Across regions and countries, cultures and communities, it is said that a woman’s place is the kitchen. However, it seems that only applies when it comes to unpaid labour, caught within the secure four walls of their homes. This and many other societal and patriarchal reasons seem to be why, to date, the number of women chefs working in the hospitality industry is so low.
India has a bustling hospitality industry, yet there remains a big divide in the number of men and women who don the uniform of a professional chef in a hotel kitchen.
The reasons behind this disparity are complex, rooted in cultural expectations, demanding work environments, and structural inequities. As more women step into professional kitchens, the gender gap remains glaring. Studies suggest that only around 10 %-15 % of professional chefs in India are women.
Why Is The Chef Sector Still So Male-Dominated?
Professional hotel kitchens are high-pressure environments. Data from the National Restaurant Association of India reveals that less than 10% of executive chefs in Indian hotels are women, even though women still have a high admission rate into culinary schools.
A 2023 article by MasterChef Pankaj Bhadouria called ‘From Cooks to Chefs: Breaking Stereotypes for Women in the F&B Industry’ claimed that “only 25% of women hold senior management positions in the food industry in India, while less than 10% hold CEO positions.”
Bhadouria, in the article, further mentioned that the gender pay gap, “with women earning 19% less than men on average, according to a report by the International Labour Organisation,” talks about the challenges female chefs still face in the professional sector.
Besides the gender bias and pay disparity, Bhadouria mentioned the lack of a mentor-mentee relationship, which is further exacerbated by the fact that women in leadership positions are still at an alarmingly low number, so since there aren’t a lot of women superiors, that means new female joinees are unable to get the required mentorship that the male entrants get.
Chef Garima Arora, the first Indian female chef to get a Michelin star, said something similar, in that “Most head chefs are men, and naturally, they tend to mentor more men. It’s not always intentional, but it perpetuates the imbalance. We need more women in leadership roles to create visibility and encourage the next generation of female chefs.”
Bhadouria also mentioned that “Sometimes, the trainees also have a tough time taking orders from women,” with many still holding onto the idea that a professional kitchen is a man’s place.
In a 2018 ersearch study titled ‘Barriers to Career Advancement of Women Chefs Leading to their Poor Visibility in Hotel Industry: A Study with Special Reference to Bengaluru’ author Usha Dinakaran wrote how “Women chefs are accepted to lead in case of domestic realm of cooking, but the contrast is true in the scenario of professional cooking which is done outside the home boundary, as it is widely viewed as an activity that is executed outside the periphery of women’s place.
Although many women enrol into culinary schools, they normally do not make it to the frontier because the organizational environment in the culinary sector does not allow them to grow owing to various challenges faced by them.”
The study also mentioned that “Considering personal impediments, 35.5% of the women chefs agree and 21.7% of them strongly agree that personal impediments have a role to play in their career advancement.
Clash of life, family and work priorities (37.4%), feeling of women chefs that they should be docile and be a helpmate in the kitchen rather than being a leader (36.6%) and lack of confidence, though women chefs are dedicated, conscientious in their performance and need less supervision (36.6%) were the top three factors of personal impediments which stalled the career path of women chefs.”
Read More: Will Indian Women Ever Get A Retirement From The Kitchen?
Chef Vikas Khanna, in a Times Now report, was quoted saying,“Not many women were in hotel kitchens because it was seen as a man’s job — handling heavy utensils, working with high flames, and managing the pressure of service wasn’t considered easy. But things are changing now. We have incredible women chefs like Garima Arora who are redefining what leadership in the kitchen looks like.”
Khanna also explained that family dynamics and the hesitancy of Indian families to let girls work long hours or in strenuous conditions also create obstacles.
He said, “Traditionally, Indian families didn’t encourage women to take up jobs with long or late hours. The kitchen environment — with its physical demands, unpredictable shifts, and high stress — wasn’t seen as suitable for women. But I’ve always believed that skill and passion are genderless.”
Chef Shantanu Mehrotra, Executive Chef at Indian Accent, echoed this sentiment, saying, “One of the biggest reasons we don’t see enough women chefs in hotels is because their parents are often not comfortable with the idea.
Late working hours, mixed-gender teams, and the physical nature of the work — all these factors make families hesitant. Many talented girls drop out of culinary schools or switch to bakery and confectionery because those departments are perceived as ‘safer’ or more ‘feminine’.”
Chef Ranveer Brar also touched on how the masculine and militaristic format of the hotel kitchens doesn’t allow for women to grow there.
The professional kitchen in India remains one of the hospitality industry’s most persistent gender-imbalanced spaces. It’s not a lack of talent or ambition; it’s a combination of deep-seated norms, working conditions that clash with feminine realities, cultural expectations, and career systems built around male continuity.
However, there is some silver lining with the change slowly being seen on the horizon.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Times Now, Hindustan Times, Deccan Herald
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Women Chefs, gender gap, Women Chefs gender gap, Women Chefs challenges, culinary industry, hotel industry, restaurants, restaurants male dominated, Women in Hospitality, hotel industry gender gap, culinary profession, culinary profession gender inequality, gender inequality, female chefs
Disclaimer: We do not hold any rights or copyright over any of the images used; these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly email us.
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