What is holding female pilots back from progressing to the pilot trainer role? The problem of sexual harassment and part-time working.

Chair :Professor Nicky Le Feuvre, UNIL

Discussant : Professor Eléonore Lépinard, UNIL

This presentation is based upon research conducted by Durbin, Warren and Munns (2022) which explored the under-representation of female commercial pilots and their lack of progression into the more senior, pilot trainer role. The research was commissioned by the Flight Crew Training Group, Royal Aeronautical Society, London, UK and funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). To date, the lack of gender diversity in the pilot trainer role (women currently comprise 0.9% of pilot trainers in the UK) has not been explored. However, there is research that identifies the main barriers that prevent women pilots from progressing, including, negative workplace cultures and sexual/gender harassment (IFALPA, 2021; Foley et al. 2019; Ferla and Graham, 2019; Yanikoglu, 2020); a challenging work-life balance, including implications of part-time working (Ferla and Graham, 2019; Harvey et al. 2019; Yanikoglu et al. 2020; (Durbin et al. 2022; Durbin and Tomlinson 2010, 2014; Tomlinson 2006); a lack of role models and mentors (Ferla and Graham, 2019; IFALPA, 2021; Korn Ferry, 2029);  bias and lack of transparency in the recruitment process (Neal-smith, 2014; Yanikoglu et al. 2020; Korn Ferry, 2019; Mitchell et al. 2006) and a lack of women in leadership roles Korn Ferry, 2019; Wyman Report, 2021; Bridges, 2021).

This presentation reports upon two major findings from our global study of male and female pilots and pilot trainers – the lack of opportunity for women to perform the pilot trainer role on a part-time basis and the presence of systematic sexual harassment and bullying towards female pilots, during their initial pilot training and currently, as serving commercial pilots. We argue that these two mechanisms serve to exclude women from progressing their careers and enable the male dominance of both the pilot and pilot trainer profession, to continue.

Author Bios

Susan Durbin is Professor of Employment Studies/Human Resource Management, at the Business School, University of the West of England. Her research expertise is in gendered employment, specifically women’s employment in male dominated areas, including engineers, scientists, commercial pilots and senior managers. She is a co-founder, along with Airbus, the Royal Airforce and the Royal Aeronautical Society, of the altamentoring scheme, designed for professional women in the aviation and aerospace industry. She has published her work in a number of leading academic journals, has led three journal special issues and authored a book (Women Who Succeed: strangers in Paradise? 2016, Palgrave Macmillan). Susan works with organisations in the public, private and not-for-profit organisations, to improve gender equality and support, including mentoring, for women. She is also an active member of the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Women’s Committee at the Royal Aeronautical Society. She is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. 

Stella Warren is a Research Fellow at the University of the West of England, Bristol with a background in applied social research. Her expertise includes social marketing and the understanding​​ of psychological pathways for behaviour change in health; gender and inequality in organisations; the gender pay gap; and women working in male-dominated industries. She is a founder member of alta, an ESRC Impact Award winning mentoring scheme for professional women in aviation and aerospace.​​​ She is also a member of the British and European Sociological Association and on the board of the Research Network ‘Gender Relations, Labour Markets and the Welfare State (RN14).​