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This article explores (1) student perceptions and understanding of Events Management; (2) how Events Management is positioned by different UK Higher Education providers through their online marketing; and (3) the perceived value of an Events Management degree among students.

A mixed-methods approach, combining an online student questionnaire (n = 524), semi-structured interviews with current first year Events Management students (n = 24) at two UK universities, and website analysis of all Events Management degrees offered in the UK.

Students demonstrate a lack of knowledge about what Events Management is, what a career in Events Management might entail and the perceived value of an Events Management degree. This suggests the need to reposition Events Management degrees within a broader applied management base. Current course marketing presents a narrow view of Events Management degrees and the narrow vocationally-laden narrative undersells and “over-vocationalises” the subject.

Understanding student perceptions better will help universities market Events Management degrees more effectively and will benefit broader efforts to illustrate the value and credibility of it as a degree subject choice and career. More balanced presentation between the practical and non-practical aspects of the courses in university marketing may help reposition Events Management alongside more readily understood vocational subjects.

This is the first study to examine student perceptions over the credibility of Events Management degrees. It also addresses Park and Park's (2017) observation that reviews of Events Management education and curricula are conspicuously absent from Hospitality and Tourism journals.

The events sector is an innovative and dynamic working environment that requires a creative and diverse workforce to help it thrive. However, in the main, the events workforce is not diverse, with evidence suggesting that most leaders continue to be White and male. There has been no previous research exploring the experiences of ethnically diverse professionals in this environment. This paper aims to draw on the theory of racialised organisations to begin to address this gap and amplify the voices of ethnically diverse events professionals.

Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 ethnically diverse event managers working in the UK events industry.

Covert and overt forms of racism and discrimination remain ubiquitous within the culture of event organisations, and in a number of guises, ranging from regular racialised microaggressions to more subtle forms of exclusion. The events industry needs to do more than pay lip service to neoliberal notions of diversity and acknowledge the ways in which racial relations of power shape the industry and the experiences of individuals within it, and design interventions to address these issues.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to apply the theory of racialised organisations to the events industry, recognising the centrality of race and racism to events organisations and careers. In so doing, it offers essential insight into race and ethnicity in this sector and contributes to ongoing efforts to integrate race and racism within theorising in management and organisation studies.

To introduce critical gender theory to events studies and set an agenda for research in this area. This paper focuses on various contexts, approaches and applications for “doing gender” in critical event studies. It draws upon interdisciplinary frameworks to develop robust theoretical ways of interrogating issues related to power and structural inequalities in events contexts.

A conceptual discussion of “doing gender” and critical gender theory and review of relevant research in this area within event studies. Adopting feminist and intersectional perspectives and applying them to events environments has potential to inform current theoretical developments and wider sector practices, and, ultimately, change the dominant heteronormative patriarchal paradigm of the experiential landscape.

Event studies has been slow to engage with gender theory and gender-aware research, to the detriment of theoretical and practical development within the field.

A call for more gender-aware research within event studies. The goal of this paper is to galvanise gender-aware events research to centralise the marginalised and amplify feminist voices in critical event studies. Feminist and gender-aware frameworks encourage researchers to be critical and to question the underlying power structures and discourses that shape practices, behaviours and interactions. This creates new pathways to find ways to overcome inequalities, which can improve overall events praxis.

The paper introduces critical gender theory as a fruitful framework for future events research. It is an under-researched area of study, representing a significant gap in ways of theorising and representing different aspects of events. We argue it is imperative that researchers take up the challenge of incorporating feminist and/or gender-aware frameworks within their research as a matter of routine.