IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i16p7229-d1461825.html

Flying High: Revealing the Sustainability Potential of Women in Aviation

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Vittoria Corazza

    (Department of Civil, Environmental and Building Engineering—DICEA, Sapienza University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

This paper explores the predominantly male-dominated aviation sector and highlights the benefits of increasing female representation. The key objectives are to analyze the gender pay gap, assess the current gender imbalance, and explore how addressing these issues could contribute to the sector’s sustainability and operational success. A combined quantitative and qualitative methodology is employed, including scenario-building based on monetary indicators and achievements from other industries where female workforce participation has been enhanced. The results demonstrate that closing the gender pay gap and boosting female participation in air transport operations, in line with supranational recommendations, can lead to significant financial gains and operational improvements. The study concludes that promoting gender equity is not only a social imperative but also a crucial factor for achieving sustainability goals within aviation.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Vittoria Corazza, 2024. "Flying High: Revealing the Sustainability Potential of Women in Aviation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7229-:d:1461825
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7229/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7229/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Valentin Bolotnyy & Natalia Emanuel, 2022. "Why Do Women Earn Less than Men? Evidence from Bus and Train Operators," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(2), pages 283-323.
    2. Chantal Duchene, 2011. "Gender and Transport," International Transport Forum Discussion Papers 2011/11, OECD Publishing.
    3. Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente & Oana Madalina Driha & Festus Victor Bekun & Festus Fatai Adedoyin, 2021. "The asymmetric impact of air transport on economic growth in Spain: fresh evidence from the tourism-led growth hypothesis," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 503-519, February.
    4. Das, Upasak & Singhal, Karan, 2023. "Solving it correctly: Prevalence and persistence of gender gap in basic mathematics in rural India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    5. Kim, Yohan & Lee, Joosung & Ahn, Jaemyung, 2019. "Innovation towards sustainable technologies: A socio-technical perspective on accelerating transition to aviation biofuel," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 317-329.
    6. Baum, Tom, 2012. "Working the skies: Changing representations of gendered work in the airline industry, 1930–2011," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 1185-1194.
    7. Masum, Farhad Hossain & Coppola, Ed & Field, John L. & Geller, Daniel & George, Sheeja & Miller, Jonathan L. & Mulvaney, Michael J. & Nana, Sanjay & Seepaul, Ramdeo & Small, Ian M. & Wright, David & D, 2023. "Supply chain optimization of sustainable aviation fuel from carinata in the Southeastern United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    8. Smith, Whitney E. & Cohen, Scott & Kimbu, Albert N. & de Jong, Anna, 2021. "Reshaping gender in airline employment," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sanaz Nikghadam-Hojjati & Eda Marchetti & Maria Gustavsson & Filipa Ferrada & Ana Inês Oliveira & Agneta Halvarsson Lundqvist & Anna Fogelberg Eriksson & Oliviu Matei & Jose Barata & Sepideh Kalateh &, 2025. "Gender-Responsive Research and Innovation: Issues and Initiatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-29, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Smith, Whitney E. & de Jong, Anna & Cohen, Scott & Kimbu, Albert N., 2023. "‘Creamy and seductive’: Gender surveillance in flight attendant work," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Garrod Brian & Almeida António & Machado Luiz, 2023. "Modelling of nonlinear asymmetric effects of changes in tourism on economic growth in an autonomous small-island economy," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 154-172, December.
    3. Nandi, Arindam & Sahoo, Soham & Haberland, Nicole & Ngô, Thoại D., 2023. "A glass ceiling at the playhouse? Gender gaps in public and private preschool enrollment in India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    4. Kumar, Nikeel Nishkar & Patel, Arvind, 2023. "Nonlinear effect of air travel tourism demand on economic growth in Fiji," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    5. Josep Amer-Mestre and Agnès Charpin, 2022. "Gender Differences in Early Occupational Choices: Evidence from Medical Specialty Selection," Economics Working Papers EUI ECO 2022/01, European University Institute.
    6. Chadi, Adrian & Hetschko, Clemens, 2025. "Income or leisure? On the hidden benefits of (un)employment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    7. Stokenberga,Aiga & Ivarsson Molina,Linda Ellin Maria & Fulponi,Juan Ignacio & Dominguez Gonzalez,Karla, 2024. "Leveraging Big Data to Understand Women’s Mobility in Buenos Aires," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10662, The World Bank.
    8. Alejandro Alcalá‐Ordóñez & Juan Gabriel Brida & Pablo Juan Cárdenas‐García & Verónica Segarra, 2025. "Tourism as an instrument of economic growth: Empirical exploration at the regional level in Spain," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(1), pages 222-243, February.
    9. Peng, Fei & Zeng, Xinying & Li, Yaoqi, 2024. "Female stereotype and occupational stigma," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    10. Benjamin Lochner & Christian Merkl, 2026. "Gender-Specific Application Behaviour, Matching, and the Residual Gender Earnings Gap," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 136(673), pages 97-124.
    11. Grissom, Jason A. & Timmer, Jennifer D. & Nelson, Jennifer L. & Blissett, Richard S.L., 2021. "Unequal pay for equal work? Unpacking the gender gap in principal compensation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. Ian Gregory-Smith & Alex Bryson & Rafael Gomez, 2025. "Discrimination in retention decisions and its impact on career earnings. Evidence from the National Football League," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2554, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    13. Seyed Hashem Mousavi-Avval & Sami Khanal & Ajay Shah, 2023. "Assessment of Potential Pennycress Availability and Suitable Sites for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Refineries in Ohio," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-14, July.
    14. Befort, N., 2020. "Going beyond definitions to understand tensions within the bioeconomy: The contribution of sociotechnical regimes to contested fields," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    15. Nandi, Arindam & Haberland, Nicole & Ngo, Thoai D., 2023. "The impact of primary schooling expansion on adult educational attainment, literacy, and health: Evidence from India’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    16. Cody Cook & Rebecca Diamond & Jonathan V Hall & John A List & Paul Oyer, 2021. "The Gender Earnings Gap in the Gig Economy: Evidence from over a Million Rideshare Drivers [Measuring the Gig Economy: Current Knowledge and Open Issues]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(5), pages 2210-2238.
    17. Prashant Poddar & Valentina Rotondi & Ridhi Kashyap, 2025. "Access to technology and foundational math proficiency among students: empirical evidence from India," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Olivieri, Cecilia & Fageda, Xavier, 2021. "Urban mobility with a focus on gender: The case of a middle-income Latin American city," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    19. Akter, Hosne Ara & Huang, Yu-Kai & Dwivedi, Puneet, 2025. "Developing a supply chain model for sustainable aviation fuel using logging residues in Georgia, United States," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    20. Chen, Ruotian & Yang, Hangjun & Wang, Kun & Jiang, Changmin, 2024. "Impacts of a sustainable aviation fuel mandate on airline competition — Full-service carrier vs. low-cost carrier," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7229-:d:1461825. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.