ANALYSIS: WHY WOMEN DO NOT ACHIEVE MORE SENIOR MANAGEMENT POSITION IN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Introduction
The issue of being a woman is one of the most conventional topics throughout the history. It is noted that the participation of female employees in the management position remains very low, with women relatively under-represented in senior management positions and clustered in organisations and occupations which are segregated by gender (2002). Accordingly, it is said that almost generally, women who have not been successful to reach leading positions in different industries are irrespective of their abilities (1997). It is also noted that universally, women fare best in firms that employ more women such as hotel and catering industries or health and community services.
Even if women have commonly become progressive into management, collective figures show varying degrees of success in accordance with the micro-level. While women have achieved increasing representation in middle management positions (1999) access to the most senior management positions is very restricted. Hence, the main goal of this paper is to provide theoretical perspective regarding the issue of under-representation of women to have a senior management position in the hospitality industry. In addition, this will also attempt to identify the significance of the work-life balance initiatives in helping employers and women managers to solve the issue.
Women and Senior Management Position
Although women in this generation are able to work in different industries, it is still an issue that the promotions of women to become a part of the senior management team remains restricted, specifically in hospitality industries. The term hospitality industry (HI) serves as an overarching label for businesses whose primary purpose is to offer food, beverage and accommodation for sale on a commercial basis. Hospitality services are other hospitality activities that take place within other parts of the economy. These are mainly concerned with the provision of food and beverage in areas such as in-flight catering, and meals in schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, care homes and prisons. These activities are not identified separately because workers in these sectors are included in the ISIC for the main business, e.g. public administration, education or health.
There are number of reasons why some employers do not consider women to become a part of the senior management team. The first reason is the constraints or restrictions which are imposed by the society, family and employers or by women themselves. These restrictions may be due to two vital issues concerning women. These include behavioural expectations and discrimination.
For example, the behavioural expectations about the role of the women in their family illustrate a very strong hindrance to their industrial upward mobility. Because of the strong organisational commitment of hospitality industry to provide quality service among their customers by having employees which will be reliable all the time, they are hesitant to include women in their senior management team because of the connotation that women have so many responsibilities which may affect their work related tasks (1987). In addition, the majority of the burden of raising or rearing children is still the obligations of the mothers, hence, imposing or having a new responsibility as a senior manager may not be effective for women as to men.
On the other hand, discrimination is another factor which can be attributed as one of the reasons why women are not given senior management posts in the hospitality industry. Labour market discrimination against women is manifested through different rates of pay and occupational and industrial segregation (1997). Discrimination is a phenomenon which is so pervasive in all human societies that there is no doubt at all that it exists. It is not, however, a unitary phenomenon but a complex of a number of related forms of human behavior, and this makes it not only hard to define but frequently difficult to comprehend fully. Research also shows that one of the main reasons that women were unable to attain certain positions was that women were thought to be too emotional and unable to separate their emotion from work. There was also the thought that women were irrational and inconsistent.
Inequality is an outcome of discriminatory behaviour and it can be used as an index by which the presence of discrimination is assessed. An issue central to various theories attempting to explain the existence and persistence of labour market inequality is the debate on the extent to which such inequality is a result of differences on the supply side, e.g. differences in job choices, career aspirations or productivity between men and women, and how far it is a consequence of 'discrimination' on the demand side—'discrimination' defined in simple economic terms as 'the receipt of lower pay for given productivity' or 'any form of unequal treatment of different groups of employees which does not directly result in cost minimisation in labour utilisation' ( 1981:).
As female, in the economic sphere, women are largely confined to sedentary, monotonous work under the supervision of men, and are
treated unequally concerning promotion and responsibility. With the exceptions of teaching, nursing, social services and library work, in which they do not hold a proportionate number of supervisory positions and are often occupationally segregated from men, they make poor showing in the professions ( 1997). Even when they are admitted to the political parties, they are subordinate to men.
According to (1992) almost any woman, who has taken part in a mixed-gender meeting or group discussions, has had the experience of having her ideas ignored when she expressed them. They are, however, picked up when they were echoed by a man and thereafter attributed to him. Research shows that women are not as likely to be listened to as men regardless of how they speak or what they say. Some say, this is a result of their pitch of voice and gender stereotypes. Hence, in order to prove themselves, women have to work twice as hard to get just as far as their male counterparts in the workplace.
The present contravention of the sexes, ensuing from women’s competition with men, is manifested in the discriminations against women, as well as the doubts and uncertainties expressed concerning women’s character, abilities and motives (Wilson 1995).
Significance of Work/Life Balance to Women and Employers
The concept of work-life balance has become an increasingly essential topic in the UK and other part of the world. This is because of the various changes in both social and economic context. The pressures connected with dealing with the increasing demands of both work responsibilities and personal accountabilities have increased worker interest in "employee-friendly" working environments and deals. On the other hand, employers have begun to pay increased attention to the management of the work-life balance in response to recruitment and generally employee problems, in an economy that is moving towards full employment.
The whole context of work-life balance is to adjust the working patterns to help each individual combine work with other aspects of life such as caring responsibilities, studies or even a hobby (2000). Employers are developing a wide range of work-life balance options, covering flexible working arrangements and flexible benefit packages for every type of people. Examples include flexi-time, job-sharing, working from home, time off in lieu and breaks from work ( 2002). Employees and employers benefit from being happier at home and at work at the same time. This initiative can be useful not only to employers but most especially to women employees or managers. There are many benefits for employers from a well organised work life balance, plan that have been observed the last few years. Some of them that are obviously not the same easy to achieve as others that come easily, are listed below:
· The potential for increased service coverage if some employees arrive earlier and others stay later at their job place
· The possibility that telecommuting employees (especially those in
sales and service functions) may be closer to their customers'
offices, thereby reducing necessary travelling time
· Greater flexibility in employee schedules may help meet customer
demand more profitably for companies.
· Increased employee commitment, satisfaction and resiliency that
will give the business a better customer service value.
· More effective workload management, reduced interruptions and
distractions in the workday.
· Increased capacity to meet work targets and make customer needs
their top priority and so on the business successful.
Of course on the other side there are benefits for the employees especially women managers or employees as well. The most obvious benefit is that each person, especially women who have their family will have some free time to spend wherever they want, doing whatever they want. Some other more specific benefits are listed below:
· Greater responsibility and a sense of ownership at their
workplace.
· Better relations and communication with the management specifically for women employees.
· Improved self-esteem, health, concentration and confidence so as women will be more competitive in the workplace.
· Loyalty and commitment to the company or person they work for.
· Not bringing problems at home to work, and vice versa, specifically for women who have responsibilities on their families.
· The time to focus more on life outside work.
· Greater control of their working lives.
In the last year the British prime minister and the government decided
to change the legislation about the work life balance. They want to
give people the opportunity to work to live and not live to work, as
they say. So they have changed the previous legislation in a few ways,
so it is more flexible to the public. The changes include the enhancement of maternity rights which is really needed by women. The existing maternity rights are being changed to extend the period of maternity leave and pay and to
increase the rate of maternity pay. Women whose expected week of childbirth begins on or after 6 April 2003 will benefit from the new maternity leave and pay rights. The changes also include the rights to parental leave and time off for dependants. Employees, specifically women who have completed one year's service with their employers are already entitled to 13 weeks' (unpaid) parental leave to care for their child. All employees are also entitled to take a reasonable amount of (unpaid) time off work to deal with an emergency or unexpected situation involving a dependant.
Conclusion
Most of the institutions nowadays see the potentials of women as part of the workplace. However, there are still some who do not believe in the capabilities of women and reject them to hold a senior management position. Analysis shows that women in hospitality industries are not given the opportunity to hold senior management positions because of two reasons, first is related to women behaviours and the second one is the discrimination against women in the workplace. Aside from these reasons, it also shows that most employers of hospitality industry do not let women become a part of the senior management because of the worry that women may not be able to do their responsibilities effectively because of their other responsibilities for their families at home.
With these concerns, the government of UK has been able to initiate some changes to adhere to the needs of equal labour and chanced for promotion for women. Hence, the work/life balance had been enhanced to make sure that women will be able to do their job effectively. As discussed, this initiative has significant advantages or benefits not only for the employers but also to the women employees.
Generally, with this generation of having equal rights among men and women, the management of hospitality industries must be able to see the potential of women to handle executive positions and not merely as a second dominant gender from men.
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