What impact have successful women made in the U.S. hospitality Thesis

What impact have successful women made in the U.S. hospitality industry as leaders - Thesis Example This paper discusses the impact successful women leaders have made in the U.S Hospitality industry especially in the last five years. The paper starts with a brief history of women’s position two decades ago and the changes that took place over the time. The various reasons leading to the advancement of women in the hospitality industry and the consequences have been discussed in details. This paper also provides examples of different successful women leaders and organizations who have contributed in the up gradation of the women in this industry. Although women have progressed immensely in the hospitality industry holding key managerial positions but still there are a few challenges which they are facing today and this has been discussed later on. The paper has been concluded by providing solutions for the existing challenges so as to make the future a better place for women to work in. In 1984, Nora Frenkiel had quoted â€Å"there is a ‘glass ceiling’ in the mi ddle of the ladder leading to the top, and it cannot be seen. ‘But when women run into it they bump their heads and cannot move beyond it without the women’s movement.† ‘Glass ceiling’ is a term given by the US government in 1970 to define the artificial barriers that restricts a women from taking top managerial jobs (as cited in Dass, A.Singh & R.Singh, 2011). Women have always been forced to stay behind men in all the industries whether it is business, medicine, politics or hospitality. Although they have been marching ahead in all the fields but still men continue to hold the key managerial positions. The women’s continued struggle to occupy major leadership roles has seen many hurdles and barriers basically due to the traditional culture and history of hospitality industry. However, the last decade has seen a lot of changes and growth prospects for women in this industry. Due to sheer hard work and the inherent qualities a women possesses t hey have started occupying key management roles and positions in many places like restaurants, hotels, catering firms, and resorts among others. Industry experts have predicted that women’s role in key positions will continue to rise as hospitality industry is struggling to match its steps with the growth and demand in this field (â€Å"Women in hospitality†, n.d). In this paper we shall discuss the various factors that have brought a significant impact on the role of women as leaders in the hospitality industry. The main factors that have broken the ‘glass ceiling’ has been the change in the perception of people about women, the education and advancement of women, globalization and advancement of technology, formation of various women coaching institutes, the government and so on. There are many examples of successful women and companies who have helped in bringing about the change in the status of women in the hospitality industry and set an example for others to follow. Before we discuss about them, a brief history about women’s position in the last few decades will help explain what has brought about the changes. If we trace back to history we will find that women have been working only in the role of defacto leadership such as supervising or managing, a family owned business or performing additional responsibilities in the absence of their bosses (â€Å"Women in hospitality†, n.d). However, there was an upheaval in the US in the 1970’s by the feminists. Women fought for their rights to gain importance in work places and the allowance to climb the ladder of key roles in management. The hospitality industry also faced similar drawbacks- there were no female chefs, only few female restaurateurs and women were not even given the opportunity to serve as waiting staffs in fine dining places. There was an era when women were not considered for managerial positions and if they attained any such status their pay was much less than men (Les Damed d’ Escoffier International [LDEI], 2011). Although, the beginning