Abstract
Compared to the past, business life has considerably developed in any area in the last century. All of the goods and services producing enterprises have made very important developments by taking advantage of science and technology at every stage of consumption and post-consumption processes starting from production. However, it can be said that the most important of these developments is the entry of the female workforce into the business life in the twenty-first century. The involvement of women in business life has not only changed the forms of production and presentation of the enterprises but also led businesses to achieve a completely different perspective.
TopIntroduction
It is not possible to talk about the equality of the position and status of women in the workplace, their rights and working conditions with those of men; while women’s are being actively involved in working life is considered one of the revolutionary events of the last century. Although women and men are protected under the laws that they should have equal rights both in social life and in business life, it is observed that gender-based discrimination is frequently made in business life. It has been demonstrated that discrimination in business life to be found in all of the developed and developing countries has resulted from many complex reasons including economic, social and cultural. When it has been taken into consideration that even the countries known as the superpower of the world have discriminated, it can be said that discrimination is mostly caused by personal and societal reasons.
One of the most important industries where gender-based discrimination is seen in business life is the tourism industry. Although the number of women working in the industry, which consists entirely of enterprises which offer different kinds of services, is about twice more than the number of men, women working in the industry are exposed to different practices and discrimination due to their gender. Until now, almost all of the studies done by academics and international organizations have shown that women are exposed to discrimination in terms of their jobs, wages, working conditions, promotion and internal social relations due to their gender. Giving women specific rights and responsibilities taking into account their gender, rather than their qualifications, background, education, and experience constitutes the most obvious indication of discrimination. Considering that the most basic aim of tourism businesses is to provide the best service to their customers in order to satisfy them and increase their income and profitability, it is important for the future of the businesses to evaluate the employees within the industry in terms of their qualities, rather than their gender. Therefore, the reasons and practices of gender discrimination in business life and tourism industry are given in this section and gender discrimination was generally evaluated as a result of the research and suggestions were made to prevent gender discrimination in tourism enterprises.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Gender Discrimination in Tourism Industry: Because of the diversity and complexity of the jobs carried out in the tourism industry, from biological point of view woman and man separate about their work.
Gender Role: Gender role socially constructed of women and men. Gender role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. Gender role change among different societies and cultures, classes, ages and during different periods in history.
Gender Discrimination: Gender discrimination indicate that discrimination based on a person's gender. Because of gender discrimination, woman (man) do not have the same opportunities for education, careers, social life, etc.
Gender: The state of being male or female and generally used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones.
Tourism Industry: Tourism industry occur people, activity and organizations involved in providing services for tourist on holiday. The tourism industry includes hospitality (accommodation, restaurants), transportation (airlines, car rental), travel facilitation and information (tour operators, travel agents, tourist information centers), and attractions and entertainment (heritage sites and theme, national, and wildlife parks).