Women Are Breaking The Glass Ceiling In The Casino Industry

The casino industry has long been dominated by men. From the casino executives to the players found on the gaming floors, men rule the gambling world, often intimidating women whether it’s climbing the corporate ladder or even stepping onto the casino floor.

Yet, casinos are heavily dependent on women, with a huge sum of profits coming from “the labor of women assigned to stereotypically female occupations—making beds and serving food on the one hand and providing sexual allure on the other,” as described by Casino Women co-authors Susan Chandler and Jill B. Jones. But Patricia Becker shows the industry that females are capable of much more than serving casino goers their cocktails and tidying up their suites.

Last year, Becker was appointed to a position on the Nevada Gaming Control Board, becoming the first woman to ever serve on that panel. Over the years, she’s earned a handful of “first woman” jobs, demonstrating that more opportunities are opening up for women in the gambling world. Although the number of female CEOs running well established gaming companies can be counted on one hand compared to the countless number of male CEOs at other firms, International Game Technology’s Patti Hart and Isle of Capri Casinos’ Virginia McDowell have paved the way for women to advance in an industry that continues to grow and expand at unstoppable rates.

Part of the industry growth is due to an explosion in online casinos, with women accounting for a significant portion of their players. For a while, the female segment of the online gambling market had been overlooked by operators, but now that women make up about 47 percent of gamers in the US, it’s important that both male and female interests are addressed in online and offline casinos. Although gambling behavior varies across the genders, that’s isn’t an indication that women don’t gamble as much as men.

Men have a natural competitiveness that draws them into high stakes games like poker and blackjack, while women like to leave everything to chance in games such as bingo and playing slot machines. But online casinos have managed to design their products so that players wouldn’t be forced to risk so much of their money by lowering the minimum wagers, and even offering users the option to play slots and other games for free using “play” money.

Women are the newest target market in the gambling industry, but the demands of the market can only truly be met by having more females take the lead in gaming operations.

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