With global passenger numbers set to continue to rise and the demand for aviation professionals exceeding supply, everyone in the sector should be putting efforts towards attracting women and increasing diversity in this sphere, which will be paramount to the sustainability and viability of the industry moving forwards.

As we launch our Women in Aviation Group, this need to change rings true. Although our group is named “women” in Aviation, it is not just women that should care about gender parity in the aerospace sector, but rather everyone has their part to play. 

It is not all bad though. There have been steps taken and we are seeing progress with IATA appointing their first female Chair of the association’s Board of Governors last June. However, it is clear that there is still a long way to go to raise the profile of women in aviation and increase their presence in senior positions. A study by the ICAO showed that the percentage of women pilots globally stands only at around 4% and the percentage of female aircraft maintenance engineers and technicians is also only at around 3%. 

Additional studies show that relative to men in the industry, women report more negative experiences, slower career advancement, and fewer opportunities to take on challenging roles. A third of the women surveyed reported taking longer to reach leadership positions relative to their peer group, while more than 90% of the men surveyed advance more quickly or at the same pace as their peer group. Implicit bias discrimination, lack of career opportunities or lack of flexibility and work life balance are cited as potentially reasons for this. We need to change that age-old stereotype that only men are pilots and women are in the serving roles. This applies not only to roles on board an aircraft, but off them too, in all the various integral supporting functions keeping aircraft in the sky.

"Aviation has come a long way from the days when women were a rarity in senior-level roles. However, I was surprised to see a big billboard advertisement for an airline which showed a male pilot with three air hostesses – all women. This reinforces this age-old stereotype that only men are pilots and women are in the serving roles. And images like this do matter." - Holly Miles, International Airport Review Editor

The key to retaining more female talent in the aviation industry long term is not just to offer them opportunities, but to provide them with role models too. We hope that our Women in Aviation network can be positive a forum to help women find such role models. Small actions that can make a difference, such as taking a junior colleague to lunch, returning calls of people who are asking for help or career advice, or taking time to provide people with feedback. All these ‘little’ things can really add up.

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2020 revealed that gender parity will not be attained for over 99 years – a reminder that true gender equality is a marathon, not a sprint.  As a group we are therefore committed to continuing the dialogue and playing our small part in tackling this issue. 

With thanks to co-author Kathy Williams, Trainee Solicitor.