What really matters: an exploratory sequential mixed-method study of women’s hospitality professional identities

Purpose: Through the lens of professional identity (PID), this paper aims to examine what matters to women when reflecting on their professions in hospitality. The purpose of this examination is to understand to what extent these PIDs are shared among women in hospitality and to include women’s voices into the workforce. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach was used. The qualitative step included 24 in-depth interviews with female middle and senior managers in hotel management in the USA. The results of the interviews informed the design of a quantitative survey completed by 330 women hospitality professionals in managerial and non-managerial positions in the USA. Findings: The qualitative analysis derived three super-ordinate and ten sub-themes. These themes were then quantitatively measured for validity and generalization. The mixing of qualitative and quantitative data indicated the relevance of work environment, social evaluation and perception of work and demonstrating professional competence as a woman in hospitality as significant drivers in establishing women’s hospitality PIDs. Originality/value: This paper is the first to address women hospitality professionals through the lens of PID. By providing a different gender perspective on hospitality PID, this paper contributes to the expansion of diversity, equity and inclusion research and practices.