Woman’s Day 2022
Blog by Cheryl Cordier
The hashtag this year for International Womans Day is #breakthebias and #IWD2022 One of the reasons this is close to our hearts is because the hospitality industry is often made out to be a man’s world! I remember years ago being told by my own mother that entering this industry was going to be difficult and mainly men succeeded in hospitality. This was again repeated to me when I applied for a General Manager job only to be told the hotel group I was working in, had 60 hotels in the hotel chain and each one had a Deputy General Manager who was male – I was the only female, so would basically be 60th on the list to get the next General Manager job! This spurred me to leave the hotel industry and start my own catering business from home at the age of 22.
We asked Chef Ben, International Culinary Studio’s Academic Head, his opinion on woman in the culinary world and what his experiences were with woman, his response was not surprising, he found woman to be more caring and considerate of their colleagues. The best executive chef he ever worked under was a woman, she was very motivating, empathetic, willing to teach him and nurtured the junior chefs.
Chef Liz Maynard one of our Alumni said “As a woman who has been in the industry for the past 30 years, I have always had to prove myself more than a male in the industry. The pay inequality is very real. I was being offered $10 000 – $15 000 less per year than my male colleagues and this is often still the case – I now do not accept the lower pay but I am always offered a lower pay rate. I have been told by past students that when I teach them, they learn more from me than from a male chef. I am clearer and more concise and do not scream at them. They have said I am calmer and have a nurturing manner in the kitchen and were able to understand my instructions and they have learnt more from me than anyone else as I am more approachable!”
In 2020, International Culinary Studio ran a competition to find the best chef of all time in New Zealand. The winner was clear – Alison Holst. She has nominated from 100’s of entrants with most entrants saying she had influenced them the most with her approach in the kitchen. Runner up was Nadia Lim, another influential woman chef.
Clearly women chef’s have an important place in the culinary industry and deserve to be recognised and paid accordingly.
Read more about the theme for this year’s Woman’s Day here:
The theme for International Womans Day, 8 March 2022 (IWD 2022) is, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, recognizing the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all.
International Culinary Studio is proud to support #IWD2022 and support woman in the Culinary Industry.