Gender Representation in Kenya’s Hospitality Industry: A Connection to Tourism Entrepreneurial Aptitude

Abstract

Tourism other than being an important foreign exchange earner in Kenya is a means of employment for its citizens. It is therefore vital to evaluate gender participation especially with the growing global advocacy of women to participate in formal employment among other economic activities. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The goal of the study was to examine the level of male and female employment in the hospitality industry in particular 5-star hotels. Specifically, the purpose was to assess whether there is any significant difference between the number of male and female employees working in the hospitality industry. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 200 employees and 32 Heads of Department (HODs). Stratified random sampling was used to identify employees in each department. Sixty four percent of the employees working in the hotels were males compared to 36% of the employees who were female. Repair and maintenance department had the highest number of male employees (97%) compared to female employees. In contrast, the front office department had the highest number of female employees (58%) compared to male employees. The management team comprised of 70% male employees and 30% female employees. Apparently, employment in the hospitality industry is unbalanced with regard to gender. Gender was also found to have a significant relationship to the potential of initiating entrepreneurial activities especially in the tourism sector (?² = 32.690; df= 4; p < 0.001). In spite of the strides made for the push for women at the workplace and entrepreneurial activities, there are still disparities in their representation giving room for better policies and funding for women’s groups.

Keywords: Employment; Gender disparity; Hospitality industry; Entrepreneurship.