Uganda Airlines cracking the gender glass ceiling

Aviation

Only seven of the top 100 airlines in the world are led by female chief executive officers (CEOs), according to a survey conducted by Flight Global. And this represents a peak figure from the past five years of research.

While women are better educated and increasingly being added to the global labour force, their representation in top positions in business still lags behind that of men. 

Globally, women head only 20 percent of companies and according to the International Labour Organisation, the bigger the company, the less likely we are to see women at the helm. The airline sector is no different and the African aviation industry represents even more damning figures.

Today, a large percentage of companies have diversity and inclusion policies in place, not all organisations are walking the talk.

Uganda Airlines has not backed that trend and is showing unprecedented leadership in this area across the board. Recent appointments mean that the airline’s leadership from board chairperson to CEO, commercial and communications directors are all females. When the top executive of a company is a woman, it is likely to have a larger share of female employees.

 On the technical side, where only five percent of airline pilots globally are female, the airline is represented by a female demographic of 8.3 percent.

Chief Pilot Mike Etiang believes a diverse crew is great for building a larger mindset in the company as it facilitates a greater flow of broad experiences and insights. Commenting on his gender diversity philosophy for a published article last year, he said:

“As we seek to build a national airline with international reach and given a large number of Ugandans in the diaspora, many of whom are in intermarriages, it’s good for us to be broad-minded in our approach to people, different cultures, and knowledge. As for females I have always encouraged women pilots and take pride in their success, after all I am a father of two girls plus one boy.”

Unfortunately, the gender pay gap does not disappear when women move into managerial roles. And it remains a persistent indicator of inequality between men and women in the world of work. The underlying perception driven by this inequality was exemplified by Uganda’s parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises while grilling Uganda Airlines CEO Jenifer Bamuturaki on the size of her pay. While everyone was up in arms about a projected Shs87m salary, no one seemed to have a problem with her male predecessor’s Shs127 million. The current CEO reportedly earns less.

It is often said that men apply for a job when they meet only 60 percent of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100 percent of them. Another way to put that is “Men are confident about their ability at 60 percent, but women don’t feel confident until they’ve checked off each item on the list.”

In other words, people who weren’t applying believed they needed the qualifications not to do the job well, but to be hired in the first place. They thought that the required qualifications were quite simply that…, required qualifications. They didn’t see the hiring process as one where advocacy, relationships, or a creative approach to framing one’s expertise could overcome not having the skills and experiences outlined in the job qualifications. Ring a bell?

Research shows that when enterprises have an inclusive business culture and inclusive policies, the predicted probability of achieving increased profitability and productivity is 63 percent;  enhanced ability to attract and retain talent is 60 percent; greater creativity innovation and openness is 59 percent; enhanced company reputation is 58 percent; better ability to gauge consumer interest and demand is 38 percent.

When boards are gender-balanced, companies are almost 20 percent more likely to have enhanced business outcomes. Ultimately, diversity contributes to competitive business performance. Only time will tell what the performance outcomes of Uganda Airlines’ female-driven executive workforce will be.

Mr Derek Nseko is a commercial pilot and founder of Airspace Africa.