International Women’s Day: An exploration into gender imbalance in the restaurant industry

International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate women and their successes. It’s also a great opportunity to reflect on what it’s like to be a woman — paying attention to the opportunities, obstacles, and realities of womanhood, including where women are choosing to pursue their careers.

Hospitality is a huge industry with over 2.4 million employees (Statista), which suggests that there is room for all to pursue a career within it. However, evidence like the gender pay gap and the lack of women running restaurants, bars, hotels, and other hospitality environments tells a different story. Here, catering equipment and supplies providers Mitchell & Cooper share some insight into the problem and speak to women who work in the industry to get their perspectives.

Where are all the women?

While the gender imbalance in hospitality has been improving since 2017 (Big Hospitality), there is still a long way to go towards equality. In the UK, only 18.5 per cent of professional chefs are women (Delicious), and this gap is present at the top of the ladder too — of the UK’s 12 three-star Michelin restaurants, just two are owned by women (Michelin), and just one female chef made it to the top 10 of the Best Chef Awards’ 100 best chefs of 2022 (Best Chef Awards).

Part of the problem may be the difference in pay between male and female hospitality workers. For restaurant and catering managers in the UK, the pay gap is currently at 7.3% (ONS). Other concerns may be that restaurant work is too physically demanding (VICE), time consuming, and inflexible to appeal to women.

Most alarmingly, across the pond in the US, 71% of female restaurant workers have reported being sexually harassed by customers or their superiors (One Fair Wage). This could be giving the industry a reputation that’s discouraging of women away from roles in hospitality here in the UK.

How to encourage more female talent to pursue roles in hospitality
If you’re looking for ways to support your staff or encourage more female talent to pursue roles in hospitality, or if you’re a woman wondering how to make it in the industry, there are a few key areas to consider.

Emphasise the different pathways into hospitality

One of the main attractions of a career in hospitality is that there are so many different roles and routes into it. From part-time roles and temp work to management fast-tracking, culinary school, and more, there are plenty of different ways for women to get started in hospitality or switch roles within the industry — it’s just a case of making these different avenues clear.

We spoke to three women at the same place of work, hospitality staffing agency Off To Work, to ask them about the different routes they used to enter the hospitality industry.

• Katie Francis, former chef and Assistant Branch Manager, says: “I was lucky enough to travel a lot when I was growing up, and I remember trying sashimi, teppanyaki and shabu shabu in Japan when I was eight. That exposure to other cultures and cuisines definitely sparked my love of food and set me on my culinary journey.
• “After a diploma at Edinburgh’s School of Food and Wine, I started my career as a chef at the Hilton in Edinburgh and then various 4- and 5-star hotels. After a stint in London working at high-end hotels and contract catering companies, I took the opportunity to work at a leading hotel on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I now support catering clients providing chefs on a temporary and casual basis.”
• Katie Pearce, Director of Operations, says: “I started out working in 4-star hotels in Dublin and Birmingham, before joining the hospitality staffing team at the NEC Group. I then joined Off to Work as a General Manager for the Birmingham office and since then have grown our regional presence with offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol and Oxford.”
• Lucie Edwards, Director of Operations, adds: “I joined the Off to Work team as a casual event worker during my second year of studies at Goldsmith’s College London. Working at many exclusive and prestigious events, including serving Princes William and Harry at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Westminster’s daughter, I fell in love with the atmosphere of the events industry. “After winning the Off to Work Employee of the Year award in 2004 (with a trip to St Tropez at the prize) I joined the operations team and since then have progressed to my current position which oversees our staffing operations.”

Women tend to be more hesitant than men when it comes to looking for work. They are less likely to apply for a job if they don’t feel they meet 100% of the criteria (LinkedIn), which can mean they’re missing out on opportunities they’d do perfectly well in. While more can be done to convince women to aim for the jobs they want, highlighting the different ways into the industry can help women to pursue roles in hospitality that they feel suit their skill set best.

For example, not all hospitality roles involve cheffing or bar work — there is plenty of room for people with project management, operations, and marketing experience.  

• Alison Boutoille, founder of CityStack, says: “I arrived in London in the middle of the pandemic. I fell in love with the pub culture and was fascinated by how Brits consider a pub as an extension of their living room. But I was sorry to see how people deserted these amazing places dedicated to gatherings.
• “So I decided to give some support (I have a marketing background) and launched this unique gift idea: a £20 stack of beer mats that offers £100 worth of food and drinks at ten independent pubs.
• “In October 2021, I was able to select ten amazing independent pubs ready to kickstart the adventure with me, and we launched a two-week crowdfunding campaign for Christmas, which we overachieved in a short period of time. My network has been very supportive and so have the pubs, as people are very sensitive to the support of these independent businesses. I was able to buy our first coasters, the packaging, and the booklets, and spent a few nights after work assembling the packs.
• “Since then, we started to generate sales both online and in retail independent shops. More pubs are reaching out to join the programme and we might launch new versions soon to promote more independent pubs.”

Fight misconceptions about the industry

There are preconceptions about working in hospitality that may be preventing women from applying for roles or succeeding within the industry — particularly those that aren’t positive towards women. For example, kitchens are often seen as a masculine environment, while more feminine roles within cheffing are assumed to be baking and pastry-making. However, many of these perceptions are incorrect.

• Katie Francis says: “[Restaurant work can be] a male-dominated environment where there is an assumption that if you’re a female chef you’ll ‘just be doing pastry’. There is a stereotypical view of the main kitchen being this blokey, masculine environment which in most restaurants couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Another misconception may be the skills required to do well in hospitality. Not only are the majority skills that anyone can learn, but in many cases, knowledge, experience, and willingness to learn more important than formal skills or qualifications.

• Katie Pearce says: “There really is no substitute for lived experience, so get out there and get your hands dirty! It’s also vital to keep your skills up to date even as you progress up the career ladder, it will give you and understanding and empathy for your team. For example, I recently dusted off my hospitality uniform to help our clients at the Resorts World Arena for The Concert for Ukraine. It was an incredible opportunity to give something back and refresh those hospitality skills.”
• Kate Francis agrees: “Try to soak up as much information as you can from your head chef and other colleagues. If you pay attention, you’ll pick up a lifetime’s worth of tricks to help improve your process.”
• Lucie Edwards adds: “Always push yourself to be learning new skills and techniques. Moving out of your comfort zone can be scary, but it’s always worth it.”
• Alison Boutoille continues: “I think the most challenging thing for women is to build enough confidence. I would recommend women to always try to assess themselves as objectively possible and compare their skills with others. Most of the time, they'll notice they are as confident (or more!) as anyone else they know in the industry. 

Remove obstacles for women working in hospitality

It can be difficult for those with families and other commitments outside of work to pursue roles in hospitality when so much of it takes place in the evenings and on weekends. Flexible working options and rotas that are sympathetic to childcare and other commitments can help, but there are still unsolved issues surrounding more serious obstacles such as maternity leave and the gender pay gap.

• Kate Francis continues: “I think there are a lot of issues around maternity leave and pay which need to be looked at. Concerns around this are a massive barrier to women wanting to join the industry. A review of working hours and shift patterns is [also] needed. Yes, hospitality service usually means some evening and weekend work is required, but flexible and open-minded employers can and should manage a rota to fit around other commitments such as childcare.”
• Lucie Edwards agrees: “Hospitality is well known for long and often unsociable hours. However, it is possible to manage your rotas so that your team don’t have to be on shift from dawn until late in the night. Live event service will always be busy, but you can be clever with your prep time and scheduling shifts so that your team is refreshed and ready to go.”

Employers who address these concerns may find that more women are attracted towards roles in their restaurant or bar. Of course, these policies would benefit everyone —not just women with families. But the fact remains that better maternity leave and more flexibility are something women look for in a job, with Personnel Today reporting that 52% of women have considered leaving their job due to lack of flexible working options.

Opportunities to advance are another crucial aspect of a career that women value, so it’s important to communicate — or establish — a career ladder within your establishment that offers clear paths for progression.

• Katie Pierce continues: “Having a clear progression plan for your employees is key. There was a study done by McKinsey which suggested that having opportunity to advance was one of the most common reasons for women switching jobs. This year a big focus for us is reviewing the training and progression options for our casual pool of event workers and for our internal team.”
• Alison Boutoille adds: “The more the workplace will welcome women, the easier it will be for other young women to feel confident enough to join the teams. The teams must be as gender-balanced as possible to attract women.”

References and further reading:

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/ 

https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2017/10/16/Number-of-female-chefs-in-UK-rises-by-a-third 

https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/where-are-all-the-female-chefs/ 

https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/restaurants/3-stars-michelin 

https://thebestchefawards.com/top100-the-best-chef-2022/ 

https:/www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2022/        

https://www.vice.com/en/article/3dmje8/we-asked-male-chefs-why-there-are-so-few-females-in-professional-kitchens 

https://onefairwage.site/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/OFW_TheTippingPoint_3-1.pdf 

https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/women-flexibility-at-work-linkedin-research/