The fifth edition of the Castell Project’s Women in Hospitality Industry Leadership Report shows that women in the hotel industry have gained representation in company leadership roles, such as CEO or president, from a ratio of 1 for every 11.2 men in 2019 to 1 for every 10.3 men in 2021. At the manager and director level, women now hold 1 in 2 hospitality brokerage positions and 1 in 6 at vice president, senior vice president and executive vice president roles.

The results show that leadership within the hotel industry is working on increasing representation of women, said Peggy Berg, founder and president of the Castell Project.

“Women in the industry are responding and performing beautifully to step up into these new roles,” she said.

Leadership Positions

Castell's mission is to see women in more than 1 in 3 leadership spots, Berg said. In chief positions such as CEO, chief financial officer and others, the ratio is now 3.4 men for every woman.

“We’re not at 1 [in] 3 yet, but we’re getting close,” she said. “We’re pleased we’re heading in the right direction.”

For the brokerage findings, Berg said she was pleased to see the improvements there because this section of the industry had some of the worst statistics a few years ago. In 2017, there were 10.1 men for every woman. Now it’s 7-1 ratio.

While there’s still a long way to go, there’s been a big improvement, and that shows they’re working on it, she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to openings throughout the hotel industry, including leadership positions, as people have left for jobs in other industries or retired. Berg said that while that does create opportunities for women to advance in their careers, the pandemic has led to more women feeling burned out in their roles.

A study by management company consulting firm McKinsey & Company found that women feel more burned out than they did a year ago, and the burnout gap between men and women has widened, she said. In the last year, 1 in 3 women have considered leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers.

“While there should be opportunities opening up, if we’re burning women out, particularly to the extent their thinking about leaving instead of continuing to grow with our industry and their company, we have a problem with reaching gender parity,” Berg said.

The industry overall has a big problem with talent retention and development, she said. Those are difficult to do when everyone is stressed, and there’s so much to do with so few people to do it, she said.

“We need to be smarter about how we are managing and developing our women at this time, more than any other time, both because we have this need and because we’re trying to overcome this undertow,” she said.

There are still some cultural changes that need to happen in hotel companies, and each company is different in its needs, she said. There are many that are simply old-fashioned, and that’s affecting these companies’ ability to attract, promote and retain talent, she said.

At the same time, there are skills that women need to develop, she said. There are restrictions that women have put on themselves as well, but they’re learning to grow beyond those.

Visibility at Conferences

The report also found that the number of women speaking at industry conference podiums has increased to 22%, up from 16% in 2017, when the Women in Hospitality Industry Leadership Report first launched. On the main stage, that number has increased from 17% to 20%.

That increase is great news, Berg said. Having more women at podiums and on panels makes the sessions more exciting, interesting and relevant. Hotel industry conference organizers have made a significant effort to increase the inclusion of women on panels, she added.

“It’s inspiring to the next generation coming up, of both men and women,” she said.

Industry conference organizers have made a significant effort in increasing the presence of women on panels, Berg said.

At the same time, women in the industry understand how important it is for them to be visible, she said.

“Sometimes it’s been hard in the past to get women to prioritize public appearances, and they’ll just say no,” she said. “Recently, they’ve been refocusing, and the women are saying, ‘Yes, we think it’s important to be visible,’ and they’ve been accepting the invitations.”

By Bryan Wroten