Bullying in the Kitchen: A Research on Culinary Interns

Abstract

Commercial kitchens are one of the departments in the hospitality industry where high employee turnover creates significant problems. For this reason, it is necessary to investigate the reasons that lead to job dissatisfaction or quit. One of these reasons, bullying, has been frequently mentioned in the literature as one of the prominent arguments. The aim of this research is to find out whether kitchen interns are bullied and how this affects their job satisfaction levels and intention to leave their job. In addition, it was examined whether there are differences in exposure to bullying based on gender variable. The sample consisted of associate and undergraduate program students in culinary arts, gastronomy and/or cooking programs of 5 different public and private universities in Izmir, Turkey. Data were collected from 129 kitchen interns between September and December 2023; SPSS was used for regression and t-test analyses. The empirical results show that there is a moderate level of exposure to bullying among the interns; female interns are more likely to be bullied than their male counterparts in the kitchen, and that bullying increases the intention to leave among all interns while decreasing job satisfaction levels. This study aims to guide food and beverage companies in developing a well-planned training program for interns and creating a positive work environment to increase job satisfaction and reduce turnover. Although the subject is not new to the hospitality sector, it is seen that there is little research on bullying among kitchen interns. Therefore, it is aimed to contribute to the literature, especially in the context of bullying in the kitchen.

Keywords

• Bullying
• culinary interns
• job satisfaction
• intention to leave

Ethical Statement

İzmir University of Economics Ethics Committee has validated the study with their ethics approval which was obtained on 06.11.2023 with the reference number B.30.2.İEÜ.0.05.05-020-321

Bullying in the Kitchen: A Research on Culinary Interns

Abstract

Ticari mutfaklar, ağırlama sektöründe, çalışan devir hızının yüksek olmasının önemli sorun yarattığı departmanlardan biridir. Bu nedenle iş memnuniyetsizliği veya bırakmaya neden olan sebeplerin araştırılması gerekmektedir. Bu sebeplerden biri olan zorbalık konusu öne çıkan argümanlardan biri olarak alanyazında sıkça bahsedilmiştir. Bu araştırmanın amacı da mutfak stajyerlerinin zorbalığa uğrayıp uğramadığını ve bunun iş tatmini düzeylerini ve işten ayrılma niyetlerini nasıl etkilediğini bulmaktır. Buna ek olarak cinsiyet değişkenine dayalı zorbalığa maruz kalmada farklılıkların olup olmadığı da incelenmiştir. Örneklem, Türkiye'nin İzmir kentindeki 5 farklı kamu ve özel üniversitesinin mutfak sanatları, gastronomi ve/veya aşçılık programları lisans ve önlisans öğrencilerinden oluşmaktadır. Veriler, Eylül-Aralık 2023 tarihleri arasında 129 mutfak stajyerinden toplanmış; regresyon ve t-testi analizleri için SPSS kullanılmıştır. Ampirik sonuçlar, stajyerler arasında orta düzeyde zorbalığa maruz kalma olduğunu; kadın stajyerlerin mutfakta erkek meslektaşlarından daha fazla zorbalığa maruz kaldığını ve zorbalığın tüm stajyerler arasında işten ayrılma niyetini artırırken iş tatmini düzeylerini düşürdüğünü göstermiştir. Bu çalışma; yiyecek ve içecek işletmelerine stajyerler için iyi planlanmış bir eğitim programı geliştirme ve iş tatminini artırmak ve işgücü devir oranını azaltmak için olumlu bir çalışma ortamı yaratma konusunda yol gösterici olmayı amaçlamaktadır. Konu, ağırlama sektörü için yeni olmasa da mutfak stajyerleri arasında zorbalık konusunda yapılan az sayıda araştırma olduğu görülmektedir. Bu nedenle özellikle mutfakta zorbalık bağlamında literatüre katkıda bulunulması amaçlanmaktadır.

Keywords

• Zorbalık
• Mutfak stajyerleri
• İş tatmini
• İşten ayrılma niyeti

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