Difficulties in Career Development of Female Chefs in the Bakery Industry

• Main Authors: Chang, Jui-Chuan, 張瑞娟
• Other Authors: Chen,Chien-Chung
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/00624103174036911753

碩士 === 世新大學 === 觀光學研究所(含碩專班) === 104 === How should female bakers and chefs deal with the various problems that come with working in a male-dominated environment? This research aims to help female bakers better understand workplace conditions and raise their ability to deal with problems they will face in the workplace in the future. In the past, there has been little discussion of research on issues relating to female bakers, especially the process of training female bakers, the length of time required to train them, the methods used to train them, the problems they face, and their future development. This research therefore investigates the ways that female bakers are cultivated, the issues they face, and their future career plans. The research was conducted through qualitative questionnaires and interviews. Research subjects were selected from among female bakers working in the restaurants of high-end international tourist hotels with an emphasis on the quality of service, chain and independent restaurants, and regular bakeries. A total of 40 currently employed female workers were interviewed, and the research includes 28 effective materials. The research shows that there is only one channel that is advantageous for the development of female baker’s careers, namely work in hotels. This is because companies that do not offer favorable working conditions often sacrifice employees from vulnerable groups. By contrast, hotels are larger scale operations, which means that they must carefully abide by the letter of Taiwan’s Labor Standards Law. The growing transparency of information also gives female bakers more opportunities to gain visibility. The research also shows that certain training paths lead to special qualities. From the analysis, we can see that female bakers trained in traditional bakeries are able to work more rigorously and perform better than bakers trained through other pathways. This is because the limited number of workers found in traditional bakeries doesn’t allow for the same fine division of labor found in hotel bakeries. Female bakers trained in this environment must steadily master each of the basic skills of baking. There are also big differences in the attitudes that female workers of different generations have towards the workplace. Those belonging to the older generation tend to have more conservative personalities. This means that women in the workplace must be particularly hardworking. They must also take great care in their interpersonal relations to prevent themselves from incurring coworkers’ or supervisors’ jealousy or dislike. This adds to their struggles in the workplace. This research is aimed at helping women interested in pursuing baking, bakers, bakery owners and managers, baking schools, and government agencies resolve the issues facing female bakers.