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The objective of this study was to analyse and better understand the so far insufficiently researched career paths and the associated challenges and needs of women working in the German tourism industry. As a result, a greater awareness and understanding of the issue of gender equality in the German tourism industry should be achieved, thus contributing to a more equal career development for women.
As a research design, a mixed methods approach was adopted. It follows a sequential structure in which the main focus is on qualitative research based on focus group discussions. The quantitative pre-study preceding the focus groups was conducted in the form of a standardized online questionnaire using QuestionPro software, where a total of 156 women took part in. For the focus group discussions, a guideline was developed that served as the basis for the five discussions with a total of 28 participants. The evaluation was carried out in the form of a content-structuring qualitative content analysis using the computer-aided software MAXQDA. To provide a theoretical basis for both the pre-study and the focus group discussions, various theories on the emergence of gender inequality and the ERG theory, which deals with needs in the working environment, were taken into account.
The results show that the career as a whole is very important to the women surveyed. The women's understanding of their careers in relation to the tourism industry goes hand in hand with a career development that is characterized by sideways movements, a high degree of flexibility and a wide variety of work experiences in different industry segments and positions. This indicates that it will
be important in the future to realize alternatives to the hierarchical career ladder and to strive for a redefinition of the traditional career concept in the debate within companies and society. Furthermore, various challenges were identified at different hierarchical levels that women are confronted with in the work environment in tourism. In addition to the confrontation with established
male networks, the lack of visible female role models, prejudices based on gender-specific stereotypes and the incompatibility of family and career were identified as obstacles to women's career development. A lack of self-confidence and entrenched corporate and social structures can represent additional barriers. These findings underline the need to address the specific challenges faced
by women in the German tourism industry in order to promote more equitable career development and sustainable tourism. Moreover, with regard to the shortage of skilled workers and the so-called 'war for talents', various needs of women are recognized at different levels and defined in more detail in relation to the tourism working environment. Both in the quantitative survey and in the
focus groups, great importance was attached to growth needs, such as the opportunity for self-realization and development or a sense of purpose. At the same time, however, existential needs such as working conditions and salary were also important to the women. In this context, it is noteworthy that needs from different levels of ERG theory were combined. This provides an indication that needs at different levels can also have an effect at the same time.
One limitation of the research is the lack of figures on the gender-specific employment structure in the German tourism industry. This data needs to be collected in the future to enable further research. There is also a need for further research into an intersectional approach that also takes other genders, social identities and their intersections into account.