Abstract:
The general objective of this study was to assess the effect of self-imposed
barriers towards career advancement of women in the hospitality industry;
3–5-star hotels in Nakuru County. The specific objectives of the study were
the effect of family and work responsibilities, self-esteem, long working
hours and work and family life balance on career progression. The study
adopted descriptive research design using both qualitative and
quantitative approaches. The target population of the research was men
holding management positions and women across the operational
departments within the hotel including Front Office, Food and Beverage
Service, Food and Beverage Production, Housekeeping and Managers. The
sampling design used was stratified sampling design since the population
could be divided into departments and also purposive sampling technique
was used for the department heads. The sample size was 240 respondents
but only 196 respondents answered the questionnaires resulting to a
response rate of 81.7%. Data was collected using questionnaires where the
researcher went in person to the star rated hotels to deliver the
questionnaires. The findings of the study indicated that self-imposed
barriers hinder women from achieving career development in the hotel
industry. Based on the items provided on the questionnaire, most
respondents strongly agreed that work and family responsibilities
impacted their career growth with a mean of 4.5765 and a standard
deviation of 0.65575. Long working hours provided a mean of 4.5969 with
a standard deviation of 0.60408. It was further observed that self-esteem
had a mean of 3.0612 with a standard deviation of 1.23883. Balancing
between work and family matters had a mean of 4.5714 with a standard
deviation of 0.62429. There was varying levels of agreement with regards
to diminished self-esteem. This clearly indicated that each respondent had
a different view of how their self-confidence influenced their career
progress since it is a personal thing. It was also evident that the highest
number of respondents had challenges on their career development due to
the challenge of balancing between work and family matters.
