Interrogating gender and the tourism academy through epistemological lens

This introductory essay argues for the adoption of feminist epistemologies to unpack the role, nature and effects of gender (in) equality in our tourism academy. Our focus on tourism academia recognizes the importance of tourism to social life and the crucial role that tourism academics play in knowledge production. We therefore argue for a shift in the focus of extant gender research in tourism away from tourism as a phenomenon to ourselves as tourism academics. We provide an overview of the five papers in this special issue which explore the gendered nature of our academy in diverse contexts, ending with a call for greater self-reflexivity to achieve a more just and equitable tourism academy, thus benefiting both women and men. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.