The International Aerospace Women’s Association (IAWA) has released its second “Lift Off to Leadership: Leadership Barriers for Women in Aerospace and Aviation” study, which builds upon the first edition in 2021, co-authored by Oksana Bardygula, Debra Santos, Marita Lintener, and Livia Hayes.
The study was based on a survey of 250 leaders of any gender, and has deduced that while progress has been made, there is a still a lot of work to be done.
“The findings in this second edition confirm that talent is not the issue – opportunity and culture are,” said Lintener, IAWA President. “To manage risk in an increasingly complex environment, our industry must bridge this perception gap and move from passive support to active sponsorship.”
Study findings
- The study revealed that twice as many women as men believe that their company places little to no priority on increasing women’s representation in leadership positions, and were half as likely to rate gender equality in their organisation as high or very high. This reflects that more men felt that women had more equality within organisations than the women themselves, highlighting significant disparities in career progress perception. Sadly, almost half of women stated that while they aspire to advance further in their careers, they expect their opportunities to be limited.
- 38% of women stated that they have been called “too aggressive” during their career, while on 15% of men had faced this same criticism, demonstrating the continued double standard placed on women in the workplace in terms of communication and behaviour.
- Almost 50% of women cited implicit bias as a reason for considering leaving the industry, while men commonly cited better benefits, compensation, and opportunities as their own reasons for potentially changing careers.
- Both men and women have placed more importance on flexibility and remote working than in the 2021 study, with a marked desire for work/life balance.
- 68% of women mentioned sponsorship as crucial to career progression, however the rate of survey respondents actively acting as sponsors was around 25%, the same rate as in 2021.
The study can be found here to read in its entirety.
Imnage: IAWA
