Gender Inequality In The Hospitality Industry

Section 1: Introduction

Sustainability has become one of the main factors in the hospitality industry, with the focus on the evaluations of renewable and nonrenewable resources. Businesses are thus looking at sustainable goals in order to insure a secure increase in profit for the future. Furthermore, sustainable development focuses on satisfying the current needs without compromising and depriving future generations of any resources (Brundtland, 1994). From a management standpoint, there are three categories for sustainability named the triple bottom line used as an aim for indefinite sustainability. These include: Social, economic, and environmental, which need to be in balance (Russo, 2008). This report will focus on social sustainability,

One of the biggest issues that the hospitality industry faces due to gender inequality and discrimination is shortage of workers (Morgan Jr., 1982). Morgan Jr. states that the inequalities which exist in the areas of wages between different sexes showcases a negative image of the industry, reflecting in the shortage of workers. Improvements in the balance of genders in hospitality may result in “higher profits for employing organisations” along with other benefits, like “compliance of moral duties” (Morgan Jr., 1982). As mentioned above, there are a couple of factors which influence the shortage of women in the hospitality industry, one of which is pay difference (England, 2005). Seeing how Morgan Jr. conducted his research in 1982, in comparison, the same problems can be found today when looking at Brownell et al research. The only difference is that there are more female employees today. Brownell and Walsh looked at women in management positions in hospitality industries and found that in 2008 women comprised 47% of management, however, they only held 12% of corporate level positions (Brownell et al, 2008). From these 12%, women only obtained 5% of top management jobs and “half of 1% of the highest positions in corporations” (Aguinis and adams, 1998; Adler, 1999; Oakley 2000; Isaacson, 2002). Furthermore, women represented only 4% of top wage-earners (Applebaum et al, 2003). The imbalance

Like any other town or city, gender segregation exploits the huge gap between males and females, and shows the privileges and advantages that men have. Since Newcastle is a small town with a population 298,250 (UK population, 2017), gender inequality is much easier to notice, so it is harder for companies to get away with it. The situation between gender inequality in Newcastle is so severe that Laura Hill, a news reporter for Chronicle live, described it as “shameful”. These divisions between sexes do not only differ when it comes to job occupations but also from education, health and even death. The irony of the situation is that females on average complete their GCSEs with better scores and consequently are more likely to go to University. However, once they graduate from University, and apply for a job, they receive smaller salaries. This pay gap between genders is found to be 2.78 pounds an hour (Chronicle live, 2017). This numerically shows the greater worth that men have in Newcastle’s society due to deranged social