Gender stereotypes are also present in haute cuisine, where male chefs tend to dominate the workspace more, are more authoritarian and sometimes condition the career of women, who charge up to 28.3 percent less than they do.
This is confirmed by a study prepared by researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València, belonging to the Cuina group and the Business Organization Department, which reveals, in relation to leadership, female chefs are more "participatory and collaborative" and rely on the team that works with them.
Some examples offered were, for example, the last edition of the James Beard Gastronomic Awards to the best international chefs where of the 211 finalists only 30 were women, and that in 2014, of the 110 restaurants awarded with three Michelin stars, only six were run by women.
In salaries there are also important differences between both sexes, since the basic salary of women in the world of haute cuisine is 28.3% lower than that of men, according to the UPV. "Traditionally, in the domestic sphere, cooking has been associated with women, while restaurants and haute cuisine are still essentially a world of men, in which some masculine roles and stereotypes still persist," says José Albors, of the Department of Business Organization of the UPV.
From this reality emerged the study, which is part of Majd Haddaji's doctoral thesis and has been published in the Journal of Culinary Science & Technology with the supervision of José Albors and Purificación García Segovia.
To carry it out, researchers at the UPV gathered the opinion of eight leading chefs and co-owners of some of the most reputable restaurants in the Region of Valencia.
"The objective was to know their experience and personal experiences and if they had encountered any difficulties throughout their career as a woman, and what differences they would warn about their male colleagues," explains García.
Among the most important conclusions, the study ensures that chefs tend to dominate more the workspace and sometimes condition the career of women.
"This tendency is changing a bit now, but only for one particular reason: it's because the kitchens are now open so that the diner can see what's happening inside and hence stops undesirable behaviour,” the researcher points out.
On the other hand, Majd Haddaji also warns that the study reflects "a reality that, unfortunately, occurs in many sectors, which is that women, in this world of haute cuisine, need to demonstrate their skills much more than their male colleagues to get to the top. "
In addition, the empathy with other women in the kitchen is much greater if the head of the kitchen falls on a woman rather than a male chef.
During the work sessions, one of the chefs surveyed pointed out that, during the learning process, women have fewer opportunities to make decisions in a kitchen.
Another one of the interviewees pointed out that during the processes of creation -proposals of new ideas and concepts of dishes- the man is more important than the woman.
The study also analyses the leadership style of each other. In the case of female chefs, they stand out in most cases for being more participative and collaborative, relying on the team that works with them, while in the case of male chefs, the most predominant role is that of an authoritarian.
Regarding creativity in women, it is a much more a reflective process than in the case of their male partners.
The results of this research with Valencian chefs served as the starting point for a new study whose objective was to evaluate the expectations that cooking students have regarding their professional future.
There are significant differences in the expectations of professional growth based on gender, the same sources point out.
