Meet Rowshon: Breaking barriers as a Muslim Female Pilot!

Known as Ronika, she is a proud female Muslim student pilot, who wears the hijab!

Rowshon became interested in becoming an airline pilot after listening to stories from her parents about the life of a pilot. She won The Honourable Company of Air Pilots gliding scholarship in 2022 and this year won her second flying scholarship from the Air League. Rowshon rarely sees any Muslim Female Pilots and her goal is to change this through talking about her own experiences. As a determined and driven individual, her goal is to become an airline pilot whilst inspiring others along the way.

Where do you find your motivation for achieving your goal of becoming an airline pilot?

I researched the statistics of Muslim female pilots in the UK and there were no results, nor any research conducted on the topic. That is why I made a goal. To help Muslim girls find their interest in the aviation industry and that is the motivation that keeps me going. If my dream of becoming a pilot comes true, I will be the first ever pilot in my family. As an Asian, 20 or 30 years ago, there were only a very small number of females able to dream about becoming pilot, for me being able to do what I have done so far would have been near to impossible. In life you have those who support you and those who don’t. I get motivation from those who don’t want me to succeed. I want to prove them wrong. All of this help me find motivation. I will never give up!

Has your faith impacted your aviation journey?

As I learn more about my faith, I have realised it has helped me define what women are capable of. There are so many stories in Islam about women being leaders. For example, Khadija (RA), the wife of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), who was a successful independent business women teaching me, and many Muslims how to become a strong, dedicated person. This means that my faith is the reason I want to become a strong person, to help others, and find ways of accomplishing my goals and dreams. The more I learn, the more I believe I can truly become a pilot.

Has your journey inspired any other female aviators?

Lots of people message me on Instagram asking me questions and I also help girls in my community. A friend has told me she now has an interest in aviation after looking at what I have done so far and the posts I have shared.

What is your standout achievement so far?

Definitely winning 2 scholarships because I have learnt so much and with these experiences, my confidence has been boosted dramatically.

What do you wish your younger self had known about aviation before starting training?

Getting into aviation is not a lonely path and you can ask for advice. When it came to researching about my career path, I used to always ask my teachers questions about aviation, but they didn’t have enough knowledge about the industry and that was when I thought no one could help me. However, after starting my training, I realised I don’t have to enter the industry alone, so I started to reach out to people and gained more knowledge.

If you could change one thing about the industry what would that be?

I would make it more common to talk about the large variety of jobs the industry offers in Schools and Colleges. It is common to think the only jobs in Aviation are as a pilot/engineer but there’s so much more than that. Yes, this may be happening already, but it needs to happen much more in the North of the UK. There has always been a North-South divide so by introducing more opportunities in the north through schools and colleges a big impact can be made on the industry.

How can the industry strive to increase representation of female Muslim pilots?

There are so many things that can be implemented to make a huge difference, for example: delivering talks and speeches about pilots’ journeys or creating blogs just like this!

Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion, so that means more Muslim girls. If someone shares their story, then someone else will have confidence to do it too. Creating a domino effect will lead to more representation and hopefully will increase the statistics of female Muslim pilots.

What are your goals, short-term and long-term?

I want to get another scholarship to help fund my training and I want to volunteer at events and air shows. After A-levels, I will work full-time to save up for the ATPL programme. My goal is to be an airline pilot and become an aviation ambassador to help increase the statistics of female pilots.