Occupational Segregations by Gender in the Hospitality Industry: The Case of a Luxury Hotel.

Abstract

This paper explores the different patterns of occupational segregation by gender in a luxury hotel in the UK. The purpose of the paper is to present the challenges hotels face by neglecting female talent. A mixed-method approach was used for this paper, with in-depth interviews conducted in a luxury hotel in London triangulated with secondary data. The findings suggest that women were prevalent at low level jobs and underrepresented in management. They were more likely to be found on casual-hour contracts and dominated departments such as sales, marketing, and HR. The HR managers were largely unaware of the way in which occupational segregation by gender was manifested within their business, despite the evidence of diversity management strategies. This paper provides some HRM practices to address gender occupational segregation in the luxury hotel sector.