Semantic Analysis of women's identity construction in tourism (Case study: women working in ecolodges of Kerman province)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Tourism Management, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Identity shows the origin and focus of a person's values. People define their social identity by joining different social groups. Social background, social interactions and gaining different experiences are the main fields of forming people's social identity. Tourism industry as a service industry whose development brings many economic, social and cultural changes for a society and human interactions play an important role in it, can have a significant impact on the formation of people's identity and their identity changes. Experiencing new opportunities through development of tourism can affect how women know themselves and rebuild their identity. As a large part of the workforce in the tourism industry, women are exposed to identity changes and transformations by being members of different groups and working in the new context of tourism, which is sometimes in conflict with their traditional values.The main goal of this research is to provide a thematic network analysis of the identity construction of women working in tourism, and specifically women working in ecolodges of Kerman province. In this regard, based on the interpretive approach, qualitative methodology has been chosen, and answers to the research questions and objectives have been chosen based on ethnography.
In ethnographic research, the sample size is different based on the time, the studied people and the research field. In this research, the sample size was selected based on the fact that the people have experience in establishing and working in one of the ecolodges of Kerman province and have enough time to answer the questions as well as personal desire. This group of women was selected as the informants of the research and the in-depth interview with them continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The researcher reached theoretical saturation after conducting fifteen interviews, however, she continued the interviews to twenty women. Necessary criteria for the selection of informants, including compliance with the maximum diversity of people in terms of age, education, social class, religion, ethnicity, city of residence and geographical area of residence, have been taken into consideration.
Attride-Stirling theme network analysis was used for data analysis. In the six-step process of analysis, 88 initial codes were reduced to 33 basic theme, 13 organizing themes, and a global theme of "women's identity transition from traditional dependence to modern independence in the context of tourism". The analysis of the theme network indicates that the experience of new opportunities through the development of tourism along with the positive and negative lived experiences of women in the past and now, as well as the activity in the existing social and cultural context, which includes the transformation of women's gender identity, women's beliefs in identity building, deconstruction cultural and social and feeling the need for change, leads to the construction of identity in different dimensions, including emotional construction of identity, psychological construction of identity, construction of communication identity, construction of local identity, construction of occupational identity, construction of economic identity, construction of dignity identity and construction of socially independent identity. These identity processes are the result of the interaction of women who have been involved in personal issues in the field of family institutions before entering the world of tourism, with the endless world of tourism and its various managerial, political, economic, cultural and social aspects. 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Adli, M. (2022). The concept of identity in the business world: towards investigation. International Journal of Humanities, Philosophy and Language, 5(18), 23-31.
Aghazamani, Y. (2018). Pathways to women’s empowerment in northern Iran. Phd Dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University.
Annes, A., & Wright, W. (2015). Creating a room of one’s own: French farm women, agritourism and the pursuit of empowerment. Women’s Studies International Forum, 53, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2015.08.002
Arroyo, C. G., Barbieri, C., Sotomayor, S., & Knollenberg, W. (2019). Cultivating women’s empowerment through agritourism: Evidence from Andean communities. Sustainability, 11(11), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113058
Alrwajfah, M. M., Almeida-García, F., & Cortés-Macías, R. (2020). Females' perspectives on tourism's impact and their employment in the sector: The case of Petra, Jordan. Tourism Management, 78, 104069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.104069
Attride-Stirling, J. (2001). Thematic networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 385-405. London: Sage.
Carvalho, I., Costa, C., Lykke, N., & Torres, A. (2019). Beyond the glass ceiling: Gendering tourism management. Annals of Tourism Research, 75, 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2018.12.022
Carvalho, I., Costa, C., Lykke, N., Torres, A., & Wahl, A. (2018).Women at the top of tourism organizations: Views from the glass roof. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 17(4), 397-422. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2018.1449551
Cave, P., & Kilic, S. (2010). The Role of Women in Tourism Employment With Special Reference to Antalya, Turkey. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 19(3), 280-292. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368621003591400
 Creswell, J. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & reasearch design (2nd Ed.). California: Sage Publication.
Dickens, D., Womack, V., & Dimes, T. (2019). Managing hypervisibility: an exploration of theory and research on identity shifting strategies in the workplace among black women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 24, 153-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.10.008
Koc, E. (2020). Do women make better in tourism and hospitality? A conceptual review from a customer satisfaction and service quality perspective. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 21(4), 402-429. https://doi.org/10.1080/1528008X.2019.1672234
Fatterman, D. M. (2010). Ethnography: step by step (3rd Ed.). London: Sage.
Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (1990). How to design and evaluate research in education. Mcgraw-Hill College.
Gidenz, A. (2019). Modernity and individuality. Translated by N. Movafaghiyan. Tehran: Ney Publishing. (In Persian)
Hill,A., Watson, J., & Rivers, D. (2007). Key Themes in Interpersonal Communication: Culture, Identities, and Performances. Poland: Oz Graf.
Hoque, M., & Itohara, Y. (2009). Women empowerment through participation in Micro-Credit programme: a case study from Bangladesh. Journal of Social Sciences, 5(3), 244-250. http://dx.doi.org/10.3844/jssp.2009.244.250
Jenkins, R. (2015). Social Identity. Translated by T. Yarahmadi.Tehran: Shirazeh Publishing. (In Persian)
Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435-464. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00125
Khani, F. (2011). A gender analysis of understanding the effects of rural tourism, case study: Kon Soleghan villages in the northwest of Tehran. Journal of Rural Development, 4, 25-44. (In Persian)
Kojasteh, H. (2008). Structuring women's identity. Research and Assessment, 14(52), 35-56. https://doi.org/10.22082/cr.2007.24206 (In Persian)
Lowerberg, J. S. (1993). Interpretive Research Methodology Broadening the Dialogue. Department of Community Health Care Systems. University of Washington School of Nursing. Seattle.
Michael, H., & Abrams, D. (1998). Social identifications: a social psychology of intergroup relations and group processes. London: Routledge.
Mohamadtaghi, I. (2012). Qualitative research methodology. Qom: Research institute. (In Persian)
Movono, A., & Dahles, H. (2017). Female empowerment and tourism: A focus on businesses in a Fijian village. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 22(6), 681–692. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2017.1308397
Moswete, N., & Lacey, G. (2015). Women cannot lead: Empowering women through cultural tourism in Botswana. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(4), 600–617. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2014.986488
Hutchings, K., Moyle, C. L., Chai, A., Garofano, N., & Moore, S. (2020). Segregation of women in tourism employment in the APEC region. Tourism Management Perspectives, 34, 100655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100655
Nassani, A. A., Aldakhil, A. M., Abro, M. M. Q., Islam, T., & Zaman, K. (2019). The impact of tourism and finance on women empowerment. Journal of Policy Modeling, 41(2), 234–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2018.12.001
Neuman, L. (2006). Social research methods: quantitative and qualitative approaches (4th Ed.). London, Allyn and Bacon.
Panta, S. K., & Thapa, B. (2017). Entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment in gateway communities of Bardia National Park, Nepal. Journal of Ecotourism, 17(1), 20–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2017.1299743
Patton, M. (1980). Qualitative Evaluation Methods. California: Sage Publication.
Jenkins, R. (1996). Social Identity. London: Routledge.
Radel, K., & Hillman, W. (2018). Emancipation through tourism entrepreneurship for women in Nepal-'Empowerment Entrepreneurship'. In CAUTHE 2018: Get Smart: Paradoxes and Possibilities in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Education and Research (pp. 269-281). Newcastle, NSW: Newcastle Business School, The University of Newcastle.
Rupert, B. (2000). Group processes. Oxford: Blackwell.
Sarukhani, B., & Rafatjah, M. (2004). Women and the redefinition of social identity. Iran Sociology Journal, 5(2), 133-160. http://dx.doi???? (In Persian)   
Scheyvens, R. (1999). Ecotourism and the empowerment of local communities. Tourism Management, 20(2), 245-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(98)00069-7
Sen, G., & Mukherjee, A. (2014). No empowerment without rights, no rights without politics: Gender-equality, MDGs and the post-2015 development agenda. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 15(23), 188-202. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2014.884057
Sheikh, S., Ar, A. A., Yousafzai, S., & Saeed, S. (2017). Opportunity discovery and creation of female entrepreneurs in Welsh and Turkish entrepreneurial ecosystem: A social capital perspective. Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference 3–5 April, Bangkok, Thailand.
Stella, T. T. (1999). Communicating across cultures. New York: Guildford Press.
Tran, L., & Walter, P. (2014). Ecotourism, gender and development in Northern Vietnam. Annals of Tourism Research, 44, 116-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2013.09.005
Woman in Development & Politics
Volume 21, Issue 1
April 2023
Pages 82-53

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics