It's Not You, It's Me—Women's Denial of Gendered Inequalities in the Event Industry

Emma Abson, James Kennell, Natalie Haynes, Charlotte Rowley and Elspeth Frew

Gender, Work and Organization, 2026, vol. 33, issue 1, 27-40

Abstract: Gender inequalities are a persistent barrier to career progression, including in industries predominantly occupied by women. This study used a Delphi study in the United Kingdom and Australia to analyze women's experiences of careers in the event industry—an inherently gendered context. We show that societal and business factors combine to create gendered inequality regimes, and this creates a wicked problem—women make up most of the workforce, but this is not reflected in the number of women in senior roles. This exploratory research suggests that women in events employ denial as an identity‐preservation strategy to cope with pervasive gender identity threats. This denial impacts women's individual career progression, as well as undermining collective struggles against group discrimination. We conclude by proposing a new model that explains contributing factors to gendered discrimination in female‐dominated industries, perspectives that can explain the adoption of denial as a coping strategy for women developing their careers within this, and the ways in which this can support the persistence of gendered inequality regimes.

Date: 2026
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