3 days ago
Breaking barriers: Women and youth in aviation careers
Pupils from various schools explore the exhibitions at the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Global Summit at the ICC in Durban.
Image: Supplied
A panel discussion at the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Global Summit at the ICC in Durban on Wednesday focused on the real and persistent obstacles that stand in the way of entering and thriving in aviation careers for women, youth, and underserved communities.
The panel of leaders in the industry explored the theme 'Breaking barriers to aviation careers: Funding, inclusion and access solutions.'
The event was hosted by ICAO in collaboration with the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA).
Thobile Masooa, human resources executive at the SACAA, said Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subject involvement remains a challenge, with the uptake by pupils being very low.
Teacher shortages and a lack of infrastructure hinder subject offerings in rural schools, she said.
Masooa said access to funding is a fundamental issue within this industry.
'If you look at our government's National Fund scheme (NSFAS), it sponsors mostly students who are in public universities, and some of our aviation training takes place in the private sector,' said Masooa.
Masooa announced that SACAA has collaborated with the industry to launch a programme aimed at integrating aviation qualifications into the National Qualifications Framework, where a licence would be comparable to a bachelor's qualification.
Ellah Wafula, an aircraft maintenance engineer from the Association for Women in Aviation (AWAM) in Kenya, highlighted the significant financial barrier to studying aviation.
She noted that the high cost of aviation courses makes them inaccessible to many passionate and talented individuals who aspire to join the field.
Wafula called for funded African pathways to be created to prevent losing a generation of talented, skilled, and passionate innovators who lack access.
She also called for girls to get early exposure to the industry and structured mentorship.
Captain Zoya Agarwal, senior commander at Air India and a UN Women Advocate, who is the youngest Indian woman to command a Boeing 747, called for children to be introduced to aviation at a grassroots level.
'I'm talking kindergarten, nursery [school], where the government could possibly step in and have things like storybooks or fun ways of engagement,' she said.
Agarwal said children often dream big, but these dreams can be crushed by the reality of their environment. This could be due to parents, friends, or society being unaware of aviation opportunities, misinformed about roles, or fearing risks (even though aviation is one of the safest professions).
She championed the Role Model, Representation, and Repetition (RRR) model, promoting continuous industry representation by aviation role models.
Kim James, director of UAV Aerial Works, who deals with the drone operation, manufacturing, and training sector, said a key limiting factor is the lack of planned, purposeful, and considered funding programmes.
James said while funding models do exist, they do not result in 'work-ready candidates".
She noted that these programmes, designed for outlying communities, lead to ineffective funding as certified candidates return to job-scarce areas.
According to James, a common misconception is that one can only be a drone pilot.
She suggested assessing dropouts for non-certified industry roles to utilise their prior training.
James advocated for schooling system reform. She noted that school leavers lack basic road safety knowledge and driving skills.
'We employ youth, which in our context is 18 to 34, and 50% of all of our candidates that apply for any of our jobs either do not have driver's licences or cannot drive, which means I cannot hire them,' she said.
