The hospitality sector presents an intriguing paradox: while women comprise roughly 70 percent of the global workforce, they hold a mere 22 to 25 percent of C-suite positions and an astonishingly meager six percent of chief executive roles.
Based on reports from EHL Insights, Hotel Dive, and Torrens University Australia; the workforce is undeniably female; however, the decision-making power remains overwhelmingly male.
To dismantle this disparity, hospitality schools must move beyond basic vocational training and construct deliberate pipelines for executive readiness.
Mending broken rungs on the ladder to success
A report from the Swiss Hotel Management School points out that the journey begins by mending the broken rung, or the critical first step up to management where female candidates are disproportionately passed over.
Higher education or tertiary institutions must intentionally equip women with the competencies required to leap over this barrier.
Historically, female students have been funneled into human resources, marketing, or guest relations.
To shift this trajectory, universities need to mandate rigorous training in profit and loss management, asset ownership, and financial oversight, the traditional prerequisites for General Manager and Chief Executive positions.
Furthermore, research published in Taylor & Francis Online demonstrates that curricula emphasizing confidence-building, non-verbal command, and advanced social communication effectively empower female graduates to pursue ambitious career paths.
Academic programmes must also offer navigational transparency, explicitly addressing systemic barriers such as double standards in recognition whilst teaching women to advocate for their own worth.
Representation matters
Simultaneously, institutions must address their internal representation; as a report from ScienceDirect put it, students cannot be what they cannot see.
Women remain significantly underrepresented in senior academic leadership within hospitality higher education.
Universities must recruit and promote female professors to lead core strategic modules rather than auxiliary electives.
Sponsoring diverse research teams focused on gender equity further reinforces an institution's commitment to thought leadership.
Finally, academia must build direct bridges to senior industry roles, especially as a primary obstacle for women entering the sector is the absence of structured professional networks. Schools can bridge this gap by establishing Executive-in-Residence partnerships with global hotel groups running targeted initiatives, such as Accor's Female General Manager Commitment, Hilton's Women in Leadership Programme, and IHG's RISE Programme.
Integrating professional networks like Women THAT (Travel, Hospitality, and Tourism) into career advisory services connects students with seasoned leaders.
Crucially, as highlighted across research from Nature, SheCanCode, and the National Institutes of Health, academic programs must train industry partners to act not merely as mentors who offer counsel, but as active sponsors who actively advocate for female graduates during recruitment and internal promotion cycles.
By aligning academic rigour, internal diversity, and industry sponsorship, hospitality institutions can ensure that tomorrow's boardrooms reflect the workforce that powers them.
