Negotiating Personal and Professional Identities in the Workplace: The Case of Women Ab Initio Airline Pilots

Abstract

Only 5 per cent of commercial airline pilots worldwide are women and women who enter the profession may experience negative attitudes and differential treatment on account of their gender. Although a growing body of research has focussed on the experiences of women pilots once they are hired, there is a need to examine women’s experiences during their initial (ab initio) training when their personal and professional identities are being developed and contested. Drawing on empirical fieldwork of the experiences of both women and men ab initio pilots undergoing training at two UK-based Flight Schools, this chapter reveals that women cadets not only perceive elements of their professional identities differently from men but that they actively adopt a range of strategies to negotiate potential conflicts between their developing personal and professional identities. The chapter makes a theoretical and empirical contribution to existing studies of gender-dominated professions and offers recommendations to Flight Training Schools and airlines who are seeking to encourage more women to enter the airline pilot profession.

Citation

McCarthy, F., Budd, L. and Ison, S. (2022), "Negotiating Personal and Professional Identities in the Workplace: The Case of Women Ab Initio Airline Pilots", Wright, T., Budd, L. and Ison, S. (Ed.) Women, Work and Transport (Transport and Sustainability, Vol. 16), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 157-168. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2044-994120220000016011