When Does a Pilot Become a “Female Pilot”?

Gender bias can creep in at an early age, but how do we stop children from limiting themselves due to their gender? - by Madison Dooley 

Let’s look at the occupations of a teacher, a shop assistant, and a member of bar staff. Each possess a relatively similar number of male and female employees. We don’t tend to announce that we’ve been served by a female shop assistant, nor do we exclaim that we’ve been taught by a female teacher. We tend to mention our teacher as a teacher, our shop assistant as a shop assistant…

But now let’s look at the role of a pilot, a much more apparent gender split. Suddenly, a woman is no longer just a pilot, but a “female pilot”. An interaction with a female pilot is much less common an occurrence that we want to share that not only have we been flown by, or spoken to a pilot, but a female pilot at that. Of course, with so many girls citing a lack of female role models as a barrier to entering aviation, circulating the female role models we do have is an excellent way of breaking down this barrier. But when do we start assigning genders to occupations? When does a pilot become a “female pilot”? 

The answer is much younger than we may expect. Children begin to develop ingrained gender stereotypes between 5 and 7 years of age. Redraw the Balance launched a two-minute film for International Women’s Day in March 2016 which captured how, when 66 children between 5 and 7 years of age were asked to draw a firefighter, a surgeon, and a fighter pilot, only 5 drew women. With over 100 million views, the film has inspired similar experiments around the world, notably from the United Nations, and findings from across the board have been referenced by UN Women, OECD, UNESCO, and the World Economic Forum. 

Key findings from across the world noted, that careers chosen at seven years of age are similar to those chosen at the age of seventeen, and radio, film, TV, and family are the biggest influence on children’s career choices. Evidence demonstrating the authority gender stereotypes have early on in a child’s development, and the likelihood that these remain as a child grows older, is scarily detrimental to young people’s ambitions. So how do we widen children’s career ambitions and aspirations before gender bias takes hold, and encourage young people to dream big, regardless of their gender?

The below tips are useful when interacting with children to broaden their ambitions and understanding of gender stereotypes…

Be Aware of Your Own Biases

Whether we are aware of them or not, we all carry our own biases. Often these become so ingrained we do not notice them and unknowingly we may be passing them on to the next generation. The most fundamental step here is accepting that this may be the case. Regularly, people tend to believe they are less biased than most, however, this is generally not true, therefore recognising your own potential gender bias is an all-important step.

Think about how you refer to groups of people. When referring to occupations try to use gender-neutral terminology. For example, when talking about an engineer, do not assume they are male and use “he”, instead, using words like “they” to refer to the collective group prevents unconscious bias that the role is solely for men. Breaking these habits can be difficult and often we slip into our former ways, therefore surrounding yourself with images or interactions that contradict stereotypes can make the transition easier. If you’re struggling with where to start, check out our very own @elevateheraviation Instagram account for the women challenging gender stereotypes every day!

Be Aware of Gendered Marketing in Toys

Children develop a range of skills and emotional capabilities through the toys and games they play. Children’s products however are regularly marketed differently for girls and boys, often with girls’ toys to one side of a store and boys’ to the other. Toys involving transportation, sports, and the outdoors are promoted to boys, whilst dolls, flowers, and make-up are promoted to girls. This impedes the ability to develop certain skill sets and the range of experiences a child is exposed to narrows. Long-term it conditions girls to feel they are more suited to roles involving caring for others and beauty whilst boys feel more at home working outdoors or in the transportation industry.

Being aware of gendered marketing and taking children to all parts of a store shows children the gender divide in toys is arbitrary and can be crossed. Encouraging girls and boys to play together instead of segregating the genders encourages the idea that activities and games are for all. Ensure children are playing with a complete set of toys that develop their interest and skills in a range of areas and don’t shy away from toys traditionally associated with the opposite sex.

Involve Books and Media with Inclusivity at Heart

Role models are vital and often children retain higher levels of self-efficacy if they have evidence that something is possible. This means seeing someone like yourself in a certain position, facilitating the ease with which you can see yourself in that position. Helping children find books and media that involve both genders in a range of roles will encourage children to see themselves in a wider range of industries. Disclosing that certain stereotypes are wrong as they appear in the media, continues to enforce that gender stereotypes are there to be broken. 

With such a stark difference in the percentage of male and female pilots, engineers, and air traffic controllers, alongside the lack of male cabin crew members, it is each of our responsibilities within the aviation industry to ensure the next generation is inspired to choose whichever role they desire, regardless of their gender. Consciously trying to implement the above tips and becoming aware of our own gender biases will help pave the way to a more inclusive workplace for all.