Is it art or science? Chef's competencies for success

“Against all odds”: Head chefs profiled

“…This finding is similar to previous research which shows that the majority of top managerial positions are filled by men (Hertzman & Maas, 2012;Zopiatis, 2010;Kang et al, 2010;Chuang et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2011;Agut et al, 2003). There is also a higher representation of female chefs in certain sectors than others, with representation among the elite Michelin starred dining establishment even more marginal (Balazs, 2002;Druckman, 2010;Ko, 2012;Day, 2015).…”

“…The dramatic rise in head chefs gaining degrees compared to an earlier Irish study (Bolton et al, 2008) and to international studies (Raybould & Wilkins, 2005;Zopiatis, 2010) is extremely significant. The transformation of culinary education from vocational to liberal appears to have been pioneered in Ireland (Hegarty, 2004(Hegarty, , 2011Mac Con Iomaire, 2008), but is beginning to be replicated internationally (Gustafsson, 2009;Deutsch, 2014) with new programmes emerging in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.…”

“…Ladkin (2000) found that 83.5% of hotel managers in the UK had hotel and catering qualifications. Zopiatis (2010) found the majority of chefs in his Cypriot study had a two-year diploma. Similarly only one third of hospitality workers in Australia held a degree (Raybould & Wilkins, 2005).…”

“…Previous research shows that the majority of top managerial positions in the culinary industry are filled by men rather than women (Zopiatis, 2010;Agut et al, 2003;Hertzman & Maas, 2012;Kang et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2011;Chuang et al, 2009;Raybould & Wilkins, 2005). These studies show that 95.7% of Cypriot chefs, 84% of Spanish participants, 85% of US chefs and head cooks and 83% of certified chefs of the American Culinary Federation, and 59% of senior food and beverage managers in Taiwan, were male.…”

“…In Spain (Agut et al, 2003) the mean age of hotel and restaurant managers was 41 years while in America members of the American Culinary Federation of certified chefs had a mean age of 45-54 years (Kang et al, 2010). Chefs in Cyprus (Zopiatis, 2010) had a range of ages between 20-50 years. These studies show that a wide range of ages work in the hospitality industry but that the majority of managers are about 40 years old.…”