More women in leadership: how to enable change – ITB Berlin | News
A panel at ITB Berlin discussed the challenges faced by female leadership in the tourism sector from a practical and research perspective.
How do women reach the top management of large companies? What can make starting a career easier for them and how should they resist? These were the topics discussed during the panel discussion entitled “Courage, Power & Women in Action: Female Leadership in Tourism”. Katrin Rieger, Director of Travel Sales at HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung, who has held management positions in tourism for 18 years, knows the prejudices that women often face. She was often told: ‘You’re too nice’, but she is convinced that leadership can also succeed behind the scenes – without dominant behavior and with the involvement of male colleagues.
The dominance dilemma
There is a term for this in research: Role Congruity Theory, according to which deep-rooted stereotypes create a contradiction between soft, feminine characteristics and dominant leadership, explains Lisa-Marie Küchler. She wrote her master’s thesis on “Gender-equal leadership in Tourism” at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. She finds it all the more important to remain authentic and reinterpret leadership.
Maren Merken of Tourismus Turn and founder of communications agency Merksschoenberg knows the prejudices that assertive women face: they are quickly experienced as tiring and complicated. They need to break away from this. Over time, external recognition had become less important to her, she said. She advocates making room for insecurity in the workplace.
Tips for young professionals
Maren Merken advises young women to profile themselves at an early age and engage in self-marketing. Her advice is that competence often develops gradually, for example by doing. Katrin Rieger recommends building networks from the start and having confidence in yourself. Women tend to overthink decisions. Lisa-Marie Küchler believes that companies have a responsibility to attract more women to leadership positions by requiring gender-neutral skills in the recruitment process and offering flexible work schedules. This also pays off economically: gender-diverse teams achieve better results.
