The International Aerospace Womens Association (IAWA) has released the second edition of its report, ‘Lift Off to Leadership: Leadership Barriers for Women in Aerospace and Aviation’, highlighting persistent structural and cultural obstacles limiting women’s progression to executive ranks.
The 2026 study, conducted in collaboration with Oliver Wyman, updates the association’s 2021 research and finds that while incremental gains have been made, a significant “perception gap” between genders remains.
According to the findings, women are half as likely as men to rate gender equality in their organisation as “high”. Twice as many women believe their companies place little to no priority on increasing female representation in leadership roles.
The report arrives at a time when the global aviation and aerospace sector continues to grapple with talent shortages. Nearly half of the women surveyed said they had considered leaving the industry.
While male respondents most commonly cited compensation as a reason to move on, women identified implicit bias as a primary and growing factor.
A further challenge lies in what the report describes as a “double standard” in communication styles. Some 38% of women reported being labelled “too aggressive” during their careers, compared with 15% of men – underscoring ongoing disparities in how leadership traits are assessed.
Sponsorship also emerged as a decisive lever for advancement. While 68% of women identified sponsorship as critical to career progression, only around 25% of leaders are actively acting as sponsors – a figure that has remained largely unchanged since the first study.
Marita Lintener, president of IAWA, said: “The findings in this second edition confirm that talent is not the issue – opportunity and culture are.
“To manage risk in an increasingly complex environment, our industry must bridge this perception gap and move from passive support to active sponsorship.”
The report frames systemic change not only as a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) objective, but as a commercial necessity. With innovation and resilience increasingly dependent on access to skilled talent, IAWA argues that failing to address cultural barriers represents a material business risk.
Among its recommendations, the report calls on organisations to embed active sponsorship as a core leadership competency and to tackle the daily “micro-experiences” that contribute to female attrition.
Leaders are urged to move beyond mentoring and proactively advocate for women in decision-making forums, while the wider industry is encouraged to adopt gender-neutral recruitment standards and invest in proven leadership initiatives.
The full report is available for download at iawa.org.
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