Glass ceiling in the culinary profession : can women chefs ever crack the glass ceiling that exists in the kitchen brigade hierarchy in 5 star and 4 star hotels in Malta?

Abstract

Food Preparation is an ability which seems to differ by gender. In the private domain of the homes, women always have the precedence for cooking family meals, however when cooking takes the public dimension of the hotels, males dominate these kitchens and have full access to the high-levels of the culinary profession. The study seeks to examine the situation of female Chefs in the hotel industry of the Maltese Islands. The focus of the study is to identify the hidden barriers which make up the gender glass ceiling in this profession and recommend measures to overcome them. Over a two week period various hotels in the 4* and 5* categories were contacted by telephone to get a better idea of the number of female Chefs currently working in these hotels and the positions they occupy. Results from this exercise shows that female Chefs are in a minority and concentrated in the low level jobs in these kitchens. Therefore the next stop was to attempt to find out what is keeping female Chefs from reaching the top positions. Thus seven face to face interviews were set up to achieve an in-depth understanding of the experiences of female Chefs reported in their own words and using their own frames of reference. The conclusions of this study show a thick glass ceiling in a stereotypical male dominated arena. Hence constructive recommendations are given to be considered as a means of addressing this issue.