Boys vs. Girls

[betty123]

When I recently attended an open day at Oxford I found that there was a ratio of about 6 boys to 1 girl in the class students that I met. Do you think this is typical within training establishments and what is typically the ratio in the industry?
Thanks

[redsnail]

That's quite high actually.

In my class(es) it was usually 1 female to about 20 guys.

Overall, worldwide it runs to about 1% of all ATPL holders are female.

In most companies I've been associated with, 10% has about the maximum.

[Cobalt]

This appears to be at the higher end.

Only 3.3% of all UK ATPL(A) holders with current medical are women. If you look at the younger ranks and CPLs, it is around 6% to up to 10% in for some years.

So it looks as if less than 10% still is the "norm".

See http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=175&pagetype=68&gid=559

Which is the definitive proof that women are smarter than men. :}

[betty123]

Do you think thats because guys have a greater interest or a greater aptitude or both?

[bajadj]

23 people on my groundschool at oat currently. 22 male 1 female.

[redsnail]

Personally, it's boys are encouraged more to do "that sort of thing". Aptitude? nah, not really.

You wander around any careers adviser's office and you mention "aviation" to them and most won't have a clue and if you're female will tell you to do something else.

At the flying school the genders are treated differently. During the lesson, no real difference but post flight? Guys are more immersed in the aviation culture etc while gals are usually not encouraged in the same way.

This was definitely true about 20 years ago in Australia.

Many of the older instructors at the larger schools are from the "old school" of British aviation (namely BA) and their prejudice can be felt.

Of course, not all are like that, but enough are to be noticed.

[EchoMike]

I do the ground school and CAA/JAA test prep for a well known flight school in the SE corner of the USA. Been doing it nine years.

We get female students from time to time, and I for one am happy to see them.

In my experience, the female students do better at the "book work" than the male students, and do about as well as the male students in the actual flying. The (small) differences are probably from women (in general) being "less attuned" to mechanical things. Women tend to be a bit more cautious, whereas the guys seem to need to demonstrate to their buddies that they have no fear. Women also have more problems with understanding the operation of the machinery - guys have been taking alarm clocks apart since they were five years old, women generally have not.

One HUGE advantage women have is that they don't ever say things like "Hey, hold my beer and watch this!!!!" (Redneck's famous last words). They have more sense than that.

When all is said and done, women fly just as well and just as competently and just as confidently as men - they just learn differently, and any teacher, instructor or school worth the time of day will take that into account.

Unfortunately, sometimes the attitudes of the guys are not helpful. I've occasionally seen CFIs denigrate and sometimes be covertly obstructive with female students. These jerks quickly get fired, but there are always more in the pipeline. (Being a CFI simply means you are legally able to teach people to fly, it doesn't guarantee you have any social skills.) This doesn't happen often, but once is too many times.

Another reason you see more males than females in aviation is that aviation is an expensive hobby, and (again, in general) men frequently earn more than women. This isn't an aviation problem, it is a structural problem in many societies, and the shortage of female flight students is just one symptom of this.

If you as a female flight student ever need a bit of encouragement, I suggest you google "Patty Wagstaff". I've been flying 30+ years, in another 30, I hope to be 1/10th as good as she is.

Best Regards,

Echo Mike

[KandiFloss]

I don't think being male/female matters, it's all to do with attitude, passion and determination. Sadly I do think that there is still an element of 'women aren't supposed to fly love'! Despite the fact that it is supposed to be the age of equal oportunity. Even my hubby winds me up about it. I remember doing the on-line 'Airquiz' to help prepare me for my Aeroplane Technical exam and I got frustrated because I got 82% on it (the quiz). Hubby says "Well, the problem is that you're just not technically minded". I was very annoyed about this, and when I got 88% (the same as him!) when I did my PPL exam he was sulking BIG TIME! What are they [men] like?!

[dartagnan]

flown with both sex, and I don't see any difference.
10% of women, when in cabin crew, it is 10% of men.

[adwjenk]

Hey,

When i was at OAT my course had one girl and the course ahead had two, but when i came back from the USA the female population had shot up, some courses even had 4/5 girls on one course.
But all the girls stick together even if you are on a different course.
Best of luck