A qualitative field research on the professional experiences of women chefs in Turkey

Despite the increase in the number of female chefs in recent years, male dominance continues in professional kitchens. When the act of cooking, which is imposed on women by gender roles becomes professional and becomes financial income, it is seen that this task is mostly performed by men. The subject of this thesis is the positive and negative professional experiences of female chefs working in professional kitchens because of their genders. The research focuses on the effect of the professional experiences of female chefs on their lives by using the qualitative method. With this thesis, it is aimed to highlight the professional effects of gender inequality by emphasizing the gender-based discrimination that female chefs face in professional kitchens, the difficulties they face when they enter the profession, and the barriers to career opportunities. Within the scope of the study, fourteen women who graduated from the universities' culinary or gastronomy and culinary arts departments or received training from private culinary courses and worked in professional kitchens for at least two years were interviewed. With following the feminist methodology, depth interview technique was used. The findings obtained as a result of these interviews were analyzed in three parts. As a result of the research, it was concluded that there should be no gender inequality experienced in professional kitchens, that the lack of female chefs is due to the male-dominated structure, their profession is an obstacle to marriage and motherhood, and these difficulties lead many female chefs away from the profession.