Irish aviation leasing sector male-dominated, study finds

The results of a study of attitudes to gender within the €4 billion Irish aviation leasing industry suggest too many top roles are held by men, women find it difficult to progress, and large aviation lessors are badly positioned to implement new European rules on diversity reporting.

The survey of attitudes across the industry was carried out for corporate law firm Mason Hayes & Curran (MHC), which provides legal services to the sector.

Two-thirds of respondents said that over 30 per cent of positions at their companies were held by women. However, three-quarters of those surveyed said they reported to a male superior.

"This points to issues around female employees not being able to climb the ladder and access senior management roles," the report, Gender and Diversity in Aviation, says.

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Half of respondents said less than one-in-10 of so-called “C-suite” or top-level executive positions are filled by women.

Gender and diversity

Under new European Union rules transposed in Ireland in August, large organisations must now complete annual diversity reports. The MHC study found two-thirds of respondents said their company did not have a gender and diversity committee to set policies. MHC said this was "disappointing".

“Given the introduction of the EU regulations relating to non-financial and diversity information, it is essential that companies prioritise what they can do now to ensure they have a diversity policy in place along with a plan for its implementation,” the report says.

“Looking at the survey results, it would appear that, for some organisations in the aviation industry, further work may need to be carried out to ensure that diversity is given the priority it deserves in company policies,” said Christine O’Donovan, a partner in MHC and its head of aviation.