Business travel, risk, and safety of female university faculty and staff

ABSTRACT

Women constitute a significant portion of the total business travel market in the U.S. This study aimed to explore travel risk and safety issues among women in higher education who regularly travel for work. Three focus groups were conducted with female faculty and staff at a major public university in the U.S. Results of an inductive-deductive analysis indicated three major themes, namely, risk perception, risk treatment, and risk adoption. Findings provide insights into how female higher education employees perceive risk and safety during business trips, and their travel behaviour that include actions taken to mitigate the potential risks or time-to-time risky decisions about travel arrangements. Further, recommendations are made for enhancement of travel policies at the institutional level to ensure safety of female employees.

KEYWORDS:

• Travel risk
• safety
• female traveller
• business travel
• academic women

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mona Mirehie

Mona Mirehie is an assistant professor in the Department of Tourism, Event, and Sport Management at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis. Her research interests include tourism and recreational sports behavior and well-being outcomes, sport tourism with a focus on active and small-scale sport events, and sociology of tourism with a focus on gender.

B. Liu-Lastres

B. Liu-Lastres is an assistant professor in the Department of Tourism, Event, and Sport Management at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis. Her research interests mainly involve tourism crisis management. Her research agenda aims at promoting safe travel and ensuring the health and well-beings of key stakeholders in tourism.

A. Cecil

A. Cecil is a professor in the Department of Tourism, Event, and Sport Management at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis. Her research interests mainly involve trends and shifts in business travel and event management.

N. Jain

N. Jain is a graduate student in the Department of Tourism, Event, and Sport Management at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis.