Tourism: More women, less power!

Gender equity and equality are relevant topics in current times, having been much debated issues over the last century. The struggle for female gender equality began over 600 years ago. Only in the last hundred years have advances been made that have given women almost the same freedom as men.

However, mentioning gender equality is not enough. Men and women, in addition to having the same opportunities, need to have the same access to them. In this way, the issue of gender equity needs to be addressed, which fights for everyone to be treated fairly and for the difficulties generated by differences to be eliminated.

One of the work sectors where the Portuguese people are more natural and present more advantages compared to several other countries is Tourism. The in their blood.

Tourism is one of the most important engines of the Portuguese economy, employing more workers than any other sector, generating 2 out of 10 jobs in Portugal. Contrary to what happens mostly in other professional areas, both in Portugal and in most European countries, the Tourism sector is the area in which women occupy a higher percentage as workers. In our country, we have more women employed in Tourism than in any other sector, with 58% of positions being held by women. On a European scale, of the 9 million workers in the Tourism sector, 56% are women.

Porém, apesar da mulher ter uma maior presença no setor, não significa que seja mais favorecida A maioria rapidamente passa a uma minoria quando se analisa quem alcança os cargos mais altos e de liderança nos diferentes subsetores: hotelaria, restauração, agências de viagens, aviação, entre outros

O género feminino tende a ter mais qualificações académicas do que o género oposto. Já em 2010, de acordo com o Eurostat, as mulheres tinham cada vez mais formação do que os homens Dados mais recentes mostram que, hoje em dia, no turismo e na hotelaria, são as mulheres que mais se candidatam a cursos nestas áreas, cerca de 60%, e, adicionalmente, são as que mostram mais sucesso durante a formação e que mais se diplomam.

No entanto, estas vantagens não se refletem na folha salarial. No setor do Turismo, a mulher ganha em média menos 33% do que um individuo do género oposto.

Acresce que para além da disparidade salarial, também existe uma disparidade no que toca a atribuição de cargos de poder Existem mais homens em cargos de coordenação, científicos e de gestão do que mulheres. Nos subsetores de alojamento, agências de viagens e operadoras turísticas são também, na sua maioria, os homens a tomar posse dos cargos de liderança.

Contudo, importa ter em mente, que nestes subsetores as mulheres perfazem a grande maioria dos trabalhadores, podendo concluir que certamente existe um desnível de oportunidade. Geralmente, a mulher tende a ter mais dificuldades em ultrapassar cargos de chefia intermédia, e, quão mais se sobe na hierarquia, menos mulheres tendemos a ver

However, although women have a greater presence in the sector, it does not mean that they are more favored. The majority quickly becomes a minority when analyzing who reaches the highest and the leadership positions in the different subsectors: hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, aviation, among others.

The female gender tends to have more academic qualifications than the opposite gender. In 2010, according to Eurostat, women had more training than men. More recent data shows that, nowadays, in tourism and hospitality, women are who most apply for courses in these areas, around 60%, and, additionally, they are the ones who show more success during training and the ones who graduate more.

However, these advantages are not reflected in the payroll. In the Tourism sector, women earn on average 33% less than an individual of the opposite gender.

Furthermore, in addition to the wage disparity, there is also a disparity regarding the allocation of power positions. There are more men in coordination, scientific and management positions than women. In the sub-sectors of accommodation, travel agencies and tour operators, it is also, for the most part, men who take up leadership positions.

However, it is important to bear in mind that in these subsectors women occupy the vast majority of workers, and it can be concluded that there is certainly a gap in opportunities. Generally, women tend to have more difficulties in moving beyond middle management positions, and the higher up one goes in the hierarchy, the less women we tend to see.

A professora Patrícia Correia, diretora geral do Monte Santo Resort e formadora na Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo de Portimão, relata que no início da sua carreira, há mais de 20 anos, o número de mulheres em cargos de direção de hotéis se podia contar pelos dedos de uma mão. Os alunos da escola da professora Patrícia Correia, Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo de Portimão, realizaram um pequeno inquérito a oito unidades hoteleiras da região e conseguiram retirar os seguintes dados relevantes: os cargos de direção são liderados pelos homens, sendo que estes completam 58% das posições Identicamente, na Receção tendem a ser os homens a assumir o cargo, ascendendo a 56% dos trabalhadores. Contrariamente, as mulheres dominam nos cargos de Serviços Administrativos, perfazendo 64% do corpo trabalhador. Em animação as mulheres ocupavam 80% dos postos totais. Como esperado, nas áreas de Housekeeping a mulher domina com uns esmagadores 91,5% e em SPA, as equipas eram compostas inteiramente por mulheres No oposto, a Manutenção, um cargo tradicionalmente masculino, é 100% composto por homens e a Cozinha, Pastelaria e Copa têm valores ligeiramente superiores aos de receção, ou seja, cerca de 65%

Os critérios de atribuição de cargos com diferentes importâncias a sujeitos de ambos os géneros, não tem uma justificação explicita Tanto o homem, como a mulher passam neste ramo pelo mesmo fardo que é a falta de horários tradicionais. O setor exige horários fora do “comum” que envolvem trabalhar aos fins-de-semana, nos feriados e até horas “não sociais” A carga horária em si é muito variável e por vezes ultrapassa as 40 horas semanais. Em média, o trabalhador do género masculino trabalha 49 horas semanais, enquanto a mulher trabalha 44 horas Poder-se-ia concluir que a diferença salarial se dá à diferença de horas laborais.

Professor Patrícia Correia, general manager of Monte Santo Resort and teacher at the School of Hospitality and Tourism of Portimão, reports that at the beginning of her career, more than 20 years ago, the number of women in hotel management positions could be counted by the fingers of one hand. The students of Professor Patrícia Correia's school, the Hospitality and Tourism School of Portimão, carried out a small survey in eight hotels in the region and were able to obtain the following relevant data: management positions are led by men and these complete 58% of the positions. Similarly, at the Reception, men tend to be in charge, accounting for 56% of workers. On the contrary, women dominate in the Administrative Service positions, making up for 64% of the workforce. In animation, women occupied 80% of the total positions. As expected, in the areas of Housekeeping women dominate with an overwhelming 91.5% and in the SPA, the teams were composed entirely of women. On the other hand, Maintenance, a traditionally male position, is 100% occupied by men and the Kitchen, Pastry and Pantry have values slightly higher than reception, that is, around 65%.

The criteria for assigning positions with different importance to subjects of both genders does not have an explicit justification. Both men and women go through the same burden in this business, which is the lack of traditional schedules. The sector demands unusual hours that involve working on weekends, holidays and even “non-social” hours. The workload itself is very variable and sometimes exceeds 40 hours per week. On average, male workers work 49 hours a week, while women work 44 hours. It could be concluded that the wage difference is due to the difference in working hours. However, observing the