The challenges faced by female air traffic controllers in a male dominated workplace

Abstract

In this long essay a qualitative approach was used to study female air traffic controllers. Aviation is a fast growing industry and thousands of aeroplanes fly around the globe every day. Throughout the flights, pilots are assisted by Air Traffic Controllers of which only a minority are female. Out of the fifty five local air traffic controllers, there are only four female air traffic controllers working in Malta. Another works abroad. It is the purpose of this study to see why the Air Traffic control profession is mainly a male dominated career and what could be done to change this status quo. The lack of awareness about this profession may be a contributing factor. The general public is more ware of pilots and air hostesses where aviation is concerned. Relatively speaking this is a new profession for women in Malta. This and the way promotions are meted out, there are no females in managerial and supervisory positions at the Malta Air traffic Services, even though the first female air traffic controller was recruited around twenty years ago. This study tries to extract some explanations why we have this situation and how it can be gradually changed. To do so, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Maltese female air traffic controllers.