Women slowly taking off: An investigation into female underrepresentation in commercial aviation

摘要

The purpose of this research is to explore the lack of female representation in commercial aviation, one of the most male-dominated fields in which women still do not benefit from the same professional opportunities as men. This issue constitutes a crucial challenge for the sector, as the inability to attract, recruit and retain women inhibits their professional development, limits growth and profitability, and results in a waste of female talent and skills. This is particularly significant and relevant with regards to the shortage of workforce that the industry will need to face in the next few decades due to the continuous growth of air travel demand and retiring aviation population. Qualitative interviews to female members of the sectors have been employed to distinguish and understand the main challenges and issues concerning women's participation in commercial aviation and to identify and analyse the causes behind the lack of female representation in the industry. Through the interviews and a qualitative content review of the CSR agenda of different airlines, the research also offers some recommendations to the industry to actively promote the representation of women across different departments and to achieve gender equality and diversity in its workforce.