A Critical Approach to the Gender Wage Gap in Tourism Labor

Abstract

Tourism is a highly gendered industry, with strong horizontal and vertical segregation of occupations and this inevitably contributes to an elevated gender wage gap in comparison to other industries. This article investigates some of the underlying causes of the gender wage gap and the ways in which gendered stereotypes and gender norms continue to influence tourism labor relations. Challenging the idea that women "choose" to accept lower wages than men as a neoliberalist rationale that has little bearing on reality, this article adopts a feminist economics lens and investigates how the gender wage gap is created and perpetuated in Portugal's tourism industry through a thematic analysis of tourism managers' narratives from focus groups conducted in 2013 and 2014. Viewing individual choice as a myth, the politico-economic conditions that inform people's actions according to gender roles they are expected to perform are explored. The most frequent gender equality measure adopted by tourism companies in Portugal is ensuring that remuneration is set according to objective criteria, which demonstrates the perceived importance of eradicating the gender pay gap. Despite this, thematic analysis of focus group narratives reveals a persisting inequality within tourism labor. These reveal that horizontal segregation, gendered geographical mobility, and the prevalence of men in hierarchical positions contribute to the maintenance of the gender wage gap in tourism, illustrating a contradiction between the perceived eradication of the gender wage gap and its continuing existence. This article therefore represents an exploration into the ways in which the gender wage gap within tourism is created and maintained.