender segregation in the hotel industry. This paper discussed about the different positions between men and women in the hotel industry, and more closely about the women who work in the housekeeping department. Also why there are gaps and barriers that make difficult to especially women to move forward on their careers. To meet the needs for the future both men and women should be equal in the workplaces, and should be able to work in same positions, and this idea of gendered workplaces should not exist anymore.
References
Unitehere (2016) Housekeeping Can Be Dangerous Work. Available from http://unitehere.org/wpcontent/uploads/HousekeepingDangerous.pdf [accessed 24 April 2016].
Malik, M. A. (2010) The Problems Faced by the Housekeeping Department of Novotel Solo. Sebelas Maret University Surakarta. Available from https://core.ac.uk/download/files/478/12350560.pdf [accessed 24 April 2016].
Guerrier, Y. and Adib, A. (2000) ‘No, We Don’t provide that Service’: The Harassment of Hotel Employees by Customers, Work. Employment and Society, 14(4), pp. 689–705.
Keywords: occupational gender segregation, hotel industry, housekeeping, women, inequality
Discussion Paper
The aim of this discussion paper is to identify different aspects of occupational gender segregation in the hotel industry, especially women who work in the housekeeping department in hotels. Also this paper will go into different gaps and barriers that complicate particularly women to move forward on their careers. As this idea of occupational gendered jobs should not exist today’s world.
Hotels, catering and tourism (HCT) is a major and quickly growing industry, women participation is 56 per cent at the global level and even 70 per cent in local level in the tourism industry. They are recruited to many roles, such as housekeepers, kitchen staff and front line customer service workers (90 per cent of these workers are women). Issues in the hotel industry relate to gender segregation, wage differences, career opportunities and different treatment between male and female workers (Baum, 2013).
Occupational gender segregation can be identified women and men work in different occupations and sectors. Tourism is a large and quickly growing industry which makes it challenging for the industry to be equal for both genders. The issues of the gender segregation may be identified by the size of the of the industry. The growth of the industry and social interactions associated with may have influence on occupational gender segregation.
Even though there may be skilled and valued workers, the managers (mainly men) do not appreciate those workers, which makes it difficult to move forward on their careers. By this the workers are stuck on those sectors they have started (Sinclair, 1997). The hotels employ a very high number of female workers (in the UK around 60 per cent of all hotel workers are women) which makes it clear that in hotel industry there is a gender segregation (Gurrier and Adib, 2000). Even though the seasonal and part-time jobs are occupied by women, the men are occupied by leadership roles in tourism industry. The women still have a lot of problems in the workplace, such as less than 40 per cent of managerial and supervisory positions are held by women (Simão and Breda, 2014).
The housekeeping department is important as it gives the image of the hotel to the customers. Almost every housekeeper in the hotel industry is a woman, and more likely an immigrant woman. They clean around 15 rooms or even more a day, this means they skip their breaks and work overtime to please their managers as they are scared to lose their jobs (Unitehere, 2016).
The working conditions in a housekeeping department is difficult as the demand for the job is harder than usual jobs. This type of job is normally seasonal or part-time job which means there are many new workers during the different seasons without any instructions. Also during the peak times, the housekeepers has to work quicker than usual, and the work is not as satisfying as it should be. Lastly the housekeeping staff is limited so the staff has to work harder and do more rooms than they are able to do during their work hours. Because of this the housekeepers work overtime and skip their breaks (Malik, 2010). The reason why women take part-time jobs more easily than men because it allows balance them between home and work (Campos-Soria et al., 2015).
Housekeeping should be a part of the overall team of the hotel, in order to the hotel to be able to succeed. Housekeeping is time-consuming and difficult and by this the housekeepers increase the risk of getting injured in the workplace. It is said that hotel industry has a 40% higher the injury rate than other service workers (Unitehere, 2016). Also this pressure makes a high employee turnover in the housekeeping department. The low wages and working on the weekends is frustrating to workers. As well the weak quality of supervision, no training and the difficulty of getting a promotion, keeps the employee turnover high. But also the high percentage of turnovers in the hotel industry is not only expensive to hotels, it may also impact on losing customers and negative reputation. The turnovers also effect on the quality of service as well to low employee morale (Chien, 1997).
To conclude this discussion paper, it tried to understand the different perspectives of occupational gender segregation in the hotel industry. This paper discussed about the different positions between men and women in the hotel industry, and more closely about the women who work in the housekeeping department. Also why there are gaps and barriers that make difficult to especially women to move forward on their careers. To meet the needs for the future both men and women should be equal in the workplaces, and should be able to work in same positions, and this idea of gendered workplaces should not exist anymore.
References
Unitehere (2016) Housekeeping Can Be Dangerous Work. Available from http://unitehere.org/wpcontent/uploads/HousekeepingDangerous.pdf [accessed 24 April 2016].
Malik, M. A. (2010) The Problems Faced by the Housekeeping Department of Novotel Solo. Sebelas Maret University Surakarta. Available from https://core.ac.uk/download/files/478/12350560.pdf [accessed 24 April 2016].
Guerrier, Y. and Adib, A. (2000) ‘No, We Don’t provide that Service’: The Harassment of Hotel Employees by Customers, Work. Employment and Society, 14(4), pp. 689–705.