Effects of Self-Imposed Barriers Towards Career Advancement of Women in The Hospitality Industry, 3-5 Star Hotels in Nakuru County

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.