Human capital is one of the most important stakeholders in the business, and the relationship between human capital and training is directly proportional. Equal opportunities between men and women are assumed as a focus of special attention on corporate social responsibility, through which ethical values are incorporated into corporate entities which recognize the inequality of opportunities as a handicap that should not be neglected by any business organization. Important points for the elaboration of this chapter are the recruitment and promotion of human resources in the tourism industry and an in-depth analysis of the weight of the legislative sphere on the ability to reduce the bias in terms of gender equality in the industry, especially in terms of management. This study aims to provide relevant arguments to support companies and employees in the human capital promotion, encouraging the quality improvement and competitiveness in the tourism industry.
TopIntroduction
The human capital of a company is configured as one of the most important stakeholders in the business due to a large extent corporate growth, as well as the positioning of the company, depends directly on it. The relationship between human capital and training is directly proportional, and in the case of the tourism industry, there is a gap in terms of a number of graduates in university education and occupation of management positions. This gap is reflected in the moment when the percentage of women with higher education surpasses that of their counterparts, and there is an inversion of the data in their presence in management positions.
Likewise, gender equity and equal opportunities between men and women are assumed as a focus of special attention on corporate social responsibility, through which ethical values are incorporated into corporate entities assuming a handicap to neglect this aspect for any business organization. The equality plans implemented in companies for which it is not mandatory, make up a point of distinction in their practices with the other competitors in the tourism market.
Another point taking into consideration for the elaboration of the chapter is the recruitment and promotion of human resources in the tourism industry. In terms of equality, the way in which the curriculum profile of women is analyzed and compared with that of men in interviews and recruitment for management positions is particularly attractive. Also, it is interesting to know about internal programs for the promotion, which combines experience and training, how it is facilitated, negotiated and communicated within the company. Furthermore, this expects to identify the presence and use of the sexist language within the companies of the tourism industry.
The importance of developing a competitive tourism, since this industry increases the national GDP and Spain is presented as a worldwide power, leads to the need for a sustainable planning in time and quality of the same, which should not be ignored an effective use of resources in both the public and private spheres. Tourism as a university discipline can be considered relatively recent, but it identifies the need to regulate a tourism that in many cases has grown in an uncontrolled way. The overload in destinations that deteriorates the environment and damages resources and tourist attractions reduces the competitiveness, made avoidable through an efficient management. However, when presenting this dichotomy training and occupation of management positions, (both in the public and private sector) reveals the need to present the current reality as a method of prevention and correction to such a situation that occurs in certain tourist enclaves.
The geographical location in which this chapter fits in the province of A Coruña (Galicia), several factors determine the mentioned choice. The first factor is the presence of the University of A Coruña, in which the degree in Tourism and the postgraduate degree in planning and management of tourist destinations and products are offered, it facilitates the observation of the behavior of future graduates as well as the percentage of women who occupy the classrooms. Therefore, the interest arises in analyzing the case in this location, given that following a previous study made by this research team a clear imbalance between men and women was identified, assuming the latter as those whose presence is significantly superior. Another factor lies in the remarkable growth of tourists each year and the presence of tourist enclaves such as Santiago de Compostela which is home to numerous tourists and visitors every year.
Recapitulating, the set of reasons mentioned above provide a suitable scenario for carrying out a qualitative study, and not less important, the authors with this study pretend to provide relevant argumentative able to support companies and employees in the human capital promotion, and at the same time, encourage the improvement of the quality and competitiveness of the tourism industry. While it is true that in general terms, the current scenario presented is not entirely encouraging to achieve tourism, as stated in previous paragraphs, sustainable and of long-term quality if management and utilization is not provided with the adequate and qualified human resources, but the visualization of the parameters allows the development of efforts of both parties (the companies and personnel) to achieve desiderated corrections.
The focus and objective of this chapter is to highlight the inequality of opportunities in the occupation and access of women to managerial positions in the industry to identify the barriers from being achieved. Women are dealing with the leadership ambition, promotional rate gap and knowing the performance of measures for gender equality, whether a hidden curriculum is being produced.