Women at The Top of Tourism Organizations: Views From The Glass Roof

Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism
ISSN: 1533-2845 (Print) 1533-2853 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/whrh20
Women at the top of tourism organizations: Views

from the glass roof
Inês Carvalho, Carlos Costa, Nina Lykke, Anália Torres & Anna Wahl
To cite this article: Inês Carvalho, Carlos Costa, Nina Lykke, Anália Torres & Anna Wahl (2018):
Women at the top of tourism organizations: Views from the glass roof, Journal of Human Resources
in Hospitality & Tourism, DOI: 10.1080/15332845.2018.1449551
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2018.1449551
Published online: 16 Apr 2018.
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JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN HOSPITALITY & TOURISM
https://doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2018.1449551
Women at the top of tourism organizations: Views from

the glass roof
In^
es Carvalhoa, Carlos Costab, Nina Lykkec, Analia Torresd, and Anna Wahle
a
School of Tourism and Hospitality, Universidade Europeia, Lisbon, Portugal; bDepartment of Economics,
Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; cUnit of Gender
Studies, Department of Thematic Studies, Link€oping University, Link€oping, Sweden; dHigher Institute for
Social and Political Sciences of the Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; eDepartment of
Industrial Economics and Management, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Tourism is a predominantly a female economic activity. Women top managers;
However, it is still men who prevail at the top. Studies on gendering processes; hotels;
women as managers usually focus on the “glass ceiling,” i.e., the travel agencies; Portugal
invisible barriers that hamper qualified women from reaching
high-level positions. Hence, by leaving women who are “above
the glass ceiling” unanalyzed, it is implicitly assumed by
researchers that these women are in a position where gender is
no longer an issue.
To counteract this tendency, this exploratory study focuses on
women top-level managers in tourism organizations. It aims to
analyze how these women perceive the influence of gendering
processes and gender power relations on their own careers and
on women’s careers in general in the field. It uses a feminist and
qualitative methodological approach.
The interviewees acknowledge how gender power relations
and persisting gendering processes still affect them, even if they
have reached a top position. It is concluded that there are
lingering gender issues “above the glass ceiling,” and not only
on the way to the top. Reaching a top-level management
position does not remove the issue of gender from women’s
professional lives.
Introduction
Women are the majority of tourism graduates and the majority of the tourism
labor force in Portugal. However, like in most other economic sectors, women are
underrepresented in top-management positions in the tourism field. In fact, the
tourism sector, namely at the management level, presents specific characteristics
that work as an impediment to women’s career progression. Long working hours,
demands for geographical mobility, and a persisting male corporate culture are
CONTACT Inês Carvalho ines.carvalho@universidadeeuropeia.pt Universidade Europeia, Rua Laura Ayres,

n 4 1600-510 Lisboa – Portugal.
© 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 I. CARVALHO ET AL.
some of the most important pillars that support the “glass ceiling” that hinders
women’s careers in the sector.
The “glass ceiling” metaphor is widely used in literature on gender and manage-
ment, namely to talk about women’s poor representation in higher-level positions.
It refers to invisible barriers that qualified individuals (e.g., women, ethnic minori-
ties) are faced with, which hamper their progression to higher-level positions,
namely senior and executive management positions (Cotter, Hermsen, Ovadia, &
Vanneman, 2001; Esteban, 2004; Zhong & Couch, 2007). However, many of these
invisible barriers are also felt by women above the “glass ceiling,” as will be ana-
lyzed in this study. Therefore, their situation should not be regarded as
unproblematic.
This research focuses on women above the glass ceiling in hotels and travel
agencies in Portugal. It aims to analyze how these women perceive the influence of
gender power relations and gendering processes on their careers, as well as on
other women’s careers in the field.
The study begins with an analysis of how management positions are still gen-
dered. Despite being seemingly gender-neutral, these positions tend to reflect the
male norm (Wahl, 1998), which shows how organizations are still shaped by gen-
der power relations. Then, it is analyzed how organizational structures and organi-
zational culture reinforce each other to limit women’s representation at the top
(Kanter, 1977; Wahl, 2011). These processes are also underpinned by structures
outside the organization. However, some authors claim that having more women
at the top can challenge the continuous reproduction of patterns of male domina-
tion. The last section of the literature review provides a brief contextualization of
the research topic in the Portuguese setting.
A feminist and qualitative methodological approach is adopted, based on six
exploratory interviews with women in top positions in tourism organizations. It is
analyzed how women account for their career advancement, namely which indi-
vidual characteristics and structural conditions they consider more relevant for
this process. In addition, women’s perspectives on the characteristics of tourism
organizations and the tourism field are investigated. Do tourism organizations
challenge or reinforce gender inequality? The purpose of this research is thus to
analyze how these women perceive the influence of gender power relations and
gendering processes on their careers and on women’s careers in the field.
The main objectives of this study are the following:
To analyze how women account for their career advancement, namely the
influence of individual characteristics as well as structural conditions;
To examine how these women perceive the impact of gender on tourism
careers;
To evaluate the suitability of the “glass ceiling” metaphor to the explanation
of women top-level managers’ careers in the tourism sector; and
To investigate if tourism organizations challenge or reinforce gender
inequalities.
JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN HOSPITALITY & TOURISM 3
Literature review
Women as managers and leaders
Women tend to fill lower positions in the organizational hierarchy. Even female
executives are more likely than their male counterparts to hold staff positions
rather than the line positions that lead to senior-level positions (Catalyst, 2006;
Galinsky et al., 2003). They are also more likely to fill token positions, so as to be
shown off as the “living proof” of gender equality (Benschop & Doorewaard, 1998).
Gender power relations are major attributes in most organizations (Hearn,
2000; Hearn & Parkin, 2003). Organizational progress has been shaped by men –
whether as entrepreneurs, innovators, leaders, managers, or workers (Collinson &
Hearn, 2005). Organizations are influenced by constant gendering processes, i.e.,
formal and informal practices and policies that seem to be “gender-neutral” at the
surface level, but that affect men and women differently (Hearn, 2000). Thus, gen-
der inequality still prevails in organizational practices, despite a dominant percep-
tion of equality (Benschop & Doorewaard, 1998). For Hearn (2000, p. 617),
gendering processes entail “everyday interactions that enact patterns of dominance
and submission between men and women, and the ways people internalize and act
out gender identities.” Therefore organizations are gendered, be it in terms of man-
agement, hierarchies, divisions of labor, or sexuality (Hearn, 2000).
Although leadership is usually defined from a gender-blind or gender-neutral
perspective, i.e., as if gender was irrelevant for its definition, several scholars nowa-
days agree that the typical notion of leadership mirrors the male norm (Ellemers,
Rink, Derks, & Ryan, 2012; Regine & Lewin, 2003; Wahl, 1998; Yoder, 2001). For
Collinson and Hearn (as cited in Wahl, 1998), this is a way of rendering male dom-
inance among executives self-evident and unproblematic.
Wahl (1998) noted that women perceive a conflict between being business-like
and being women. This can be seen in the fact that, in order to preserve their cred-
ibility as managers, women try to balance between feminine and masculine expres-
sions in their clothing, language and behavior (Wahl, 1998). Women need gender-
neutrality to look business-like. While women’s sexual identity does not reinforce
their power within the organization, male leadership and male gender identity con-
firm and boost each other, and male power is thus reinforced in a number of ways
(Wahl, 1998).
Management positions tend to require long working hours – often 60 hour work
weeks – thus usually demanding “total devotion” as a sign of loyalty (Wahl, 2011).
Collinson and Hearn (1994) mentioned that “home” is often regarded as hindering
“proper” work, while it is in fact women’s labor at home that enables men to have
availability for management positions.
The organization often requires evidences of commitment, such as “distancing”
strategies from family responsibilities. However, such pressures “reinforce gender
stresses within the families” (Collinson & Hearn, 2005, p. 297). In the case of
women, this issue often raises doubts about their “suitability” for management
positions, even if they are not married, since they “could get married and leave”
(Wahl, 2011, p. 195).
Male and female managers inhabit different worlds (Hearn, Jyrkinen,
Piekkari, & Oinonen, 2008). For example, having a family has different conse-
quences for male and female leaders. According to Rosener (as cited in Wahl,
1998), an executive is expected to have a big family but not to spend too
much time with it. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see top male executives
having more children than the average man. Having a big family reinforces
the image of stability, while at the same time proving a man’s virility and sex-
ual activity (Lindqvist; Holgersson as cited in Wahl, 1998). However, female
leaders and managers are not expected to spend less time with their families,
despite their high level and time-demanding positions. This results in personal
sacrifices made in pursuit of career success and exacerbated challenges to
advance to upper-level positions (Moore & Wen, 2009).
Transnational business can exacerbate traditional gender divisions among men
and women managers (Hearn et al., 2008). Hearn et al. (2008) noticed that while
in the case of male transnational managers, it would be common to see their wives
as “volunteering themselves” to give up their careers and move with their hus-
bands, in the case of female managers, it was more common to observe that
women would commute between countries because they had a husband and a fam-
ily “back home.”
Jordan (1997) concluded that informal recruitment systems, allegedly based on
meritocracy, reproduce segregation. One of her female interviewees stated that
tourism “is still a male-dominated industry. It isn’t women who stop; it is still men
who assess potential, and that’s why women don’t get as far as they could” (Jordan,
1997, p. 530). For Lindgren (1996, as cited in Wahl, 1998), men tend to choose
other men, rather than actively reject women. Benschop and Doorewaard (1998)
also examined how men are more asked than women to fill in higher positions,
given that women are not expected to match the profile.
According to Meyerson and Fletcher (2000), it is not the “glass ceiling” that is
holding women back, but the whole structure of the organizations where they
work. Women face barriers to advancement not only above them but also all
around them. The glass ceiling metaphor also fails to problematize systemic and
subtle forms of discrimination that still prevail, and that affect even those women
who have already made it to the top.
Discrimination is not only direct and personal, but it can also be seen as indirect
and structural. While direct discrimination can usually be related to a specific situ-
ation or even a specific person, indirect discrimination is related with conditions
and a different treatment in general, without it being possible to pinpoint a specific
situation or person (Wahl, 1992). It can be related with a demand for long working
hours, impossibility of taking career breaks, or work patterns that are adequate for
most men but are discriminating for women (Fogarty, Allen & Walters, 1981, as
cited in Wahl, 1992).
Gender, organizational structure, and organizational culture

Wahl (1992) claimed that many of the “women in management” studies focus
on the individual level, instead of addressing organizational and societal struc-
tures. Such studies ask questions such as “what are the characteristics of
female leaders?,” “what is their background?,” or “how “feminine” are they?.”
However, these studies which have a liberal feminist perspective fail to
acknowledge the wider conditions that women face in the society and in the
organization. Even though individual factors for success are important, it is
crucial to analyze the structures and characteristics of the tourism sector, as
well as the unfolding gendering processes. Hence, Wahl (1992) highlights the
importance of looking at gender structures in organizations. She defines gen-
der structures based on three pillars: (i) distribution of men and women in
the organization; (ii) degree of gender segregation of tasks, occupations, and
positions; and (iii) gender hierarchical segregation, degree of influence, and
power. Differences in each of these pillars can help to explain why gender has
a different meaning in different organizations.
Unlike men, women are conscious of the way gendered structures in organiza-
tions influence their career advancement. Men fail to see such gendered structures,
and believe that the reason for women’s low representation in management is
related with them lacking certain qualities and experiences that are natural in man-
agement (Wahl, 1998).
Several other authors have pointed out the importance of organizational
structures and how these are intertwined with the organizational culture and
gender inequality. Kanter (1977) made a structural and cultural analysis of
gender in organizations in what is one of the most cited articles in the field of
gender, organizations, and management. Kanter sees one’s limits not so much
rooted in the person, but rather as structural and situational (Wahl, 2011).
Kanter points to the importance of numbers in organizations. Who is the
majority? Who is in the minority? The distribution of men and women influ-
ences their interaction context (Wahl, 2011). However, it is important to
acknowledge that gendering processes do not depend exclusively on structures,
but also on power relations (Wahl, 2011).
Wahl (2001) noted that when women are in a minority position, they are
described as lacking leadership qualities. Consequently, the more closed the circle
is, the more women’s “inability” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (Wahl, 2011).
However, when there are more women in the management group, women’s com-
petences are reinforced as legitimate. The gender distribution in the management
group thus impacts gender relations.
As a result, Hearn (2010) underlined the importance of having a critical mass of
women to break the cycle of homosocial reproduction and cultural cloning.
Indeed, “most organizations are saturated with masculine values” (Burton, 1991,
as cited in Collinson & Hearn, 2005). The masculine model of lifetime, full-time,
and continuous employment is still central and assumed as the norm (Collinson &
Hearn, 2005). Gibblings (as cited in Collinson & Hearn, 2005) contended that the
color and style of shirts, braces, shoes, and socks, the size and pattern of ties can
symbolize and embody meanings that may reflect and reinforce the hegemony of
men in the organization. Men’s position of power is thus reinforced by both the
economic and symbolic benefits that employment provides (Collinson & Hearn,
2005).
A brief overview of gender, tourism, and organizations in Portugal

Portugal has a high rate of female participation in the labor market (63.1%), partic-
ularly in terms of full-time employment (Eurostat, 2013). In fact, only 16.8% of the
Portuguese female workers are employed part-time, as compared to 32.6% at the
EU level, 32% in Iceland, and 42.2% in Norway, which are the countries with the
highest female employment rates (Eurostat, 2013). However, while in some coun-
tries the higher participation of women in the labor market was a result of the crea-
tion of structures in the society that enable this (e.g., childcare facilities), in the
Portuguese case women’s participation in employment is to a great extent a result
of the necessity of having two salaries in the family in order to live decently
(Torres, 2006).
Concerning the tourism sector, it has been pointed out as an important leverage
for the Portuguese economy. It contributes to 15.9% of the Portuguese Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) and is responsible for 20.7% of the employment created,
if direct and indirect effects via the supply chain of travel and tourism spending
are taken into account (WTTC, 2013).
However, it is a low-skilled, low-wage and highly feminized industry in Portugal
(Costa, Carvalho, & Breda, 2011; L. D. Santos & Varej~ao, 2007). According to offi-
cial statistical data from the Portuguese Office of Strategy and Studies, women are
consistently paid lower salaries both in the tourism sector and in the economy as a
whole, regardless of their comparatively higher levels of education or qualification.
On average, women earn 25.6% less than men in the accommodation sector and
13.2% less in travel agencies and tour operators. It is among workers with a higher
education degree (Licenciatura) that the gender pay gap is widest, both in the travel
(38.2%) and in the accommodation sector (41%). Women’s lower representation in
decision-making positions, i.e., as managers or executives, is also remarkable in all
the sectors analyzed: 30.3% in the economy as a whole; 37.6% in accommodation
services; and 35.8% in travel agencies and tour operators. However, if the percen-
tages within sex are analyzed, the gap is widest in travel agencies and tour opera-
tors, where only 7.3% of women fill such positions, as compared to 22.5% of men.
It is also among those in highest positions that the gender pay gap is widest, since
female managers’ salaries are about 30% below than those of male managers. Thus,
even those women who have managed to reach the top seem to have less favorable
situations than their male counterparts.
Methodology
Data construction and interpretation
In this research, interviewing was regarded as a way of “constructing” rather than
“collecting” knowledge (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). Therefore, the interviews car-
ried out were in-depth and semi-structured, focusing on themes, rather than on
standard structured questions. The aim was to analyze how the interviewees make
sense of their experiences, since “the important reality is what the people perceive
it to be” (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, p. 26).
Interviews were carried out through Skype or phone and lasted between 45 and
100 minutes, approximately. They were then coded and analyzed with the support
of NVivo 10. The main topics approached in the semi-structured interviews are
listed below:
Career path: key moments, obstacles, and facilitators;
Relevance of tourism higher education for the career;
Organizational structure and culture in current and previous companies;
Experience and observation of gendered discrimination: overt discrimination
and hidden discrimination (e.g., lack of visibility, exclusion, different treat-
ment, etc.);
Role of sexuality in the workplace;
Work-family balance and clash;
Career and personal goals;
Characteristics of employment in the tourism sector and specific advantages/
disadvantages that the tourism field poses to women; and
What could be changed so that the tourism sector becomes more gender
equal.
Research participants
The interview partners were women who fill top-level positions in hotels and travel
agencies, encompassing organizations with very different dimensions. They were
selected through a combined, purposeful, and snowball sampling. Although this is
not a representative sample of the population, “any case will necessarily bear the
traces of the universal”; therefore, “to study the particular is to study the general”
(Denzin & Lincoln, 2011, p. 245). The interviewees’ accounts remained anony-
mous in order to protect their true identities.
In order to choose the research participants for this study, a very brief question-
naire was sent to all travel agencies, tour operators, and accommodation businesses
included in the National Tourism Registry.1 In the questionnaire, respondents
were asked whether the highest-ranking manager of their organization was a man
or a woman, whether there were women in middle management, how many
1
https://rnt.turismodeportugal.pt/RNT/ConsultaAoRegisto.aspx
employees the organization had, and if they could provide the contact details of a
female manager who might be available to participate in the research
The link for the questionnaire was sent by e-mail. The database with the
answers contained 241 answers from the travel sector, and 398 answers from the
accommodation sector. The low response rate was not problematic, since the only
aim of this short survey was to obtain the contacts of potential research partici-
pants with the characteristics desired. Tables 1 and 2 provide a brief presentation
of the interviewees.
Findings and results: Views from above the glass ceiling

The women interviewed in this study have broken the “glass ceiling.” How is the
view from the top of the roof? Women’s accounts of how they reached top posi-
tions are presented, as well as their perspectives on gender and management. It is
then analyzed how these women perceive the influence of gendering processes on
their careers and on women’s careers in the field. The demands of work-family bal-
ance in the tourism sector are investigated from the interviewees’ accounts. The
way sexuality reinforces gender power relations is also explored, as well as the dis-
criminatory situations at work identified by the research participants. The last sec-
tion is focused on interviewees’ considerations concerning the positive and
negative aspects of the tourism field in terms of gender equality.
Breaking the glass ceiling and sitting on the glass roof

All the women interviewed have managed to break the glass ceiling. Different
names were used to identify them. The women interviewed mention several factors
that contributed to their career advancement and “survival” at the top. In terms of
individual characteristics, they stress the importance of being hard-working, deter-
mined, and rigorous, as well as creative, positive, adventurous, motivated, and pas-
sionate. Availability, commitment, ambition, self-confidence, and willingness to
learn and be mobile are important characteristics too. They are also aware of the
importance of their know-how and skills. Teresa highlighted that for her it is
essential to have well-defined and measurable targets.
These women consider that it is important to take risks, be adventurous, and
accept challenges to maintain the passion and skip monotony. Being adventurous
seems to have been crucial for some of these interviewees’ career progression, who
took the following risks: moving to lower paid, but more challenging positions; giv-
ing up a management position to pursue higher education studies; and quitting
from a high and successful position to become the manager of a much smaller
unit, which then turned out to be a huge success.
The interviewees also mention education as crucial for their career advance-
ment. All of them have at least one degree in the tourism field, except Paula, who
has a degree and a regular job in a different area. She is also the interviewee that
Table 1. Interviewees (Travel agencies).
Name (fictious) Current position No. of workers Organizational structure Age Marital status Children
A Maria CEO/ Owner (travel agency C network of travel agencies) 0–4 both) 100% women 40–49 Divorced 1 (age below than 10)
B Paula CEO/ Owner 5–9 50% men and 50% 50–59 Married 2 (adults)
women at all hierarchical levels
C Natalia CEO/ Owner 10–20 100% women 50–59 Single 0
Source: developed by the author.

JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN HOSPITALITY & TOURISM
9
10
I. CARVALHO ET AL.
Table 2. Interviewees (hotel sector).

Name
(fictious) Current position No. of workers Organizational structure Age Marital status Children
D Teresa Hotel manager (independent 50–99 Hotel: 100% of managers are 50–59 Single 0
hotel) women; slightly more female
than male employees in
lower levels; administrators
are men
E Luısa Hotel manager (hotel chain) More than 250 Similar proportion of men and 30–39 Single 0
women, but strong
horizontal segregation;
administrators of the chain
are men
F Raquel Sales Manager (but manages 10-49 Similar proportion of men and 20–29 Single 0
the whole unit) women, but strong
horizontal segregation;
administrators of the group
are men
Source: developed by the author.

values formal education in tourism the least. Half of the interviewees have post-
graduate studies, and are currently pursuing further master, MBA, and doctoral
programs. While the interviewees value the skills obtained with these degrees, they
derive many other advantages from having a higher education degree: they
increase their credibility and status, as well as gain opportunities for enlarging the
network of contacts with colleagues that also work in the field. Having a degree is
particularly important for first impression management. Maria also highlights that
women need degrees much more than men, since men’s credibility does not
depend on that. Most of the interviewees also mention the importance of creating
a wide network of contacts.
Besides pinpointing individual characteristics and coping strategies, the female
managers interviewed mention the importance of the characteristics and structures
of the organizations, which helped them “break the glass ceiling.” The majority of
the interviewees contend that having had their potential and work acknowledged
by their bosses and supervisors was a very important factor for their career
advancement. Others had their work recognized by managers from outside their
companies who directly approached them to offer them a position. Particularly
one of the interviewees mentions how she was offered “good promotions” several
times, how she was placed in management development programs and challenged
to develop large-scale projects. She believes that it was essential for her career to
have been raised outside Portugal and to move to several other countries, mostly
because she considers that she would not have had the same opportunities in Por-
tugal. She had better conditions and faced less discrimination abroad.
Most of these women claim that women “by no means” have the same opportu-
nities and chances as men. Luısa now acknowledges that at beginning she uncon-
sciously adopted a stricter and authoritarian approach, since she was in a male-
dominated environment in which she had to struggle to be heard. Other interview-
ees adopted similar strategies. According to Maria, women are still undervalued:
Men think that those [top] positions have to be filled someone with immense availability,
someone with x competences and experiences and this and that… and they sometimes
underestimate our ability, which is much bigger, of intuition, of sixth sense.
The following sections reflect interviewees’ perspectives on several gendered
aspects of their experiences in the tourism field.
Business demands and family life

Almost all the women interviewed consider that both the hotel and the travel sec-
tors demand long working hours and high levels of commitment. Showing avail-
ability and flexibility seems to be a precondition to fill most of the positions in the
field. This implies different consequences for men and women, since men with
children are more available than women in the same situation. Thus, they point
out that employers tend to prefer men, since they don’t have to “go and pick the
kids from school at 5 pm.” For Teresa, “that is an inconvenience for the hotel sec-
tor, since it is not a 9 to 5 sector.”
Male managers do not have to worry about their children – their wives are tak-
ing good care of them. Thus, male managers’ family life is often not visible in the
organization. In fact, Luısa realized at some point that she did not know whether
her male manager colleagues had children or not, whereas in the case of her female
colleagues, their family situation was quite visible. This “visibility” or “invisibility”
shows how having a family is an issue in the case of women, while men are
regarded as “familyless,” even if they, more often than women managers, are mar-
ried and have children.
This difference between the experiences of male and female managers is exacer-
bated in transnational business. One of the interviewees describes how male man-
agers can live within the hotel property and have their wives taking care of their
children. Thus, they have all the time and emotional availability for their job, while
female managers are expected to dedicate more time to the household and the
children:
Most of the times a man is costlier for a hotel establishment than a woman, because in the
contract of a man, it is acceptable that his wife is aggregated, and the children, and some
school costs, maybe it’s not practiced in Portugal yet, but it’s a common practice abroad
[…] On the contrary, women are not allowed to bring […] or incorporate expenses
related with the husband or with the husband’s or children’s plane tickets so that they
move with her.
This confirms the claim of Hearn et al. (2008) that involvement in transnational
business has different consequences for women and men.
Most of the interviewees are critical of the “long working hours and total devotion”
career model, while simultaneously acknowledging the high demands of the sector,
namely of their positions, which imply great availability and commitment. Luısa com-
plains about how the long-hours culture is deeply ingrained in her organization.
Although she acknowledges the importance of availability in the hotel sector, she con-
siders that such a requirement for physical presence in the workplace is unreasonable.
The majority of informants are against the practice of working extra hours just for
impressing supervisors. Hence, they are supportive of arrangements such as taking
weekly rest days, working on a fixed work schedule, or closing the office when the client
foreign markets have a holiday and have their offices closed. However, they recognize
the importance of working longer hours when necessary and expect this availability
from their employees. Due the existence of seasonal flows in work volume, Paula devel-
oped a system of “bank” of hours at her travel agency, which means that overtime work
is compensated in periods of less demand.
Whether work-related travel is regarded or not as a barrier seems to depend on
one’s family situation. Consequently, childless interviewees mention much less
strain concerning these travels. Paula even considers that her employees, who do
not have children, regard work-related travels as an opportunity. All of the
research participants have relatively frequent business travel requirements.
However, this need has decreased for some of the interviewees, due to good team
organization or to having reached a position which demands less travelling, e.g.,
for fairs.
Maria, the only interviewee with a young child, is the one who reports more
strain regarding work-related travel. However, she emphasizes that being available
to travel is very important in all hierarchical positions in the tourism field, as the
following statement reveals: “if you’re not willing, not flexible or not able to travel,
you’re not going anywhere… you don’t have these things near home.” She empha-
sizes the importance of scrupulous time management in order to balance all the
work and family-related demands. Work-related travelling also requires increased
organization and communication between the couple, and in some cases she men-
tions that support with child-rearing is required from grandparents. Nonetheless,
she refrains from claiming that there is a clash between work and family, because
she is passionate about her work and it fulfills her. However, Maria believes that
some women still prefer not to advance to top-level positions, since the accumula-
tion of the manager and the mother role lead to a double workload.
Both Paula and Luısa maintain that there is a more equal split of household and
childcare responsibilities between men and women nowadays, although full equal-
ity has not been achieved yet. Luısa believes that although management is still not
100% compatible with motherhood, both spheres can be more easily balanced
than in the past. She states: “I want to believe that not having children does not
need to be a strategy to reach a top position anymore.” However, two respondents
admit not having had children due to their professional ambition.
Two interviewees mention coping strategies to balance work and family, such as
hiring a fulltime housekeeper, arranging child-rearing solutions with other family
members before business travels, or having improved time management skills.
Still, Teresa considers that there is a male advantage in this field, because
women “prefer to go home and stay with the children” rather than invest in net-
working by attending social events. She also considers that women should be
taught time management, since “women are not very well structured or organized.”
However, she recognizes that conditions for balancing work and family lives in the
hotel sector in Portugal are bad, and she sees this strain among other female man-
agers. She concludes that the conditions of the sector have only improved for the
client, but not for the person who works in the hotel business. She mentions that a
best practice would be to have a kindergarten to support women with children.
Likewise, Paula thinks that the association of travel agencies should also be con-
cerned with social issues and not only with defending corporate interests. An
important measure that she suggests is the creation of leisure centers for children,
so that workers with irregular schedules or atypical working hours would have a
place to leave their children when childcare facilities are closed.
Teresa also mentions that many of the employees that have a background in
hospitality education leave the sector when they get married. She takes as example
the position of food and beverage manager, which demands work during meal
times and holidays:
A woman married and with children, what does she do? […] how is this going to justify
to her employers that, ‘all right, my employees are here, but I’m not, because I’m married,
I have children, I need Christmas, I need Easter, I need New Year’s Eve, I need this, I
need that…She cannot justify [it] […] because she doesn’t have the conditions.
Hence, the research participants provide a picture of the tourism sector as an

industry that requires immense availability and thus puts a lot of strain on women
who still bear the double burden of balancing work and family lives. Hence, they
can only hope for a career if they opt not to raise a family or if they can count with
external support.
Sexuality and the reinforcement of gender

Sexuality in organizations has been considered as a relevant topic when studying
gender power relations in organizations. The tourism phenomenon is often con-
nected both with the sexual exploitation of women (Yea, 2005) and with prostitu-
tion as a means of survival in developing countries (Toro-Morn, Roschelle, &
Facio, 2002). Moreover, the imagery of tourism promotion very often relies on sex-
ualized language and imagery that privilege the male, heterosexual gaze (Pritchard
& Morgan, 2000), particularly in connection with colonialism and North-South
relations (Hoivik & Heiberg; Nash; de Kadt as cited in Kinnaird & Hall, 1996).
Hearn and Parkin (2003) highlight the interrelation between sexuality, organiza-
tions, and violence, as well as the centrality of sexuality in the reproduction of
patriarchy (Hearn & Parkin, 2003). Therefore, the purpose of this section is to
explore the perspective of women in relatively privileged positions regarding tour-
ism organizations and sexuality.
While some participants in the present study state that they do not notice the
role of sexuality in their work environment (Paula and Luısa), other interviewees
share a different perspective. They account for situations that range from looks
and gestures of a sexual nature to downright sexual abuse.
Hence, careful clothing choice and “the right attitude” are very important
according to the research participants. Maria considers that, unlike what is com-
monly believed, showing too much cleavage does not bring advantages. Although
men would not be disrespectful, the cleavage will often lead to distraction, indis-
creet looks, as well as shifting of the tone or the topic of the conversation. Some
men will exhibit their ties or their brand socks to the lady. This can leave a woman
in a weaker position during tough negotiations. Maria says she becomes unfocused
with such behaviors, which sparks her desire “to slap or kick” the other party.
Natalia thinks that sexual harassment is very common in the tourism sector,
particularly in social events, though not being exclusive of this sector. She men-
tions that some men “hit on all the girls” without measuring consequences. While
the consequences of these behaviors tend to be negative for women, namely in
terms of their “reputation,” they are positive in the case of men, since they boost
their egos.
One of the interviewees, who worked in a destination renowned for sex tourism,
reports that there were several, yet punctual, problems with some “VIP” guests,
who assumed that any woman would be willing to trade sex for money:
They knew they could do whatever they wanted, that they would leave the country with-
out any problems […] we couldn’t call the police […], but we could throw the guest out,
and that’s what we did.
Despite the safety and surveillance system of the hotel, she accounts for a
situation in which a woman was raped by a client. She thinks that nowadays
it would be possible to present a complaint and not let the perpetrator get
away with it.
It can be concluded that the interviewees do not view women’s bodies and the
display of their sexuality as a source of power. On the contrary, these aspects can
weaken their bargaining positions. These women’s accounts of sexualized interac-
tions in the workplace deconstruct the idea of women attaining goals and climbing
the career ladder for using their sex appeal. They try to distance themselves from
this stereotypical idea and highlight how this stereotype can actually work against
women. This confirms Wahl’s (1998) that women need gender-neutrality in order
to be regarded as competent and business-like, while male leadership confirms
male gender identity.
Invisibility, exclusion, discrimination

When the interviewees were asked about whether they had ever felt discriminated
at work on the basis of gender, most of them denied it. It was also observed in pre-
vious studies that women tend to downplay the role of discrimination, and to not
label situations of hidden discrimination as discrimination (Kantola, 2008; Wahl,
1992). In this investigation, research participants were more likely to acknowledge
discrimination in the industry than in their individual cases. While at first some of
the interviewees seem to deny the importance of gender, they recognize it more as
they reflect about this issue. For example, Luısa “wants to believe” that she has
never been excluded for being a woman, but her last statement on this topic has a
slightly unsure tone: “I have not felt [discriminated/excluded], but….”
Even if half of these women have never felt discriminated for being women, they
tend to think that it is easier for men to be in higher hierarchical positions. Some
research participants consider that men are preferred for traditionally male-domi-
nated positions such as management. From research participants’ discourses, it
was possible to identify three main aspects lying behind the preference for men for
management positions: (i) the assumption that women are less competent than
men; (ii) male homosocial ties and exclusionary practices; and (iii) the idea that
women are primarily mothers and that they cannot correspond to the image of the
“ideal” worker (Acker, 1990), since they are not unencumbered by family responsi-
bilities. All these aspects are well illustrated in the interviewees’ narratives.
First, women are still regarded as less competent than men for management
positions. Maria claims that she is often granted less credibility for being a woman,
especially when dealing with suppliers in some countries and at meetings with
other top managers. There is a lingering prejudice that many women only reach
top positions as a result of getting sexually involved with men in powerful posi-
tions. Maria is also affected by this prejudice until her credibility is acknowledged.
Therefore, she claims that while men gain credibility automatically, women have
to prove their competence. When she goes to other countries where it is very
unusual to find women in top positions, she is often considered the secretary and
is asked when Mr. Silva [her surname] arrives. Natalia also reports having had
problems with suppliers in the late 80s. They ignored her for being a woman and
refused to make contracts with her. She believes that such situations still exist now-
adays. As to Luısa, she felt that there was reluctance in dealing with a woman as a
top manager in the male-dominated organization she worked for previously.
Teresa does not consider having been discriminated and does not devote much
time to such thoughts. She advises women to always move forward “without think-
ing that they are women.” Teresa thinks that sometimes it is women who create
their own barriers, particularly in the way they unfold their emotions. However,
she recognizes that there is a tendency in the travel industry not to take women as
seriously as men, namely in Latin countries. When asked whether there is still a
preference for men as managers in Portugal, Teresa answers:
Oh, totally… If you call that discrimination, then I would say that, well, that’s what you
call discrimination, that’s a fact, that’s a fact.
One research participant claims that female managers tend to be paid less than
their male counterparts in Portugal. She mentions the case of a hotel where a
female manager replacing a male manager earned about 40% less than her former
colleague.
Second, male homosocial ties can also lead to male exclusionary practices. For
example, Luısa reports that the use of coarse words was frequent among her male
colleagues in the male-dominated company where she previously worked. There is
a different environment in the chain she now works for, since there are other
female managers besides her. Nonetheless, she considers that it is a male world.
Another example of the way male culture excludes women is Maria’s case.
Although other male managers treat her with politeness at the beginning of meet-
ings, after a while it is male conversations and male culture that prevail. She says
that before getting to the point of the meeting, men talk for a long time about the
weather, politics, soccer, cars, mobile phones, brands, ties, and watches. She needs
to use her “sixth sense” and adopt strategies to cope with this environment, such
as catching up with the latest news about soccer results beforehand; otherwise she
is excluded from the conversation and left in a vulnerable position from the begin-
ning of the session, which is then a great disadvantage during negotiations.
Third, women are also affected that they are primarily mothers and thus less
suitable for management than men. For example, Maria feels that some men indi-
rectly imply that she should be at home enjoying her son. Such implications are
almost always done unconsciously, and though the intention is not to detract her
or her competence, they reveal a lingering prejudice. Another interviewee’s
accounts of the organizational culture of the sector reinforce this idea:
If I could go back in time, and knowing what I know to do, and if I was reincarnated as a
woman and had to live in Portugal, and if my karma was to stay in Portugal and not
travel so much, I would not enter the hotel business [smiles ironically] because the hotel
business is hard for women in Portugal… because there are no conditions… it is really
hard. It is hard to find a job, because… the majority of those in the direction are men and
they don’t want women. They don’t want women when they are single, when they are
young, beautiful, brilliant, because they may get married and get pregnant. And they
don’t want them when they are already married, because they have to pick the children
from school. (…) and when I ask my [male] colleagues what is the advantage of having a
woman and of having a man, ‘oh, you can’t compare, women are annoying, and then
they must have children and they must… and if they don’t have them, then they have to
get pregnant, and we’re in the middle of a project, they get pregnant, then have problems
with the pregnancy, and then they’re not here’ and all those conflicts, so there isn’t much
respect for women in this sense.
“Pros” and “cons” of the tourism sector

In this section, it is analyzed to what extent tourism may challenge gendered pat-
terns of employment or reinforce them. Although the tourism sector has some pos-
itive aspects as compared to other sectors, most of the research participants believe
that the conditions in this sector are not “easy.”
According to the research participants, the tourism sector has several char-
acteristics that pose barriers to women’s advancement. Tourism, more often
than most other sectors, demands work in shifts, at night, at weekends, in
irregular schedules, during holidays, and in the periods in which children are
out of school, which increases the stress and tension of those who have a fam-
ily at home.
Concerning positive aspects, some interviewees highlight that at least the opera-
tional level is dominated by women, while in other areas men prevail at all levels.
Maria believes that the organizational culture in these areas is comparatively less
favorable to women, since men tend to use coarse language with greater frequency,
but have to modify their speech when a woman comes in. She stresses that this
sort of behavior is not observed in travel agencies, because most workers are
women.
Most interviewees consider that the existence of a majority of women is positive
for the organizational culture. For example, there is increased laughter during
lunch breaks or it is possible to talk about “stuff that men wouldn’t probably talk
about.” Natalia also describes how different the ambience in her offices is: pleasant
decoration, music playing, couches for people to seat while having a coffee, or the
existence of a kitchen.
In Natalia’s travel agency all the employees are women. When asked about why
there are no men employed in her business, she answers that there were male
employees in the past but that they did not stay there for a long time. She presents
the following justification:
The main reason is that men have very little ability to do many things at the same time,
and this is what happens in some cases… in other cases, only because they are men they
think they boss everyone around… and that this is the hencoop and that they are the
rooster [laughs].
Natalia illustrates this by giving the example of a former male employee who
refused to do “minor tasks” such as answering the phone or getting up from the
chair to open the door.
Luısa states that she has never dealt with situations of sexual harassment, but
that this might be due to the fact that there are many women working in the hotel.
This seems to be another sign of the way gender structures affect the organizational
culture.
Most of the interviewees feel the prevalence of the male culture at the industry
level but not so much within their own companies. However, one of the interview-
ees pointed out that in meetings at the top level it is common for men to smoke,
even in the presence of pregnant colleagues.
Discussion
The aim of this paper was to analyze how female top managers in tourism organizations
perceive the influence of gendering processes and gender power relations on their own
careers and the careers of other women in the sector. In order to answer this research
question, the objectives presented at the beginning of this article will be followed.
i. How do women account for their career advancement?
The interviewees recognized the importance of individual, situational, and
structural factors for reaching the top. They emphasized the importance of several
individual and personality characteristics, as well as the importance of being
adventurous and taking risks. They also considered that education played an
important role in their careers. Although they prioritized individual-related
aspects, they also acknowledged the importance of having had their work recog-
nized by supervisors, of being promoted, or of being invited from outside by their
organization for new and challenging projects. Nevertheless, their belief is that
women in general still do not have the same opportunities as men to reach the top
of organizations.
In terms of work-family balance, the women interviewed focused more on indi-
vidual-level or organizational-level solutions, rather than more structural solutions
or an equal split of tasks at home. Likewise, they did not question the male career
model or the abstract notion of the “ideal worker.” The measures proposed by
these women imply that more balanced lifestyles are only achievable by those who
can afford to outsource care tasks, or those who are employed in organizations
with such facilities. Women did not suggest structural solutions to reduce the con-
flict between work and family, or a more equal split of roles between partners at
home.
The female hotel managers in Hong Kong inquired by Ng and Pine (2003) also
tended to downplay the difficulties, and to favor personal strategies to overcome
them, instead of institutional ones. However, the women in the present study ques-
tioned some of the norms of management and leadership practices, even though
they ended up subscribing to them. Still, they revealed slightly greater gender-
awareness than the women studied by Ng and Pine.
i. How do the research participants perceive the genderedness of tourism
careers?
The idea that management requires distancing from home raises doubts about
women’s suitability as managers. Employers prefer men, who have less family
“obligations,” since they usually have a female spouse that performs such unpaid
work at home, as also observed in previous studies:
Organizations may appear to be neutral (…) but they are (…) usually premised on other,
often unpaid, unrecognized, invisible labour elsewhere – in the home, on families, in
other parts of the world, in ‘non-organizations’, by unknown others (Collinson & Hearn,
2005, p. 291).
Male managers’ family life is not visible for the organization, while in the case of
women their family situation seems to be crucial for their career progression – not
only their real, but also their potential family situation, since they might get preg-
nant and leave. Thus, it is not surprising that two of the interviewees admitted that
they did not have children because of their career ambition.
From the women’s accounts it can be concluded that their own sexuality weak-
ened them as managers and as “power sources.” The opposite is true in the case of
men, since sexual liaisons at work seem to boost their egos but ruin women’s repu-
tation. Wahl (1998) also concluded that women need gender neutrality in order to
be regarded as business-like and competent professionals. The power imbalance
resulting from sexuality is epitomized in the case of the young employee raped by
the “important” guest who was left unpunished.
While most of the women interviewed denied having been discriminated against
on the basis of gender, and at first they seemed not to recognize the importance of
gender, with the unfolding of the interview most women acknowledged that there
was gender-based discrimination in the sector and in the society as a whole. Some
of the interviewees seemed to “back off” with the word “discrimination,” but recog-
nized situations of unequal treatment or disrespect (“women are not taken seri-
ously”), as well as lack of visibility and credibility. It seems that women had some
reluctance to label indirect discrimination as discrimination, despite recognizing
its unfairness. Some studies have concluded that women, in particular women
managers, refrain from portraying themselves as “victims,” and tend to deny dis-
crimination and the importance of gender (Kantola, 2008; Wahl, 1992). However,
these studies unveiled how women’s discourses are marked by contradictions, since
they reveal situations that show how gender discrimination is still pervasive,
despite their initial denial of gender. Kantola (2008) concluded that it can be emo-
tionally and socially demanding for women to regard themselves as victims of dis-
crimination, which is a further reason why discrimination remains hidden.
It can be concluded that there are three main aspects that reinforce gender
power relations in the tourism sector, and which explain why men are preferred
for management positions: (i) the assumption that men are more competent than
women; (ii) male homosocial ties and exclusionary practices; and (iii) women not
corresponding to the image of the “ideal” unencumbered worker (Acker, 1990).
ii. Is the “glass ceiling” metaphor suitable to explain women top-level manag-
ers’ careers in the tourism sector?
The “glass ceiling” metaphor suggests the existence of obstacles to women’s
advancement that occur as a single barrier right below the top. Hence, it leaves the
situation of those women who are above the glass ceiling unproblematized.
However, being above the “glass ceiling” does not mean that one is in an
unproblematic position or that gender stops being an issue. Women who have
made it to the top are still affected by lingering systemic and subtle forms of dis-
crimination, as argued by Meyerson and Fletcher (2000). Some report having had
their authority defied, not having their orders obeyed and sometimes lacking credi-
bility. They have to struggle to be heard and be more authoritarian, and they are
affected by seemingly gender neutral demands, such as the requirement for “pre-
senteeism” and “total availability.” Even women who own their own business are
affected by indirect discrimination, as this study has shown. It seems that those
women who reached highest positions in larger organizations, and who have a
wider work experience at the macro level, are the ones who describe more gender
inequality in the tourism field.
In addition, the “glass ceiling” metaphor suggests the existence of someone who
intentionally discriminates against women and minorities, and ignores uninten-
tional actions or structural aspects of organizations, often resulting from inertia
and lack of gender-awareness. Hence, the glass ceiling metaphor fails to problemat-
ize systemic and subtle forms of discrimination that still prevail, and that affect
even those women who have already made it to the top.
iii. To what extent do tourism organizations challenge or reinforce gender
inequalities?
Tourism demands work in shifts, at night, at weekends, in irregular schedules,
during holidays, and in the periods when children are out of school. These charac-
teristics of tourism work pose several obstacles to women, according to the inter-
viewees. Previous authors also underlined that these characteristics of tourism jobs
usually pose further problems to workers with children who have to balance their
work and family lives (Costa et al., 2011).
However, from the research participants’ perspective, the tourism sector also
brings some advantages for women. It is a sector where women prevail, even if the
top is dominated by men. Therefore, the organizational culture of the tourism sec-
tor is different from the organizational culture of those fields that tend to be male-
dominated at all hierarchical levels. Women believe that in those areas male culture
is stronger, e.g., through the constant use of coarse language. Women highlight the
advantage of working in an environment where women prevail: no sexual harass-
ment; more laughter and women’s conversations; and a different ambience.
The organizations where the research participants currently work seem to chal-
lenge to some extent the masculine values of the seemingly “gender-neutral” orga-
nizational model. Although there is still an emphasis on the importance of
availability and commitment in order to succeed, the long-hours culture seems to
be attenuated in some of these organizations.
However, the gender structure in the majority of tourism organizations tends to
be very different from that of the companies here analyzed. In this study only
organizations led by women were analyzed, which is not the norm in the tourism
field. Those organizations in which men prevail at the top are likely to have differ-
ent characteristics. According to Wahl (2001) and Hearn (2010) the gender distri-
bution of the management group impacts gender relations. This study provides
some hints that seem to support these claims. In fact, it is in the organization that
has more men at the top that a greater prevalence of male values in the organiza-
tional culture is felt: exaggerated requirement for physical presence and behaviors,
or smoking during meetings.
While the “numeric” structure of most of the organizations led by these women
seems to have a positive influence within the organization, male culture prevails
outside the organization and in the tourism sector. Hence, at the macro level, the
tourism sector still seems to be reinforcing gender inequalities, more than chal-
lenging them.
Conclusion
Despite all the achievements in terms of gender equality in the Western world,
inequalities remain in several fields, such as the representation of women in top
management. In this study, this topic was approached in the context of the tourism
sector.
It can be concluded that the research participants are aware of gendering pro-
cesses in tourism organizations and in the tourism sector more broadly. Some
address strong criticisms to the “macho” mentality of male managers in Portugal,
who prefer men over women.
However, and despite acknowledging the existence of gendering processes and
hindering structures, some participants expressed views of women and gender
relations that are close to essentialism, for example, when they reinforce the idea of
women and men being essentially different. This essence seems thus to legitimate
and dictate degrees of fit for certain occupations. One of these women also
“blamed” women to account for their low representation at the top: women create
their own barriers; women’s emotionality is a hindrance; women are not very well
structured and need to learn time management; and women prefer to go home
instead of networking. However, she did not fit in her own definition of “women.”
Hence, most of the interviewees are caught in a contradiction when trying to
explain women’s experiences. Is there a difference in essence or in conditions
between women and men? Here Wahl’s (1998) question should be asked: are
female managers essentially different or are they different because they face differ-
ent conditions in their workplace? Do women always prefer to go home instead of
networking, or are they under pressure to fulfill in the first place their roles as
mothers, while the reverse is true for men? Is it women’s preference? This study
suggests that it might not be simply a matter of preference, but of women being
discouraged by the practices, prejudices, and stereotypes at the workplace, as well
as by the unequal distribution of tasks at home.
It is interesting to note how women’s criticism of gendered structures in the
tourism sector is combined with an essentialist view of women. This seems to pro-
vide evidence of the strength of the prevailing gender prejudices and stereotypes
(e.g., women as mothers), which are reified and ingrained to such an extent in
organizations and in the society at large, that they become “invisible.”
Although tourism may “open doors” to women, there are lingering problematic
gendering processes. However, such gendered processes are not “monolithic,” and
their reproduction can be resisted and challenged (Hearn & Parkin, 2003). Tour-
ism organizations can be either places where inequalities are reproduced, or places
where gendered power is more equally redistributed, and gendering processes are
challenged.
Several studies have concluded that organizations benefit from having a critical
mass of women in their corporate boards (Desvaux, Devillard-Hoellinger, &
Baumgarten, 2007; Kotiranta, Kovalainen, & Rouvinen, 2007), since this improves
both organizational and financial performance. While equality should be a goal per
se, it is not counterproductive for gender equality goals or patronizing toward
women to recognize the great potential that women have in the tourism sector.
Although a critical stance is needed before assuming that gender equality and busi-
ness effectiveness are always mutually beneficial, or that women have “different”
and “complementary” intrinsic feminine characteristics, we consider that women
are important for the development of the tourism industry, and that tourism
employers should consider this important pool of human resources. Therefore,
even from a “business case” perspective, the tourism sector would benefit from
overcoming structures that hamper women’s progression, such as gendered orga-
nizational cultures and structures, as well as lingering prejudice.
Future studies should be more critical of the advantages of tourism employment

for women. Studies about “the glass ceiling” should not regard the situations of
women who are above the glass ceiling as unproblematic, since gender is still an
issue even for women who have “broken” the glass ceiling. This study provides
insights of how indirect gender discrimination pervades the tourism sector even at
high hierarchical levels. Moreover, when analyzing gendering processes, it is
important to not only look at what happens within organizations, but also look at
how gendering processes are reproduced in everyday interactions between tourism
organizations and in the tourism sector at the macro level.
Practical Implications for the Industry

Although the tourism industry in Portugal is feminized and it may, to a certain
extent, “open doors” for women, it is still far from being a truly “women-friendly”
industry. It is important to raise gender awareness of the stakeholders in this field,
so that it is possible to see through the apparent gender-neutrality of the sector,
and gradually attain structural and cultural changes in organizations, and improve-
ments in terms of gender equality. Making subtle processes visible may have an
impact on the daily workings of organizations, as observed by Kantola (2008). In
fact, high visibility and low legitimacy of inequalities may enhance the possibilities
for change (Acker, 2006). Stainback, Tomaskovic-Devey, and Skaggs (2010) argued
that changes toward equality are more likely to be linked to pressures on organiza-
tional fields than to direct pressures on specific workplaces. Hence, it is important
to act not only at the level of individual workplaces, but also at the industry level
(Stainback et al., 2010, p. 240).
It is also possible to challenge the way work is being done. For example, it
should be discouraged to schedule meetings outside normal working hours. In
addition, it is important to discourage the practice of carrying out important
negotiations outside the workplace during the weekend or at night, since such
practices are likely to have a negative impact on workers with family responsi-
bilities. In fact, such practices are not family-friendly, perpetuate traditional
gender roles, and are exclusionary toward women. Besides, business trips
should be scheduled whenever possible with considerable antecedence, so that
workers can make the necessary arrangements in their private lives to accom-
modate that work requirement.
Part-time work is frequently only possible in non-professional jobs. How-
ever, organizations could offer the opportunity of building a career as a part-
time worker. Besides, both women and men should be stimulated to take part
in these “family-friendly” career tracks without penalization, so that they do
not become a “ghetto” for mothers of young children, or a “mummy track,”
as suggested by Benschop and Doorewaard (1998). Male workers should also
be encouraged to share the parental leave with the mothers of their children.
According to Esping-Andersen (2005), if men had a more “female” life cycle
by also having interruptions in their careers, this would neutralize employers’

gender-asymmetric expectations and weaken gender-specific discrimination in
the labor market.
The gender pay gap is a problem that persists despite legislation that prohibits
pay discrimination. The widest pay gap is observed at the top of the hierarchy,
where salaries are often negotiated individually. Therefore, the ideal approach
would be either to discourage such individual negotiations, which may not be very
realistic in business terms, or to make such negotiations more transparent. In order
to promote gender equity, Christine L. Williams, Muller, and Kilanski (2012) also
proposed that workers should be informed about the salaries of their colleagues.
Organizations should also encourage networking activities that are inclusive of
women and minorities, and discourage male-only social events (Christine L. Wil-
liams et al., 2012).
Limitations and future research

This is an exploratory study and only has a modest sample, therefore the conclu-
sions derived cannot be generalized the whole population. Nonetheless, it can pro-
vide some contribution to the understanding of the phenomena studied and
produce important insights.
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Women at the top of tourism organizations: Views from

CONTACT In^es Carvalho ines.carvalho@universidadeeuropeia.pt Universidade Europeia, Rua Laura Ayres,

Gender, organizational structure, and organizational culture

A brief overview of gender, tourism, and organizations in Portugal

Findings and results: Views from above the glass ceiling

Breaking the glass ceiling and sitting on the glass roof

Source: developed by the author.

Table 2. Interviewees (hotel sector).

Source: developed by the author.

Business demands and family life

Hence, the research participants provide a picture of the tourism sector as an

Sexuality and the reinforcement of gender

Invisibility, exclusion, discrimination

“Pros” and “cons” of the tourism sector

Future studies should be more critical of the advantages of tourism employment

Practical Implications for the Industry

by also having interruptions in their careers, this would neutralize employers’

Limitations and future research

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