Reshaping gender in airline employment

Whitney E. Smith, Scott Cohen, Albert N. Kimbu and Anna de Jong

Annals of Tourism Research, 2021, vol. 89, issue C

Abstract: Air transport and tourism are interdependent systems wherein representations of gender are shaped by organisational cultures. Although airlines have progressed their gender balance, cabin crew work remains archetypically feminine. Taking a feminist poststructuralist approach, this paper uses thematic document analysis to examine how gendered discourses are constituted within airline organisational narratives through text, gestures and symbolic signs. Findings reveal that while airlines work to increase gender equality in employment practices, their efforts predominantly focus on the cockpit, neglecting roles beyond the flight deck. The paper recommends airlines broaden their gender equity focus to all roles and provides a basis for reshaping airlines' gender policies and practices.

Keywords: Masculinities; Femininities; Airlines; Gender performance; Gendered work; Feminist poststructuralism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:89:y:2021:i:c:s0160738321000967

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2021.103221

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