The aviation and aerospace industry is among the world’s most essential and innovative fields, however, it is also one of the most male-dominated, with women making up only a tiny percentage of the professional roles in the sector. This lack of diversity is a huge problem, as women are typically not given the same opportunities as men to succeed within the industry. Given this issue, industry leaders must take steps to combat gender inequality in aerospace and aviation to promote inclusivity and equal opportunities for women.
Highlighting the importance of an inclusive workplace culture, more than half of Brits told us that they would quit their job if they felt like they didn't belong in their workplace, and three in ten (32%) wouldn’t accept a job if the organisation wasn’t making a proactive effort to improve its diversity and equity.
At Qualitair we’re committed to tackling this imbalance and empowering women in aviation and aerospace. Leading employers trust us to fill many roles, and our passion for encouraging more women to apply for aviation and aerospace positions can help employers create a diverse workspace with employees from various backgrounds and identities.
But why is it so important to empower women in aviation and aerospace, what organisations can help, and how big is this problem?
How big is the problem?
As women’s rights have made significant strides in recent decades, employers sometimes unconsciously assume that women are equally represented in the workplace or, at the very least, comparable to the number of male employees. However, the problem of gender inequality and imbalances for women in professional roles within the aviation and aerospace industry is one of the biggest challenges facing the aviation workforce.
Very few women hold senior leadership positions within the aviation and aerospace industry, and under 6% of the UK’s 16,000 pilots are women. Additionally, the International Federation of Airline Pilots (IFALPA) reported in January 2020 that, of the 185,143 airline pilots in the world, only 9,746 were women (5.26%), and 2,630 were captains (1.42%). Unfortunately, this percentage has fallen lower since January 2020 because of the adverse impact of redundancy policies caused by COVID-19. Reinforcing the severity of the problem, according to the International Federation of Airline Pilots (IFALPA) in January 2020 there were 185,143 airline pilots in the world, of these, 9,746 were women (5.26%) and 2,630 were captains (1.42%) (IFALPA 2021). This percentage has since fallen even lower as female pilots were adversely affected by redundancy policies due to Covid-19, resulting in some US seeing their numbers of female pilots dropping from 5.1% to 4.1%.
Empowering women in aviation and aerospace
The aviation and aerospace industry has traditionally been male-dominated, but there is hope for this to change in the upcoming years. Employers are increasingly seeking recruiting services to find talented women and encourage them to join the industry.
Women are invaluable contributors to the aviation and aerospace industry, bringing unique skills and perspectives that can help the industry to grow and develop. Therefore, employers must take steps to ensure that they are encouraging and empowering women in this sector. Therefore, the question becomes: how can you empower women in this field?
How to encourage diversity and gender diversity in the workplace
The aviation and aerospace industry is skills-short, meaning employers must look for creative ways to get women into work. Employers sometimes get stuck when attempting to develop strategies to increase gender diversity effectively, and it’s not uncommon for an employer to struggle to uncover where they’re going wrong.
Below are some key pointers on how employers can successfully encourage diversity–specifically, gender diversity–in the workplace to foster an equal environment.
Stay flexible
One way to encourage diversity in your workplace is to provide flexible working arrangements, which allow employees to work more flexibly and manage their own time. Our latest Employer Brand Research, which captures the views of over 12,000 UK workers, revealed that good work-life balance is the single most important factor when choosing a new role. Working women often have other commitments in life, from family to hobbies to personal projects, a flexible work schedule and an understanding employer is a massive plus for many women seeking employment in this industry.
Diversity pledges
Employers should also commit to increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Prioritising diversity and fostering an inclusive environment for women is essential to showing potential employees that your organisation values diversity and pushes for equal opportunities for women.
Diversity pledges can be made by outlining and signing documents committing to diversity and by implementing programmes and initiatives that promote diversity, such as mentorship programmes, diversity training, and unconscious bias awareness training. For example, Qualitair is proud to be a member of the ‘Women in Aviation and AeroSpace Charter’.
Change initiatives
Employers must address gender-based wage disparities and other problems that make it challenging for women to advance in the industry. Over half of all respondents working in aviation ranked gender pay equality as one of the most important EDIB initiatives/policies for a potential or current employer. One of the best ways you can achieve this goal is through comprehensive change initiatives, which can be done by committing yourself to changes such as pay transparency and gender-based job rotations. Additionally, employers should create policies that ensure women are given fair and equal opportunities for career advancement.
Blind CV applications
Finally, blind CV applications effectively ensure that candidates are assessed solely on their skills and experience rather than on gender or any other irrelevant criteria. This process can help reduce the risk of unconscious bias, a common issue in the aviation and aerospace industry.
Blind CV applications can also help to ensure that recruitment decisions are fair and objective. By removing any personal information, such as name and gender, from the application, the recruiter can focus solely on the candidate’s skills and experience to ensure that the most suitable candidate is chosen for aviation jobs, regardless of gender.
The alta mentoring scheme
The alta mentoring scheme is a great way to help women remain and progress in their careers in the aviation and aerospace industry. Alta is a mentoring platform built for women by women working in the aviation and aerospace industry.
The alta mentoring scheme provides a practical way to enhance gender equality for individuals, organisations, and the whole sector. Through alta solutions, your organisation can focus more on attracting female employees and retaining your top talent.
How is qualitair supporting women in aviation and aerospace?
At Qualitair, we are keen to support employers in tackling this gender imbalance and increasing the number of women in the aviation and aerospace industry. We do this by sourcing talented female candidates for our clients, and by helping to create attractive and diverse workplace environments.
Additionally, our team prioritises unique ways that employers can attract more women into the workplace and create a more diverse, inclusive environment. We work with clients to provide tailored recruitment solutions that are designed to attract more women to aviation and aerospace roles.
Our aviation recruitment team also provides bespoke recruitment services, which are designed to ensure that our clients have access to a wide range of talent. Contact us today to find out more about empowering women in aviation and aerospace environments and how our expert team can help assist you with shaping your HR strategy for 2024.