Alberta Aviation Museum aims to grow number of women in industry
Posted March 7, 2023 5:11 pm.
Last Updated March 7, 2023 7:16 pm.
A lot has changed since Anna Turchet joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, shortly after World War II.
“It made me feel good that we opened the road for a lot of these girls in different trades,” said Turchet, one of the first women to join the Royal Canadian Air Force.
At the time, women weren’t allowed to enlist as pilots, so Turchet instead did groundwork and administration.
“When I first started, we had a little opposition from the men, but a lot were accepting it, because I think at that time, women were getting more into the men’s world.”
While Turchet’s accomplishments of being one of the first women to join the Air Force is inspiring, the percentage of women choosing a career in aviation remains low today.
Only 6 per cent of licensed pilots in Canada are women and that number has grown only a mere 1 per cent over a five-year period.
“So there is a lot of work to be done,” said Jean Lauzon, executive director of the Alberta Aviation Museum. “The gender imbalance is very much prominent right now, and we need to change that.”
The Alberta Aviation Museum hopes their upcoming 10th annual Women of Aviation event will inspire the next generation of women to take flight
“For women, there is a running thought that aviation is a male industry, and that it is not open to women, but we know that’s incorrect. So we are here to hopefully open some eyes, engage some young ladies that are intrigued, and see if they want to pursue it as a future career,” said Lauzon.
There’s not only a shortage of women in the industry, according to a 2018 report from the Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace found that based on demand, but the industry will also need more than 7 thousand more pilots by 2025.
Turchet says this is a great opportunity for more women to take to the skies
“If you want to make it a career, go ahead, don’t be afraid. The men accept the women a lot more than when I was in it,” she stated.
Aviation experts will be at the Alberta Aviation Museum all day Saturday, to share first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to work in the industry.
