Just to clarify - I have no involvement whatsoever with recruitment and have no data on female recruitment other than what our management tells us. What I do know is that we are aiming to get to 12% female pilots - something that is incredibly difficult to achieve. I believe the average around the world is about 5%, but others will be able to furnish us with more accurate figures. Also, and this is purely my personal experience, we do have a lot of female recruits - way more than was the case, say, 15 years ago. We also have our first female training manager, who is a massive and very visible activist for advancing the cause of female pilots in the industry. She is absolutely top quality, by the way, and an absolute delight to deal with.
The trouble with any form of 'targeted recruitment', as has been seen from recent controversies within the RAF, is that this is an incredibly divisive issue - and there are no easy answers. All I can tell you is that there are jobs for everyone at easyJet regardless of sex, religion, race etc, etc or anything else. In my experience, everyone is treated fairly. If you are a buffoon then being black, gay, trans, white, Muslim etc, etc, will not protect you - that is exactly how it should be. Equally, you will never be held back for any of those reasons - exactly as it should be.
I realise that those folks who obsess over these type of things will simply never let go of their particular beef - such is the nature of the beast. I personally do not give a whole lot of thought to the matter, but quietly rejoice that we are one of the fairest companies in the world to work for. No more can I ask for. My advice to those of you who have some particular grievance related to recruitment is to just let it go, get on with being the best you can be and grab the opportunities you are presented with to move up in the industry. Inevitably, that will never be enough for some people, but in the end it will save you a world of pain and unnecessary misery.