News

Taking the necessary steps to a more gender-balanced and diverse aviation workforce

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is kicking off its Global Aviation Gender Summit tomorrow and EUROCONTROL is joining in to help make aviation more gender-balanced. 

Organised in collaboration with UNESCO and hosted by the South African Civil Aviation Authority, the summit aims to bring together the global air transport community in:

  • Identifying concrete actions to accelerate gender equality in a highly specialized sector and;
  • Establishing partnerships to support the coordination and implementation of these actions.

At EUROCONTROL, we support these goals and are committed to improving gender diversity across all corners of aviation. We see this initiative as an opportune moment to join the conversation and showcase some of the steps we are taking towards a fairer future for all. 

Study after study has shown clearly that better gender balance, indeed better diversity overall, brings big social and business benefits. My vision is for EUROCONTROL to be a leader on gender in our field. I do not believe in hiding behind the excuse of low representation of women in aviation, engineering and technological fields across Europe. Rather, I am convinced that by working with ICAO and other partners from across the aviation field, learning from other sectors and together with the staff of EUROCONTROL, we will be able to make real change“, said Eamonn Brennan, Director General EUROCONTROL.

We act on our commitments

We know that commitment alone is not enough. Thus, here are a few things we have and are continuing to do in the name of a more balanced workforce at EUROCONTROL. 

Last year we became one of the signatories of the European Commission’s Declaration on equal opportunities for women and men in the transport sector, reaffirming our commitment to addressing the gender balance both internally and for our industry.

In addition, EUROCONTROL’s staff set up an internal network - euroDiversity - to be able to freely discuss gender concerns and propose actions to senior management and human resources. After its first year of activity, the network is 45-strong and is equally open to men and women alike.

This year’s goals

We now have an important objective to develop and implement measures that ensure a diverse and gender-balanced Agency. Our commitment is to embed diversity and equal treatment between men and women in our values, and to reflect that in all the Agency’s HR processes and initiatives,” added Sabrina Depicker, Head of Human Resources at EUROCONTROL.

Our focus throughout 2018 has been on practical measures to improve our internal gender balance. As an international organisation with 41 member states, 2 comprehensive agreement states and many more partner countries, we are also looking at how to tackle the broader issues of diversity and inclusion. To do so, our goal is to: 

  • Increase the number of qualified female applications for open job positions;
  • By raising awareness of what EUROCONTROL can offer;
  • Remove gender bias from the get-go by including more women in our recruitment and selection boards;
  • Ensure a balanced gender representation in committees and working groups by proactively reviewing their structures;
  • Increase diversity sensitivity and remove any unconscious bias in our management through trainings and awareness campaigns;
  • Improve our staff’s work-life balance through modern policies available equally to all employees;
  • Learn from our partners and share our own experience by sharing our benchmarks with comparable organisations and;
  • Improve the internal culture by communicating regularly and bringing outside perspectives into the conversation.

Would you like to learn more?

Join us at our stand at the Global Aviation Gender Summit; our representatives will tell you all about these and other initiatives, our vision and plans for a more equal future!