A woman's place in hotel management: upstairs or downstairs?

What is it about?

The purpose of this paper is to ask whether it is the notion of choice (a pro‐life work/life balance decision) that influences woman's desire to strive for promotion within a hotel organisation or is the choice made for female managers by a system of organisational processes. T Findings – The interviews revealed that the perception of glass ceiling barriers faced by women differed depending on where they were in their career cycle. They were revealed as the “long hours” culture, the old boy's network, hiring practices and geographical mobility. These significantly influenced women's work‐life balance, and personal‐life choices. Research limitations/implications – Interviews were carried out in three locations across a variety of job positions; therefore, this study has a reasonable degree of validity. Findings could be applied to other large hotel enterprises in Australia and New Zealand.

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Why is it important?

This unique (due to the researchers access) research within an international hotel group in Australia and New Zealand explored what barriers prevent women from reaching the top echelons in hotel management. A qualitative approach used semi‐structured interviews to study the intersection of gender, age and time in life with career progression and their combined impact on the glass ceiling phenomenon.