The Trouble with equal employment opportunity in the customer-oriented bureaucracy

Although Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) legislation was introduced in Australia two decades ago, women’s position in the labour market has not improved markedly. This paper is a ‘work in progress’ that seeks to understand the reasons for women’s lack of progress by examining the processes that underpin the (gendered) division of labour in the hotel sector using the analytical framework of customer-oriented bureaucracy. The study is qualitative in nature, consisting of case studies within the Australian luxury hotel industry. The findings suggest that the gendered division of labour within the hotels examined is established and maintained, at least in part, by the dual pressures of customer orientation and bureaucracy. In addition however, the results highlight the importance of supply-related factors, indicating that the concept of customer oriented bureaucracy, in its current form, only partially accounts for gender segregation. Policy regarding EEO in Australian firms requires re-visiting and rethinking if more substantive and lasting changes are to be achieved by women.