Gender Discrimination at Job Application Process: An Experimental Study at Hotels

Özet

Purpose – This study aims to examine gender discrimination during the employee hiring process in the hotel industry which is considered as the largest subsector of the tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach – The population of the study consists of a total of 27 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels located in Eskisehir. The study utilized an experimental method to collect data from 23 hotels. Findings – Findings indicate no sign of gender discrimination at 4-star and 5-star hotels’ job application interview process. However, evidence of gender discrimination was found at 57% of 3-star hotels’ job applications. Discussion – Hotels in Eskisehir do not discriminate applications on purpose. However, some hotels discriminate applicants unintentionally. This mostly occurs due to managers' lack of broader knowledge about the discrimination concept.