‘Everybody can be a role model to attract more women to aviation’
Everybody has a part to play in attracting more women to roles in the aviation industry, said Sumati Sharma, co-founder of the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter and a…
Everybody has a part to play in attracting more women to roles in the aviation industry, said Sumati Sharma, co-founder of the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter and a partner at Oliver Wyman’s aviation practice.
Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow in July, she said: “The Women in Aviation aerospace charter is four years old. It was launched here [at the Farnborough International Airshow] in 2018.
“It’s really about the progression and advancement of women within the aerospace and aviation sectors. We’ve gone from 40 founding signatories to 240.”
‘Everybody has a role to play’
Asked how the representation of women in aerospace companies could be improved, she replied: “Events like this, role modelling, including and sharing as much about what the industry is doing, and everybody has a role to play.
“I genuinely believe everybody can be a role model.”
What’s Your 30?
Commenting on the “What’s Your 30?” campaign, which sets out individual goals that focus on the number 30 to boost companies’ gender representation by 2030, Victoria Foy, EVP of Safran Seats, said: “It really is about what’s important to the individual company and the signatories that we have.
“So, for example, it might be how many women are on our C suites. And that could be 30 by [20]30. It could be that you’re improving 30 per cent by 2030. It can be anything.
“It can be graduate training programmes, it can be apprenticeship schemes. It can be women in your leadership communities. It’s all about your focus.”
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