What is the future for gender diversity in the pilot trainer role? Myth or reality?

Durbin, Sue; Warren, Stella

Abstract

Presenting findings from a major report, jointly authored by Professor Sue Durbin and Stella Warren in FBL and Captain Marnie Munns at the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) exposing the significant problem of gender discrimination and the lack of gender diversity amongst pilots in the airline industry, with a specific focus on the airline pilot trainer role. The research, funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund, considered survey responses from more than 700 airline pilots worldwide, 750 personal testimonials and eight hours of focus groups. Women make up only 5.26% of the global pilot workforce and the numbers of female pilot trainers are even worse. For example, in the UK just 0.9% of Type Rating Examiners (TREs), a type of airline trainer, are women (CAA, 2022).
Among the report’s major findings were some extremely concerning reports of overt and covert sexism and sexual harassment towards women, including frequent reports of an “old boys’ network” and a lack of female role models and mentors.
Structural barriers identified include: a lack of transparency around recruitment and selection; and the vast majority of airlines and training organisations refusing to allow pilot trainers to work part-time, which has a disproportionate effect on women.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: European Sociological Association RN14 mid-term conference
• Start Date: Sep 1, 2022
• End Date: Sep 2, 2022
• Deposit Date: Sep 20, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 22, 2022
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9995803
• Related Public URLs: https://www.europeansociology.org/issue-41-metrics/conference-announcements-midterm-conferences-research-networks