Competencies for Female’s Career Pursuit in the Lodging Industry: Perspectives of Manageress in the Macao SAR

: The purpose of this study is to identify the areas of training that can better equip female practitioners in their career pursuit in Macao's lodging industry - the second largest industry after the gaming sector. The liberalization of the gaming sector happened in 2003 and brought about an explosive economic growth as well as a structural shift toward a gaming-industry dominated economy. By then, the number of hotel premises increased from 73 with 9,280 rooms in 2003 to 132 hotel premises with 42,000 rooms in 2020, and currently the lodging industry took up 7.8% of the total working population with 30,900 employees, among which 14,600 were female. In search of the competencies that increase the upward mobility of female practitioners in this industry, the study will adopt qualitative research methods through semi-structured interviews with 17 manageress in any section within the hotels. Thematic Content Analysis approach would be used for coding, theme identification, classification, and interpretation to examine and identify the competencies for manageress in Macao's lodging industry. Understanding this aspect would help educators to design and provide training for current and future manageress.