Female managers in Asian hotels: profile and career challenges

Abstract

The number of female managers in the hotel industry is increasing worldwide. What does it take for female hotel managers to succeed? Do they face different types of barriers between entry into management and upward mobility within management? This paper presents the general profile of female hotel managers in Singapore and examines barriers that may prevent middle‐level female managers from moving up to the executive positions. The findings suggested that female managers in Singapore hotels have “given up” some family life in order to get ahead. Whereas strong credentials and skills have proven to be important in female advancement into middle‐level management, they have not helped them to attain executive positions. An interesting finding is that the barriers to advancement for female managers are due to neither corporate practices nor policies, but rather seem to be a function of cultural and societal sanctions.