Assessing gender representation in knowledge production: a critical analysis of UNWTO’s planned events

Abstract

With critical feminism as its epistemological lens, this study employed a content analysis on the 121 events organised and/or held by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 2017. The aim was to investigate where UNWTO stands in terms of knowledge production, and to what extent if any, the invited speakers reinforce stereotypes that undermine women’s expertise and intellectual competencies; or meet their goals to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in tourism. Data on gender was intersected with ethnicity for a more dynamic understanding of how tourism knowledge is produced and disseminated. This paper provides a compelling case study for how the marginalisation of gender and its intersection with ethnicity can be explained by enduring forms of implicit bias, including both unconscious sexism and racism. The study contributes to knowledge by extending the audit of gender representation in tourism knowledge production beyond academe. It identifies the notion of femwashing and proposes a conceptual framework of tourism knowledge production. Actionable recommendations are provided to promote the fifth United Nation’s sustainable development goal (i.e. gender equality) at an institutional level.

Keywords:

• Gender equality
• gender representation
• event
• tourism
• UNWTO
• UNSDGs

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Griffith Institute for Tourism.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore

Dr Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore is a Senior Lecturer at Griffith University, Australia. Catheryn’s research interest is on tourist and guest behaviour, with a passionate focus on women, families and young children and on understanding these segments from an Asian perspective. Catheryn has co-published two books: Asian Genders in Tourism and Women and Travel. Catheryn is Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Management Perspectives and serves on the editorial boards of several other tourism and hospitality journals. She is Second Vice-Chair of The Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE). She is also the founder and chair of Women Academics in Tourism (WAiT).

Elaine Chiao Ling Yang

Dr Elaine Chiao Ling Yang is a Lecture in the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University. She holds a PhD in Tourism from Griffith University. Elaine’s research interest lies in the areas of Asian tourism, female travellers and tourist risk perception. Her works have been published in Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, Current Issues in Tourism, and Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management. Elaine is an editorial board member of Tourism Management Perspectives and Annals of Leisure Research. She is also a volunteer administrator of Women Academics in Tourism (WAiT).

Jess Sanggyeong Je

Jess Sanggyeong Je is an Honours student in the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University. She is investigating the complexities of implicit gender and racial bias of speakers at business events, under the supervision of Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore.