Women's leadership in travel: What does the industry think?

Despite there being a clear business case for hiring women in leadership positions, there is still much to be done to advance the standing of women at travel companies.

That was one of the key takeaways at The Phocuswright Conference’s debut Women’s Leadership Initiative, a session dedicated to exploring what technology companies need to do to thrive in business.

The event provided a platform for travel company representatives - dubbed Phocuswright LeadHERs - to share how they’ve implemented women’s leadership initiatives at work.

During the session, Phocuswright also presented a survey on gender as well as unpacked how the travel technology ecosystem stacks up to other industries when it comes to promoting women’s leadership.

Among the issues discussed: According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, having women in leadership positions is associated with better team dynamics, stronger financial performance and greater productivity.

Deloitte’s “Smashing IT’s Glass Ceiling” makes a business case for gender-diverse teams in technology, citing improved operational and financial performance and increased innovation.

The World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2018” found that by 2020, the most needed skills will be emotional intelligence, people management, complex problem-solving and critical thinking - skills frequently attributed to women.

“Women Matter: The Business and Economic Case for Gender Diversity" by McKinsey & Co., reveals that companies with strong female representation on executive committees perform better than those without women in the C-suite.

What does the travel industry think?

Phocuswright’s 2018 gender survey reveals that on a scale of 1 to 5 - with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent - 31% of respondents give the travel industry a 2 with respect to gender parity. Some 30% rate it a 3, and just 9% rate it excellent.

When it comes to leadership roles, 28% agree that the travel industry provides an environment for a gender-neutral rise to leadership, while slightly more respondents - 31% - disagree.

Most respondents - 37% - also disagree that the travel industry provides a clear, available path for leadership cultivation. About 22% agree with that statement, while just 4% strongly agree.

More telling: 42% say leadership opportunities are not equally available to all employees; 29% believe they are, and only 3% strongly agree they are.

Some 71% of survey respondents rank enhancing information sources and diversity of thought as the top rationale for cultivating leadership in the travel industry, followed by providing an environment of fairness and equality at 51% and creating a business and competitive advantage and expanding the talent pool, both at 50%.

The biggest obstacles to overcome in order to rise in leadership positions include absence of a leadership track to cultivate talent (76%), followed by bias among management (52%) and lack of sufficient management training (46%).

The majority of respondents - 80% - say soft skills (leadership, innovation, creativity, teamwork and problem-solving) are becoming more important as technology continues to expand. Only 4% view soft skills as becoming less important.

There is a lack in initiatives to increase diversity, the study finds: Only 35% say their organizations have diversity or unconscious bias training, and 33% say they have equity in pay scale programs. About 32% say their companies have gender or race-neutral resume reviews, and 31% have established resource groups.

Just 27% of survey respondents say their organizations offer formal mentoring/leadership programs, while 60% say such initiatives are not available.

Following the Women’s Leadership Initiative event, PhocusWire continued the discussion on what travel companies can do address the issue of gender parity.

The studio session also looked at how having women in leadership roles can aid in development of women’s safety-focused travel products and services - another often-overlooked area in the industry.