Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Exploring the Challenges and Unveiling the Glass Ceiling Effect on Career Progression among Turkish Women in 3 to 5 Star Hotels

Mojgan Saghaei, Sree Kala Kunju Raman Nair

Journal of Economics, Management and Trade · pp. 34–51 · Published 28 Aug 2024

10.9734/jemt/2024/v30i91239

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the significant growth in women’s participation in the hotel industry workforce, Turkish women continue to encounter limited access to senior management positions. This study investigates the obstacles faced by Turkish women in their pursuit of top managerial roles within the hotel industry and explores potential strategies to break through the glass ceiling. The purpose of this study is to investigate challenges and unveil the effect of the glass ceiling on the career development of Turkish women in 3-to-5-star hotels. The research endeavors to examine the experiences and challenges stemming from gender perceptions encountered by individuals within the hotel industry. Additionally, it seeks to discern the underlying social, organizational, and individual factors contributing to the disparity in leadership or senior positions held by women within this sector. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study utilizes a qualitative research approach, employing semi-structured, in-depth interviews with employees from 3 to 5-star hotels in Antalya, conducting an inductive thematic analysis approach the research aims to investigate the challenges faced by women in advancing their careers within the hotel industry and the diverse factors influencing their workplace performance. The statistical sample of the research includes people who have different viewpoints on the subject of the research. Findings: Twelve women working within the hospitality industry were interviewed. A thematic analysis revealed three interconnected barriers contributing to the glass ceiling faced by Turkish women: cultural and social obstacles, organizational challenges, and personal hindrances. These primary barriers encompass sub-barriers that collectively reinforce the glass ceiling, impeding numerous women from attaining senior positions. This research demonstrates that overcoming the barriers—especially organizational ones—can empower Turkish women to break through the glass ceiling and realize their leadership aspirations. Additionally, the study explores the implications for policymakers, academics, and practitioners regarding the impactful contributions of Turkish women to the hotel labor market." Practical Implications: This research showed evidence that there are real barriers for these women and the findings from this study offer implications that overcoming these barriers, particularly cultural and social barriers, could help Turkish women to crack the glass ceiling and achieve their dream of leadership. Originality/Value: The Hotel industry faces a worldwide shortage of Women in Leadership positions. This study aims to explore the challenges faced by the hotel sector in retaining highly skilled female employees who aspire to pursue managerial career trajectories. In addition, this research can add value to revealing gender inequality problems faced by Muslim women employees in the hospitality industry.

Woman discrimination glass ceiling career advancement leadership women’s empowerment

References (36)

  1. 1 Gender and leadership emergence: A meta‐analysis and explanatory model [DOI]
  2. 2 Intersectionality: Connecting experiences of gender with race at work [DOI]
  3. 3 The queen bee: A myth? The effect of top-level female leadership on subordinate females [DOI]
  4. 4 The Glass Ceiling for Women Managers: Antecedents and Consequences for Work-Family Interface and Well-Being at Work [DOI]
  5. 5 Mentoring for gender equality: Supporting female leaders in the hospitality industry [DOI]
  6. 6 Resilience for gender inclusion: Developing a model for women in male‐dominated occupations [DOI]
  7. 7 Tourism and gender equality: An Asian perspective [DOI]
  8. 8 Women Leadership, Culture, and Islam: Female Voices from Jordan [DOI]
  9. 9 The tourism gender gap and its potential impact on the development of the emerging countries [DOI]
  10. 10 Exploring Women’s Multi-Level Career Prospects in Pakistan: Barriers, Interventions, and Outcomes [DOI]
  11. 11 Group diversity and employee service innovative behavior in the hospitality industry: a multilevel model [DOI]
  12. 12 In search of factors that hinder the career advancement of women to senior leadership positions [DOI]
  13. 13 An Intersectional Approach to the Glass Ceiling: Gender, Race and Share of Middle and Senior Management in U.S. Workplaces [DOI]
  14. 14 Complexity of women’s modern-day challenges in construction [DOI]
  15. 15 A case of multiple oppressions: women’s career opportunities in Malaysian SME accounting firms [DOI]
  16. 16 Shatter the Glass Ceiling: Women May Make Better Managers [DOI]
  17. 17 Gender discrimination and perceived fairness in the promotion process of hotel employees [DOI]
  18. 18 Breaking the glass ceiling: opportunity for the organization [DOI]
  19. 19 Performative contortions: How White women and people of colour navigate elite leadership roles [DOI]
  20. 20 An application of the mentoring framework to investigate the effectiveness of mentoring programs between industry mentors and student mentees in hospitality [DOI]
  21. 21 Those Glass Chains that Bind You: How British Muslim Women Professionals Experience Career, Faith and Family [DOI]
  22. 22 Exploring the challenges for women working in the event and festival sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [DOI]
  23. 23 How career expectations influence advancement: evidence from women in the hospitality industry [DOI]
  24. 24 Beyond the glass ceiling: an exploration of the experiences of female corporate organizational leaders in Ghana [DOI]
  25. 25 Assessing the Glass Ceiling Effect for Women in Tourism and Hospitality [DOI]
  26. 26 Demographic and workplace factors contributing to attitudes toward women as managers in Macau’s hospitality industry [DOI]
  27. 27 How traditional gender roles hurt both women and men: negative processes and outcomes in mixed-gender negotiations [DOI]
  28. 28 ‘You ensure your own safety’: gender, fear and tourism labour in the gig economy in Turkiye [DOI]
  29. 29 Saudi female paramedics’ perceptions of challenges in the workplace: A qualitative study [DOI]
  30. 30 Roads, women’s employment, and gender equity: Evidence from Cambodia [DOI]
  31. 31 Global Demographic Trends and Effects on Tourism [DOI]
  32. 32 ‘Through the Glass Ceiling, over the Glass Cliff?’ Women Leaders in Bangladeshi Public Administration [DOI]
  33. 33 Ground Rules and Social Maps for Women: An Introduction [DOI]
  34. 34 The Glass Ceiling: Existence Barriers Affecting Women’s Career Development [DOI]
  35. 35 Unveiling Gender Biases in Recruitment: A Natural Language Processing Approach [DOI]
  36. 36 Workplace experiences and career advancement prospects for women in the hotel industry in India [DOI]

Cited by 2

Overcoming barriers: the struggle for recognition of female successors in Indonesian family business

Lucky Cahyana Subadi, Komala Inggarwati, Leonardo Jeffiro · Business: Theory and Practice · 2025

Showing 1 of 2 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

31

Page views

0

PDF downloads

4

Outbound clicks

2

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.