Women remain grounded for senior aviation positions says report
WOMEN are struggling to reach leadership positions in the aviation sector, according to new gender and diversity research.
The research found that more than half of the respondents said that over 30pc of the total headcount in their companies is female.
However, the percentage of senior positions held by women is low, with fewer than one in five of the respondents indicating that more than 30pc of senior roles are held by women in their organisations. This is the third year that business law firm Mason Hayes & Curran carried out the survey — and the findings have not shown an improvement in the overall gender representation since the survey began.
“While the period under review, at three years, is relatively short, the lack of progress and change is a cause for concern particularly given the continuing spotlight on the issue of gender and diversity in our community,” said Christine O’Donovan, head of aviation and international asset finance at Mason Hayes & Curran.
“All the evidence shows that greater diversity at all levels in organisations makes for better decision making and enhanced performance.”
Just 12pc of respondents saw gender or diversity bias as a challenge to career progression in their organisation. The most cited challenge was work/life balance, with 32pc of participants mentioning this as a factor that concerns them.
Although a growing number of organisations in Ireland are beginning to set up diversity committees and introducing policies to monitor diversity among staff and new recruits, only 18pc of survey participants reported that their organisation has such a committee. However, almost 50pc of the respondents believed there would be a benefit from such a committee.