Abstract

The aim of this book is to analyse and reflect on the effect of femininities in the field and the encountered biases specific to women researchers in tourism studies. The purpose of the book is to define potential areas of gender bias using international case studies from five continents to improve the validity and transparency of future research conducted by researchers in transcultural contexts. It covers broad themes including access, attire and conduct, sexual harassment, personal safety, and accompanied research and well-being. The volume provides case studies using reflexivity to create baselines for comparison for female (and male) researchers doing fieldwork and outlines potential areas of concern for supervisors through a transdisciplinary approach in a global context. It is an essential guide for supervisors, students, ethics committee members and any researchers.

I have been waiting for this publication all my life. Understanding the place of the researcher’s gender in fieldwork is fundamental to understanding the research itself. The personal accounts here are well written, moving and relatable, while challenging all researchers to be more reflective. This book is not only informative, but transformative – an essential addition to our bookshelves.

Brooke A. Porter is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at AUT University in New Zealand. She also serves as Scientific Adviser at Coral Triangle Conservancy and works as an Adjunct Professor at Umbra Institute, Italy. Her research interests include aquatic anthropology, marine conservation, marine tourism, social entrepreneurship tourism and voluntourism.

Heike A. Schänzel is Senior Lecturer and programme leader postgraduate in International Tourism Management at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. Her research interests include tourist behaviour and social experiences, children and families in tourism, and femininities and paternal masculinities in tourism research.

[This book] provides an engaging introductory approach to the practical issues of gender in tourism research which undergraduate students will find accessible to read. Each chapter offers the reader an insight into a specific field which young researchers might find useful when carrying out their own research. Most
of all, this edited collection represents a much-needed contribution to both female and male researchers’ university education and to their training regarding gendered research. 

I would like to congratulate the editors and authors who contributed to this much-needed book illustrating shared perspectives of female researchers. Brave, honest and sensitive examples uncover identities and describe traumatic experiences of researchers who explore the factors and influences that impact females during the fieldwork. This book is a collaborative work of serious, passionate scholars with lots to say.

This is a terrific book and it belongs in the library of any social scientist, journalist – or indeed, anyone – who plans to conduct tourism research that utilizes techniques of face-to-face interviewing, participant observation, and ethnography. It is a timely and exciting invitation to researchers in many disciplines to take seriously the role and relevance of gender in the research process.

I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter in this collection. It is clichéd to say that a book is long overdue, but Femininities in the Field truly is, given the glaring lack of attention on the role and impact of gender in tourism fieldwork. This book goes beyond mere method, providing unflinchingly honest accounts of the joys, challenges and complexities of being a ‘woman’ in the field.