Gender issues in career opportunities for people in managerial positions in 5 star hotels in Malta

Abstract

Over the last years, the number of women in employment has increased, yet men still dominate top management posts in many organisations. This qualitative study examines the gender opportunities for men and women in managerial positions in 5 star hotels in Malta. It builds upon Joan Acker's Theory of Gendered Organisations (1990) which claims that organisations are not gender neutral but are built around male norms and male values. As a result many assume that the ideal worker is a male who does not have caring roles. On the other hand, women who often take responsibility of the family duties and unpaid house work do not seem to fit in the ideal worker template. In order to see if management in five star hotels hold these gendered stereotypes, six interviews were carried out with managers working in Human Resources. Of these four were female and two were males. My interview questions were structured in a way that enabled me to examine whether work in the Tourism Sector, which is considered as a 'greedy industry', disadvantages working mothers who are aspiring to reach the top posts. The results showed that gender stereotypes still prevails and women are still associated with the non-remunerated work at home. This is likely to impact working mothers more negatively than it does to working dads. Hence, in line with Acker's Theory (1990) the results showed that organisations are still not gender neutral.