Shelagh Mooney

A woman's place in hotel management: upstairs or downstairs?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ask whether it is the notion of choice (a pro‐life work/life balance decision) that influences womans desire to strive for promotion within a hotel organisation or is the choice made for female managers by a system of organisational processes.Design/methodology/approach – This research within an international hotel group in Australia and New Zealand explored what barriers prevent women from reaching the top echelons in hotel management. A qualitative approach used semi‐structured interviews to study the intersection of gender, age and time in life with career progression and their combined impact on the glass ceiling phenomenon.Findings – The interviews revealed that the perception of glass ceiling barriers faced by women differed depending on where they were in their career cycle. They were revealed as the “long hours” culture, the old boys network, hiring practices and geographical mobility. These significantly influenced womens work‐life balance, and persona...

‘Nimble’ intersectionality in employment research: a way to resolve methodological dilemmas

This contribution proposes nimble intersectionality in response to McBride et al.’s article about intersectional research in the field of employment and industrial relations. Although the authors’ call for all researchers to be ‘intersectionally sensitive’ is positive, regrettably, by highlighting the problems with intersectional methods, they reinforce the widespread perception that they are too difficult to implement. While intersectionality is undeniably complex, this article argues that a nimble approach can help resolve methodological dilemmas. By resolving four basic methodological questions at the onset of a study, researchers can successfully use an intersectional approach to explore age, gender, ethnicity, race and class in employment.

Long hospitality careers – a contradiction in terms?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore why workers remain in long hospitality careers and to challenge the frequent portrayal of careers in the sector as temporary and unsatisfactory. Design/methodology/approach The study took an interpretative social constructionist approach. Methods used were memory-work, semi-structured interviews and intersectional analysis. Findings A key finding in this study is that career longevity in hospitality is not solely dependent on career progression. Strong social connection, a professional self-identity and complex interesting work contribute to long careers. Research limitations/implications The study contributes detailed empirical knowledge about hospitality career paths in New Zealand. Conclusions should be generalised outside the specific context with caution. Practical implications The findings that hospitality jobs can be complex and satisfying at all hierarchical ranks hold practical implications for Human Resource Managers in the service sector. To increase career longevity, hospitality employers should improve induction and socialisation processes and recognise their employees’ professional identity. Social implications This paper significantly extends the notion of belonging and social connection in service work. “Social connection” is distinctly different from social and networking career competencies. Strong social connection is created by a fusion of complex social relationships with managers, co-workers and guests, ultimately creating the sense of a respected professional identity and satisfying career. Originality/value The contemporary concept of a successful hospitality career is associated with an upwards career trajectory; however, this paper suggests that at the lower hierarchical levels of service work, many individuals enjoy complex satisfying careers with no desire for further advancement.

Painting the bigger picture: academic literacy in postgraduate vocational education

Currently postgraduate hospitality courses are attracting large numbers of international students, many of whom do not speak English as a first language. In addition, these programmes are also popular with first language students drawn from non-traditional academic backgrounds. Both cohorts experience difficulties with the academic genre requirements associated with study at postgraduate level, and these difficulties impact on the successful completion of their studies. Research indicates that students benefit most from academic literacy instruction when this instruction is contextualised in the relevant discipline area. This article describes the attempt of two lecturers, one an applied linguist, the other a discipline expert, to develop credit bearing papers that would address students’ academic literacy challenges using a contextualised discipline specific approach.

Assessment for Learning: capturing the interest of diverse students on an academic writing module in postgraduate vocational education

ABSTRACT This article discusses the complexities surrounding the teaching of a critical thinking and academic writing module on a vocational postgraduate programme. Students enrolled on this programme are strongly industry focused and often fail to see the relevance of such a module, despite the fact that most are international students with English as their second language. Obtaining student buy in has been challenging, and initial feedback from students and discipline lecturers was disappointing. However, this frustration was the trigger for an innovative approach that adopted assessment design as the starting point in the restructuring of the module. The approach is based on the principles underpinning Assessment for Learning. Taking varied student interests and backgrounds into account was crucial in the restructuring and has led to a marked improvement in both the attitude and engagement of students.