Facing gender bias in work relationships: a female tour guide perspective in Vietnam

Women tend to be disadvantaged at work due to the various problems based on gender discrimination. Women's employment tends to be segregated both vertically and horizontally and across a wide variety of sectors. Women face gender discrimination in a wide variety of sub-sectors of tourism ranging from hospitality to tour guiding. This study explores gender discrimination in the tourist guiding profession. By adopting a dyadic perspective, this study investigates the difficulties experienced by both female and male tour guides. A convenience sampling was used to collect data from 15 female and 15 male tour guides. In collecting data, semi-structured interviews were used. The data collected from the tour guides were analysed qualitatively. By comparing the difficulties experienced by the male and female tour guides, the extent and the nature of gender discrimination have been identified. Based on the outcomes of the study regarding the extent and nature of discrimination, policy guidelines are offered for the practitioners and the stakeholders.

Article by Paige Brown Jarreau, with special thanks to Dr. Samuel Caddick for editing and re-writing this piece into existence. Today is International Women's Day. There isn't a more fitting day to publish this article, which has been months in the making. This article was originally pitched to EMBO Reports, but for various reasons (including a critique that this article presents too many anecdotes without clear evidence that the examples represent what can be defendably defined as gender discrimination / harassment) the editors chose not to publish it. I have chosen to publish the article in full below, because I believe the voices of the women interviewed for this article speak for themselves and deserve to be heard. I'd like to thank every woman who spoke up to make this article possible. " I'm always a female scientist, I'm never just a scientist," said Caroline Simpson, an astronomer and professor in the Department of Physics at Florida International University. Simpson can count the number of women in her department of 27 faculty members on one hand. Simpson regularly encounters gender stereotypes that affect her confidence, even as a successful female researcher. "The first time someone says something [sexist], you shrug it off," she said. "The second time someone says something, you shrug it off. The 90th time, you stop shrugging it off." On the day that Simpson was interviewed for this article, she woke up to a sexist joke on Facebook posted by a male colleague. She spent the next two hours thinking about how to approach her colleague about the joke without reinforcing the stereotype that women overreact, she said. "It said something like: 'Newton's third law: For every male physicist's action, there is a female over-reaction,'" Simpson explained. "When I came into work today, I sat down to talk to him to explain that that was one of the most offensive things I've seen on Facebook. He was shocked. He had no idea, he said he thought it was 'ok' because he got it from a female scientist friend of his [...] if I hadn't said anything, he would never have realized what it was like from my perspective." Stacey Lance, an associate research scientist at a large US state university, has a similar anecdote about oblivious male colleagues. "I was out having a drink with a few male colleagues," she explained. "I went to the bathroom, and when I came back, I came in on a conversation. It was clear that they had been discussing the appearance of a female graduate student." Lance said she ended up getting into and losing a 40-minute debate with her colleagues about why their commenting on the appearance of a female graduate student was inappropriate. Most of the men "didn't get it", Lance said, and they could not understand why she was offended. There is growing recognition that a negative or "chilly" workplace climate-with regards to overt or subtle sexism, stereotype threat ( Smith et al. 2015), gender bias and discrimination-has affected the success of women faculty in science ( Settles et al. 2006; Clancy et al. 2014). At the root of such negative environments are gender bias and stereotypes, both of which can result in discrimination ( Moss-Racusin et al. 2012). In one study of elite women scientists from 1995, 73% reported some form of gender discrimination ( Sonnert, 1995). In a straw poll conducted on Twitter for this article (Sidebar A), 50 out of 55 respondents said they felt they had been treated differently because of their gender. It is natural to perceive instances of overt sexism as shocking but isolated events. But these events have subtler origins. In addition to overt instances of sexism, we must acknowledge and deal with gender-based stereotypes and bias as pervading psychological, structural, institutional and cultural issues. Mild instances of discrimination or even passive expressions of stereotypes can create hostile environments for women and minorities in science (*minorities including not only women, but women and men of color, LGBT individuals and those with disabilities). Even subtle and unintentional instances of gender discrimination can result in lowered self-confidence, decreased job satisfaction, and a sense of isolation for women in STEM fields. Previous studies have shown that stereotype threat (for example, the stereotype that males are generally better than females at solving math problems) can reduce women's performance on various STEM related tasks ( Appel, Kronberger & Aronson, 2011). "There are formal and informal structural mechanisms (e.g., discrimination, limited networking) that provide women scientists with fewer opportunities and more obstacles in their career paths, leading to lowered success, satisfaction, and retention in science," write Isis Settles and colleagues in a paper they published in Psychology of Women Quarterly ( Settles et al. 2006). What follows are the personal experiences of some women in various scientific fields that range from overt instances of sexual harassment to subtle examples of bias or discrimination. The latter might not seem particularly harmful in isolation, but on a day-to-day basis, they add up to make life significantly more difficult for women and minorities in science. From Gender Bias to Discrimination elen Walden is a principal investigator at the University of Dundee MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit. In 2015, Walden was only the third female researcher ever to be awarded the Colworth Medal, an annual Biochemical Society Award recognizing outstanding research by an early career biochemist. But even with all of her successes, Walden is acutely aware of and outspoken about sexism and structural inequalities in the scientific and academic communities. She has personally experienced both overt and subtle forms of sexism and gender bias, as well as the negative impacts of academic policies that favor the promotion of men over women. "We were known collectively as 'Gary's Girls'," Walden said of her time at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she was one of four other PhD students in her lab, all of whom were female. "I have to say that when I was in my early 20's, I never even noticed that that was strange. It felt affectionate." But as she moved on with her scientific career, Walden did begin to notice that things were said about women that would not be said about men. When she moved to Memphis, to St. Jude Children Hospital to do her postdoc, she had some professional issues with her lab group leader, who happened to be a woman. When she tried to talk to colleagues about these issues, she was met with blanket statements along the lines of 'that's just what women bosses are like'. "I had not considered that the way she behaved was female or male behavior, it was just her behavior," Walden said. "I was surprised by the 'women bosses are bitches' mentality that went on. I have a really hard time with this idea that men and women are fundamentally different." And yet there is a pervasive stereotype, held by many men and women alike, that women are more emotional in the workplace. A 2001 Gallup poll found that Americans associate the words "emotional," "affectionate," "talkative," "patient" and "creative" significantly more with women than with men, while they associate aggressiveness significantly more with men. Correcting this stereotype is hard, however. As Walden commented, people "feel threatened when you tell them that they are causing discrimination with their unconscious biases. Nobody wants to be called a sexist [...] Somehow we've reached a point where people are saying, 'well it's not me who's sexist,' and they are looking around at others, as if they are the only ones who have figured out the magic formula of not having any prejudices." While the majority of the sexist remarks Walden gets are "cartoonish," she says, other examples are more troubling. For example, a male colleague once told Walden he had decided against hiring women because, he argued, the European Research Council (ERC) doesn't make provisions on grants for maternity leave. Based on ERC Work Programe 2014 documentation, the ERC extends eligibility windows for applicants based on maternity leave, but no explicit provisions are made for funding duration based on maternity leave. "And this is my problem why?" Walden remembered thinking. "He should have taken this up with the councils that provide the funding. But simply by virtue of having boobs, I'm the one who gets told all of this. And I find that sexist." A PhD student interviewed for this article, who wished to remain anonymous, had a similar experience: she was told by a potential PhD advisor that he was worried about a possible pregnancy getting in the way of her fieldwork. This student had made no mention of such a possibility to the advisor, but she was newly married. "It was humiliating," she said. "For him to think I would consider putting the logistics end of my fieldwork in jeopardy by having a kid and not being able to go to the field, or that that was something that couldn't be discussed, really horrified me. I think that if I was a male in the same situation, same age, married, the assumption would be: 'He will just figure it out.' But for me it was shoved in my face. And that was one of the major factors for why I decided not to take the position." The Double Jeopardy Report from UC Hastings College of Law calls this the "prove-it-again" pattern: a stereotype that sets up an incongruity between being female and being a scientist such that women and other minorities must perform at a higher level than men to be seen as equally competent as men. Walden believes much of the hardship for women pursuing careers in science comes down to the small things, including the gender stereotypes and the unconscious biases that make the white male "look more like a scientist" than the female, regardless of experience or performance. In a 2006 study of young children's perceptions of scientists, only 5 out of 30 students drew a female scientist when asked to draw a picture of a scientist ( Buldu, 2006). Other "Draw-a-Scientist" tests have revealed similar patterns in gendered depictions of science and scientists. "In all the stock photographs of women 'doing science,' they're always young and beautiful, in the lab," Walden said. "Whereas in the photos of men doing science, it's older men in front of a lecture theater or holding force while everyone is looking at him with rapt attention. It's like it's fine for the women to be in trainee roles. It's just not fine for them to be in leadership roles." Being Female in the Field A bby Lawson is a PhD candidate studying alligator population ecology to inform harvest decisions in South Carolina. When Lawson first started working on an alligator project at Clemson, with a research group that was predominantly male, she says she was very respectful in terms of safety. "Not having worked with a predator before, I definitely didn't want to overstep my boundaries or put anybody in unsafe situations," she said. But when Lawson hired a male technician to help with her own alligator capture work, everything was different. "It was 'boom, boom, boom.' On my technician's third day, my collaborator said, 'Alright, I think that Mike [name changed] should hop on this next alligator, and we'll show him all the handling techniques.'" Lawson said. "I felt really foolish, because I had told [Mike] it was a really slow process to handle alligators, and that even I didn't do all parts of it." Lawson was hurt that her collaborators, with whom she had been working for several years, had never invested in teaching her the more physical alligator capture skills up front. "I regretted not being more assertive and asking to be trained," Lawson said. "These collaborators were all men whom I respected and genuinely enjoyed working with. Looking back, they probably didn't even realize they were acting discriminatory." Even with things like backing up a trailer or driving a boat in the field, Lawson says, her male colleagues tend to step in to complete these tasks without thinking or asking. "I think in fieldwork sometimes there's this sense of urgency, of 'no, we don't have time for you to take 40 minutes to back the trailer to the boat ramp, we need to go now,'" Lawson said. "And so I've started to, when I can, try to correct that, just deciding that no, I'm going to do this because it's going to save us time in the long run if everybody knows how to fulfill every role." Lawson has even had trouble accessing certain sites for her alligator research because landowners are sometimes hesitant to grant access to a female-only crew. Lawson finds it is easier for her to obtain access if she has a male technician with her. "As a female student, I feel like the type of sexism that we're warned about is mostly the blatant stereotypical kind that is actually the easiest to handle," Lawson said. "Like being accused of being on your period. That hardly ever happens, and if it does, it's corrected immediately," she said. "But I feel like it's the more subtle forms that are the real danger, and they aren't talked about enough." Lawson says she thinks the struggles for women in science and especially for women working in male-dominated field environments will only change when there are more women in the field, and also more women in positions of power within the scientific community. "I can see how the cycle perpetuates," Lawson said. "I wonder whether if I had an all female crew, would that restrict my access to certain sites? It's really hard to accept that that's a legitimate concern I have. [...] But I do think [the cycle] is slowing down. It's a very slow cultural shift, but as there are more women in science, I think it won't be seen as this novelty anymore." hristine Lee, an assistant professor of biological anthropology at California State University in Los Angeles, has been a trendsetter in terms of being the only woman on numerous bio-archeological digs. She studies the human skeletons that come from archeological excavations all over the world. But Lee admits that if she had known how uncomfortable some of the things she has experienced during fieldwork were going to be, she might not have ever gone. "If I had to tell myself when I was younger, 'you're going to have guys think that you'll sleep with anyone, you are going to have guys stare at your ass because you happen to be curvier,' I might not have done it." Lee warns graduate students who come through her lab that archeological fieldwork in foreign countries can involve uncomfortable situations. "There can be sexual harassment. And no one ever believes it," Lee said. "It's really strange; students never think it will happen to them." During her PhD studies, Lee traveled to Beijing for fieldwork and within the first month was sexually *assaulted at a banquet where she was the only woman sitting at a table with several high-ranking male professors. "Throughout the whole dinner, the professor sitting next to me [...] constantly put his hand on my thigh during the dinner, and I his hand up and putting it back on the to the point that my colleagues something was but it never to them what it could she said. "The thought that a high-ranking professor from a foreign would feel up a graduate student at a never to them." dinner, two Lee was working with in asked her how she the foreign professor who had been her at the "I told the two that if that ever happened not only was I and going back but I was going to tell everyone what happened and how they didn't take of Lee said. were and said, no, we just didn't what was that we that will never happen And it never did happen That professor was never But things like that are and And when other men are sitting there and they don't what to you that they are in on it." research that a of scientists in field up to to a study published in ( Clancy et al. experience sexual harassment at field And most of these scientists are students or early career and women. is to them when they are when they are most within the academic and of the study told in This might be a in the of young female scientists from fields such as harassment in the can to lowered job satisfaction, decreased job and lowered and other with gender discrimination in as a woman on archeological excavations in foreign countries own of gender-based Lee explained. She and graduate students have to their own very "I end up being the only female, or one of only a few Lee said. there's a certain way I have to and and [...] I try not to be noticed for being a if I can, in the field, because I've that it is and I've been told it's Lee doesn't and when working on excavations The few that she has and professional in the field, she has had male colleagues on her appearance in time, Lee the of a of into the On Lee everyone their and all is up on to it was really that I had this one really Lee said. "And the guys were all around dinner, and I them saying, do you think And I one of them that it must be I was what the When Lee the men about their they told her they her by her "If you don't think of it as just being it can be kind of Lee said. As an astronomer at the for also experiences field work as particularly I the only said. "I don't feel but it me feel like I She and when fieldwork. "It's not a but it might have something to do with not to out even more than I she said. female scientists are that this to not in a male-dominated is to their and power within the scientific community. For example, the of the was to have made at the of was a for young women to speak out against the sexist idea that they have or sexual or have been a for their male colleagues. Women with a A Lee was sexually *assaulted as a PhD student at a banquet during her fieldwork in it her being to her colleagues about the for them to it," she said. she has that sometimes it aggressiveness and even to by male But getting and up can as women might be as when they at the same time that men are for the same studies have that women are for that do not the stereotypes of their that the stereotypical of men ( Stacey Lance experienced the of up for when for a to that of her male colleagues. When Lance realized she had a that was much than that of her she a to her lab a "I had in my about the and of other people at my Lance in an conducted for this "I no negative about my I the several women colleagues who deal with women in science issues on their a I had and my who was an at a large their help I made I all of the to not just to make my But when Lance the to one of the who had asked to see she was told that the that would be as too "I don't how that's Lance said. "The I were that were from that were and and grant I was that I what I to the other people in my especially the Lance was awarded a a to the lab Lance says her of the issues women in science was when a lab was he out to the done by the "The change in was when he came Lance said. to me how every experience is going to be so just on where they end up and who up being of them." is an associate professor of at State University and has experienced a range of sexism and sexual as a woman in science, from to physical in a of in my said. had male faculty colleagues say to women who are a you do It's too hard on your are more subtle forms of sexism, but they make me an me Other has experienced are things like male her don't get she has even "If you I'm not she said. But she about the female and the of being a woman on a also gets about her in professional As a student, she had several male colleagues make overt sexual at her in field She has about her experiences on her Research many women, I have experienced sexism and blatant sexual harassment within the scientific community. I would never someone to simply up harassment. I have to put up with harassment and my sense of within science has as a in a published on her to the about the "It is to have to deal with these said. "The that I my experiences with me to because it was a very for me. And some of these things you off. But some of these things are And I don't think that the scientific how it is to come into a hostile when you are in certain That is something that I don't think scientists And I'm but it me want to It make me want to women in science. And I think that people of have a time, people with anybody who is has a time, I it me want to people in has like many women in STEM had her by her gender. She has been told that it is easier for her to get grant funding or other opportunities because she is a woman. Even funding in her of research is difficult to colleagues have her gender as a to explain her funding success, she says it will take more out on the of to help issues of sexism in a young female faculty at a say that she didn't think that one of the for a was she was a fine but she had taken some time to have a and her to a so she couldn't be a said. "And the department didn't say not Gender stereotypes about what women aren't or even stereotypes about what they are can have real impacts on the success of women in science as related by wished to remain for this She at a and says that in she has a work at on the But while she has the and experience to be in research within her her bosses have her more including research and are not the she would to be for her "I think the that I'm a woman into how some people with said. a scientist by I as a scientist, and I'm in such but I get way more in tasks than I do in my And I feel that a large of that is that I a woman. There are certain tasks that I'm asked to do that don't create with my gender. It's more to see a young woman or as to up with has also experienced more overt instances of sexism, including colleagues her and all in her other men, even she has the and to But these negative experiences are not as or as as is the blatant she gets to over is not in on her work, as to her and Research by the has shown that when it comes to and recognition in STEM female are of for to their field, including and but of research to their male colleagues ( & 2014). The is for in the field of and might be to stereotypes that what kind of and skills women are for in science. It is a to because it not involve but the of or even the of women to scientific that believe their gender. this bias is more than simply career for women. It can hiring decisions from the A study published in in revealed that a of and a student for a lab as and a when the student was as female. What is more is that this gender bias was both male and female faculty that or unconscious stereotypes are to There are pervasive cultural stereotypes that women as competent but their and with ( Moss-Racusin et al. 2012). The study while might not be to many female scientists who have with gender discrimination or the threat of gender discrimination their including were Walden in a article on the of sexual discrimination in science. found it hard to believe that the same could be so and with such in terms of and the of my career, I have always been acutely aware that I need to do better than a to a of being hired of from the clear issues of sexism, bias and discrimination that women even where do we go from can we begin to down gender stereotypes and women's sense of as and are a

Traveling is becoming more and more accessible, thus more people can come into contact with certain diseases while traveling. Various diseases are on the rise, especially because more people than ever before are traveling. Special groups of people who are traveling more than the average person are tour guides and tour managers, which increases their exposure to these diseases. The objective of this article is to see how much tour guides and tour managers know about health-related diseases that they may encounter when they are working. A link to an online questionnaire was sent by e-mail to 500 randomly selected tour guides and tour managers; we have collected 120 valid responses, which represent 24.00% of the selected sample of Slovenian tour guides and tour managers. We have found that tour guides and tour managers are acquainted with exposure to certain travelers' diseases, and but know relatively little about the symptoms. However, we have also found that tour guides and tour managers do know what the proper preventive measures for these diseases are in the majority of cases. The current state of knowledge in this area is still alarming, and tour guides and tour managers need to get educated or educate themselves mostly about the symptoms and also about preventive measures. Here we also see the possibility for travel agencies or professional associations to participate and help raise the awareness of risks posed by certain common travelers' diseases.

PropósitoLa integración de recursos de los turistas ofrece oportunidades y presenta desafíos para los proveedores de servicios turísticos. Centrándose en la perspectiva de los guías turísticos, este artículo explora cómo los guías turísticos experimentan una asimetría basada en conocimiento/información en encuentros con turistas, e identifica los roles y estrategias de afrontamiento utilizados por los guías para facilitar la coproducción de servicios.MetodologíaLa técnica de incidentes críticos (CIT) se utiliza en entrevistas cualitativas con 47 guías turísticos en Escocia, ampliamente representativos del contexto de los guías turísticos escoceses. Se analizaron 107 incidentes críticos, con una media de 2,32 incidentes por entrevista. El análisis narrativo de los incidentes se realizó de forma inductiva en cuatro pasos iterativos utilizando QSR NVivo.HallazgosSe identifican tres categorías de incidentes de asimetría de recursos: 1) Sondeo: los turistas interrogan a Guide-Oracle y lo afronta mediante estrategias de desvío, evasión y seguimiento; 2) Aprendizaje: Guide-Magpie aprende de turistas expertos a través del reconocimiento y la entrega conjunta; y 3) Negociación: el guía-diplomático con mayor conocimiento ayuda a los turistas descarriados a salvar las apariencias apaciguándolos, siguiendo la línea oficial y corrigiendo con tacto.OriginalidadEl artículo contribuye a la investigación de la coproducción de servicios en el turismo al teorizar sobre contextos donde existe asimetría de conocimiento/información entre guías turísticos y turistas, particularmente donde ocurren relaciones de poder fluidas entre guías y turistas conocedores, o donde turistas equivocados coproducen el servicio priorizando propios significados. Los hallazgos resaltan la importancia de las habilidades interpersonales y otras capacidades de los guías no relacionadas con el contenido, y se ofrecen sugerencias para iniciativas efectivas de capacitación e intercambio de recursos/aprendizaje para los servicios de guías turísticos.

Travel and tourism industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that exists in all parts of the world. As a result, the nature of tour guiding and the skills required by an individual guide can vary widely. In order facilitate these demands it is recognizable that there is a need for tour operators and guides who are thoroughly adept in administrative and social aspects.Hence, it is crucial to train and develop the knowledge and skills of tour guiding to tourism and hospitality management students.The purpose of this study is to determine the awareness and relevance of tour guiding profession to hospitality and tourism management students. The convenience sampling was employed in the selection of the participants of the study. A survey instrument was constructed as the data collection tool. This study utilized the non- parametric test for normality using mean scores, rank, and standard deviations were employed as descriptive statistics; while the Shapiro wilk, Kruskal- Wallis test for independent samples, Spearman Rho, and Mann Whitney, were employed as inferential statistics. The criterion for the acceptance or rejection of the null hypotheses was set at .05 alpha level. The study revealed that most participants assess their awareness level to tour guidingprofession as “highly aware.” Furthermore, a greater number of the participants perceived tour guiding profession as “highly relevant.” The test for normality using Mann- Whitney U Test and Kruskal- Wallis shows that no significant differences existed in their level of awareness and perceived relevance to tour guiding professionwhen they were classified according to sex and degree program pursued. However, positive and significant relationships existed between the participants’ level of awareness and relevance to tour guiding profession when they were taken as a whole and further classified as to sex, age, and degree program pursued, (p= . 000, p=> .05) Therefore, the null hypotheses must be rejected. The study concluded that an increase of awareness has a relationship on the relevance of tour guiding as a profession among hospitality and tourism students.

The study sought to explore the training challenges being faced in Zimbabwe’s tour guiding sector as perceived by the tour guides. A qualitative research methodology was followed whereby an interview guide was administered to 46 tour and field guides in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were applied to identify respondents. Data was thematically analysed using the NVivo software. Challenges noted include a disjointed tour guide training curriculum, a limited tour guide training curriculum, lack of a foreign language, limited tour guide training facilities, poor trainers, exorbitant training fees and lack of training programme evaluations and refresher courses and training programmes that are too theoretical. The study recommends an evaluation of the current tour guide training syllabi and the training durations, incorporation of experiential-based training approaches, train the trainers programmes, review of training fees and the unification of the current tour guide training institutions in Zimbabwe.

Tour guides contribute significantly to the enjoyment and satisfaction of tourist thereby promoting tourism worldwide. Unfortunately, in many developing countries, it has been problematic to locate a suitable tour guide for particular tourism or wildlife activities. Although in Tanzania, there are various efforts to ensuring tour guides are professional; however, there is no baseline information about tour guides that can help plan and promote tourism through a tour guide. Moreover, the registration process for tour guides are unnecessarily cyclical, costly and time-consuming. This study, therefore, seeks to design and implement a Tour Guide Portal that will facilitate access to tour guide information for the promotion of the tourism sector in Tanzania. The study employed qualitative and quantitative methods and has found that User Generated Contents through learning library, discussion forums and reviewing and rating tour guides, can enhance the tour guide profession. In this work, we used agile methodology through extreme programming to develop a tour guide portal. Further, we used real participants to execute task scenarios in combination with think-aloud protocol and system usability scale to evaluate the usability of tour guide portal. This evaluation has found that the tour guide portal is usable and suitable for tour guide management in Tanzania. Additionally, this study employed a lean canvas to create a business model that will determine the operationalisation of tour guide portal in Tanzania. The findings of this study imply that tour guide portal is a massive step towards promoting the tour guide profession in Tanzania. It will avail the tour guide statistics to the government, assist tourism stakeholders locating the right tour guide for a particular activity and consequently enhance tourism in Tanzania.

Tourist guides are one of the front-liners that undisputedly ascertain the success of any tourism activities conducted by the tourism enterprise. The touring activity would be more fruitful and enjoyable with the existence of a tourist guide. The law requires that any transportation of more than seven persons that has an element of tourism be escorted with a licensed tourist guide (requirement by MOTAC, enforceable in August 2014). However, this is rarely the case today as there is lacking in the demand for tourist guides even before the COVID-19 period. The development in information technologies causing difficulties to tourist guide to get assignments to continue their tour guiding jobs. They have to compete with online virtual information providers that could easily be available anywhere in the world. Thus, this paper would discover the relevance of tourist guide during this era by exploring the problems faced by a tourist guide in the tourism industry and suggest several solutions to the issues encountered by tourist guides in the execution of their job. A qualitative method was adopted in this study where several tourist guides and tourists were interviewed. This study found that tourist guides are still significant and relevant, some problems faced the current tourist guides. Several suggestions were proposed so that tourist guides could maintain their importance in the industry. The writers interviewed several tourist guides for the purpose of this writing via telephone calls, face to face meeting and in-depth written interviews. It is hoped that the outcome of this writing will help the legislature, policy makers and those involved in the tourism industry to bear in mind the role of tourist guides in their decision making.

Women are a considerable part of the population and contribute to every facet of life with significant participation in all professions, however, despite such advancements by women, there is still a gender bias in all walks of life including the medical field. This study aimed to evaluate the opportunities, challenges, and job satisfaction of women doctors in the workplace. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted among 165 women medical doctors living in Rivers State, Nigeria. Data was collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire and results have been reported as frequencies and percentages for categorical variables. Of the 165 women recruited, 62(37.6%) were working as resident doctors, 43(26.1%) were medical officers and 42(25.5%) consultants. Only 85(51.5%) women reported global satisfaction in their workplace while 69(41.8%) admitted to career satisfaction. Most of the respondents agree that their career has limited the time available to spend with their family (74.5%) and their friends (78.2%) outside their working environment. The greatest challenges perceived at work include poor work-life balance in 123(74.5%) and lack of career advancement opportunities in 46(27.9%) respondents. While 112 women doctors (67.9%) had experienced insubordination from a junior male colleague in the workplace, 75(45.5%) had experienced some form of physical violence in the workplace (from staff or patients). One hundred and twenty women (72.7%) had experienced some sort of sexual harassment from both their male colleagues and male patients in the workplace, with 11(6.7%) reporting frequent sexual harassment from their male colleagues. Gender disparities and bias do exist in the medical field and should be discouraged at every level. When there is a positive organizational culture and supportive environment at work, women medical professionals can offer excellent medical care and break both clinical and academic glass ceilings.

Tour guides play a crucial role as frontline personnel in the tourism sector. By leveraging their expertise in the attractions and cultural aspects of a destination, along with their effective communication with tourists using different languages. In fact, not all tour guides, even those who are certified, have good foreign language skills, resulting in interpretation errors in recognizing tourist destinations and their distinctive culture. This research aims to analyze the problems faced by tour guides related to English mastery. This research uses a qualitative method that allows researchers to gain an in-depth understanding of the problem under study through descriptive and interpretive data analysis. By conducting an interview, the researcher can explore various points of view and obtain data that is rich in context and then conclude with documentation. The results of this research show that tour guides in Sikka district have several problems. The first is the difficulty of communicating with tourists, especially those from Australia, China and France who have different accents and pronunciation of English than usual, so it is necessary to learn related listening skills and various accents and dialects of English from various countries. Then, the tour guide often found tourists who cannot speak English, so the role of technology such as translator applications is needed to overcome these problems. Furthermore, there are tour guides with non-English educational backgrounds so that periodic training needs to be held specifically for English according to the needs of tour guides. On the other hand, proficiency in vocabulary poses a significant challenge. An illustration of this can be seen in the case of tour guides specializing in the diver division, who are required to attain mastery in the vocabulary associated with marine biota. The role of the tourism department is needed by giving awards to tour guides so that the tour guide is motivated to improve their English skills.

Travel disruptions can incur real and perceived risks to tourists due to uncertainty, ambiguity and gaps in tacit knowledge. Tourism managers and stakeholders can reduce the threat of such risks through the introduction and development of trust between the tourists and the organisations and individuals they are in contact with. An established agent of risk reduction is the tour guide. Though the tourism context mitigates the relative importance of certain aspects of the tour guides’ role, these aspects necessarily remain in all circumstances, temporal and locational. The tour guide manages the visitor experience as a resulting from of travel disruptions and acts as an intermediary representing the interests of the tourist, the tourism organisation and the host community in the specific tourism context. From the visitor’s perspective, the tour guide acts as their intercultural mediator, and through the frequency of interactions, social capital can ensue, ultimately leading the tourist to develop trust in the tour guide. This research proposes a conceptual model identifying the key indicators of trustworthiness that inform the tourist’s overall trust in a tour guide during crises.

PurposeThe research paper aims to explore how tour guides can contribute to regenerative tourism and the ways in which natureculture guiding practices align with stakeholder interests and the perspectives of tourism futures.Design/methodology/approachThe ethnographic study used a multispecies approach to nature-based tourism in Arctic Norway and Sápmi, incorporating a Sámi methodology and non-human relationality.FindingsThe tour guides recognise that they are part of a more-than-human world and practice ethics that are responsible for their relations to non-human actors. Transformative experiences that are active learning opportunities can strengthen a sense of care within the tourists and pose as potential regenerative incomes in local communities, instead of extractive industries. Local knowledge and Sámi ways of being have a vital role in the tour guides' natureculture practices, which can revitalise cultural heritage and strengthen Indigenous empowerment.Practical implicationsThe article suggests that tourism management and local governments must prioritise the support of tour guide initiatives involving restorative properties for socio-ecological systems. Citizen science and cultural activities are some ways that can generate a thriving ecosystem and create meaningful interactions between local communities and tourists.Originality/valueThe research highlights the unique role of tour guides as intermediaries who can translate regenerative principles into action, communicate the essence of place and take part in innovative collaborations. Tour guide practices align with the stakeholder view that tourism futures should benefit the communities and respect ecological limits.

A comprehensive tourism destination must ensure that tourists are accompanied by a professional tour guide who guides and interprets attractions in the areas visited. The performance of tour guides in Kenya has been impacted by an undefined level of education, a lack of standardised training curriculum, and a lack of barriers to the guiding career. In Kenya, little research has been conducted to determine the role of guides in satisfying customers and protecting the environment. The study's goal was to look at tour guides' interpretation knowledge and their thoughts on areas that need more training to improve their performance. The researchers anticipated that tour guides' training needs are unaffected by their degree of education, work experience, or qualification. It is thought that guides will need further training in East African flora and fauna, cultural history, and client service. They must have ICT (Information Communications Technology) training, eco-tourism concepts, and the ability to communicate in at least one foreign language. According to the study, the higher a guide's level of training, the more resourceful the guide will be. The original data was collected using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups discussions (FGDs). The findings reveal that tour guides' perspectives on areas in which they need additional training are unaffected by their greatest degree of education, employment experience, or qualification. Most guides irrespective of their level of education, work experience and qualifications were of the opinion that they needed more training on mammals and plants (x2=1.07,df=2,P=0.583), training on birds and insects (x2=0.254,df=2,P=0.885) and training on culture and history of East Africa (x2=1.140,df=2,P=0.566). Respondents’ training needs were independent on the duration of tour guiding course training had taken. Guides trained for less than six months, one year and more than two years agreed that training on foreign language (x2=4.84,df=2,P=0.196), ecotourism principles (x2=1.62,df=2,P=0.653) and tour planning and costing (x2=399,df=3,P=0.262) would improve their performance. According to the findings, tour guides are aware of the areas in which they require training and should be consulted before such training is organised. Regardless of their degree of education, qualification, or work experience, they require more training. The findings mean that there is no significant relationship between tour guide professional qualification and their training needs. According to the study, tour guide curriculum should be standardised, and all guides should take an exam before being certified to guide, with only those who have such a licence being permitted to practise guiding.

The tour guide, as an interpreter, plays an important role in linking the destination and the tourists. What is the meaning of ‘interpretation’? According to Tilden (1957), interpretation is generally used for education, and the purpose of this particular education is to express the meanings and interactions between people and destinations (Weiler and Ham 2000; Ham and Weiler 2002). Interpretation differs from tour guide to tour guide, from place to place, and even between transportation types and the aims of travel (Weiler and Ham 2000; Ham and Weiler 2002). Tour quality is affected by the skill and capacity of the tour guide’s expert interpretation, performance and transfer of knowledge. Interpretation is not just a simple word, as it changes the form of communication in guided tours. Interpretation about cultural heritage is provided by print and electronic publications, public lectures, on-site and off-site installations that are directly related, educational programs, and community activities; ongoing research, training, and evaluation of the tour guide’s interpretation process itself is important. Tour guides are also representatives of sustainability. The aim of this study is to determine the role of tour guides as interpreters in sustainable cultural heritage tourism in Odunpazari. In this qualitative study, data were obtained from in-depth interviews. The tourism resources of Odunpazari were identified and compiled from secondary sources. In-depth interviews were conducted with the tour guides of Eskisehir, and the results of this study reveal that tour guides play a crucial interpretative role in transferring accurate information to supply sustainable tourism in Eskisehir. The tour guides included in this study are aware of what sustainability is, and they try their best to sustain cultural heritage tourism.

Empirical research has highlighted the persistence of gender bias over centuries despite the global initiatives to promote gender equality and remove gender bias in various spheres including education. The contents of educational materials like textbooks can exert a crucial role in shaping and reinforcing the learners’ views and perceptions especially about gender roles. Addressing gender bias in textbooks is necessary in fostering a more equitable educational environment equitable, hence, promoting equitable society for future generations. The present study examined gender bias in three ELT Indonesian textbooks for three levels of education (When English Rings a Bell for Grade VII, When English Rings a Bell for Grade VIII, and Think Globally and Act Locally for Grade IX). Specifically, it investigated the distribution, types and the representation of gender bias in these textbooks. It employed both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis to provide a more comprehensive outcomes on the gender bias presented in the textbooks. The findings indicate that gender bias is present in the three textbooks despite the urge by the Directorate General of Legislation and Regulations (2016) that textbooks must be devoid of gender stereotypes, bias, and discrimination. The portrayal of gender in the textbooks reinforces stereotype social constructs where men are depicted in leading and active roles, while women are usually shown in passive or secondary positions. This can affect the learners’ conscious and subconscious views on their own attitude, career choice and social behaviour. To develop educational materials that are free of gender-based stereotypes and reflect balanced representations of both genders, concerted effort from policy makers, educators, authors and publishers are important.