Gebbels, Maria ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9623-2655, Cai, Wenjie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1505-7240 and Gao, Xiongbin (2019) Gender issues in tourism and hospitality organisations: how to bridge the gap between gender awareness and organisational support? In: Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings. Digital Commons @ TRU Library, p. 62. ISBN 978-0991687121

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Abstract

Gender issues are a current ‘hot topic.’ Awareness of gender inequality has been largely addressed by social movements, legislation and organisational regulations, as well as academic research. Although sufficient awareness is being raised (see Costa et al. 2017; Figueroa-Domecq et al. 2015; Morgan & Pritchard, 2018), the academy and industry have made little effort to correct the male domination of leadership positions and marginalisation of women in industry forums and conference keynotes. This conference presentation aims to address the gap between the largely discussed gender issues and insufficient organisational practices by proposing a multidimensional framework for tourism and hospitality organisations to provide support to individuals. We argue that organisations, therefore, can be the driving force to bridge the gap by providing support and solutions to empower individuals in the hospitality and tourism sector. This conference presentation draws on a thematic analysis of the discussion of gender issues in tourism and hospitality during a public seminar hosted at the University of Greenwich in May 2018. The richness of our findings was generated from an open and interactive dialogue between the keynote speakers as well as the audience, who represented academia and the hospitality and tourism sectors. We propose three dimensions of engagement to suggest actions that organisations should take to tackle gender issues at the individual level. These three dimensions are education and training, policy and environment, and legislation. We suggest organisations implement actions based on these three dimensions, such as providing a trusting environment, offering sufficient mentoring and training schemes, as well as implementing and transferring policies in order to resolve issues of gender inequality, diversity and inclusion at the individual level within organisations. In addition, we suggest that organisations should take into account various stakeholders involved, and utilise an alternative lens (e.g. queer lens) to revolutionise approaches to tackle gender issues at the individual level. This presentation proposes a framework for organisational change, support and practical solutions ranging from higher education institutions to transnational corporations. With this in mind, we suggest that our data may generate insights for ‘what can be done’ rather than merely present ‘what the problem is.’ This presentation concludes with a research agenda for organisational practice and highlights areas for future academic research.

Item Type:	Conference Proceedings
Title of Proceedings:	Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings
Uncontrolled Keywords:	gender issues, tourism and hospitality
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Business Faculty of Business > Department of Marketing, Events & Tourism Faculty of Business > Tourism Research Centre
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2019 13:04
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/25639

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