AEROSPACE Diversity and inclusion

Broadening the palette 

Does aviation and aerospace have a racism problem? SOPHIE HARKER reports from a recent RAeS webinar that highlighted some uncomfortable questions that the industry urgently needs to address and which the Royal Aeronautical Society is aiming to lead the debate on.

Following the release of the RAeS’ statement and action plan on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, the Diversity & Inclusion Working Group (D&I WG) hosted a webinar to start the discussion around how the Society and wider aerospace sectors can work to be more inclusive for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) members and colleagues.

During the panel the audience was asked the following question: ‘Have you experienced racism in the workplace or other professional setting?’, to which 40% of the attendees replied ‘yes’.

The webinar titled ‘BAME Perspectives on Aerospace and Aviation: Shaping the Future’ aimed to put the focus on looking ahead on a variety of topics and opening the floor to ask the difficult questions on racism in industry and academia. Elvis Tinago ARAeS, Thermofluids Summer Intern and D&I WG member, chaired a diverse panel of representatives from across the aerospace, aviation and space sectors, as well as representatives from the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK):

• Halimatu Abubakar, Engineering Operations Manager, Aerospace Sector
• Shahida Barick FRAeS, Strategic Advisor, Space Sector
• Rachna Reiter, Airline Pilot, Aviation Sector
• Sheila Sousa, Senior Telecommunications Expert, AFBE-UK

Recognising race​

In recent history some have found it difficult to talk about race, however it is becoming clear that the ‘I don’t see colour’ assertion is actually doing more harm than good. Reiter described her race as part of her individual personality and that, by not recognising her race, it is ignoring an important part of her, commenting: “It’s who I am, I’m Asian and proud to be, I acknowledge it and I celebrate it.”

Our panellists discussed how addressing race does matter and the importance of having these open dialogues. It is essential to acknowledge race in order to have a productive discussion about it, even if these are uncomfortable conversations.

The webinar was hosted by the Society online.

Introducing ‘BAME’

‘BAME’ is an acronym for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. Although often used in efforts to improve the lack of diversity and inclusion in society, the term ‘BAME’ itself causes disagreement, due to the perception that it groups together all individuals who are ‘non-white’ without recognising the individual challenges and differing cultures of certain communities under the BAME banner. This was a running theme throughout the webinar with debate around why society feels the need to label anyone in the 21st century (be it with the BAME tag or their gender, sexual orientation or other characteristics). Although our panellists agreed that this was not the ideal situation and that we should endeavour to use labels less, it was highlighted that there is merit in using them to recognise and tackle some of the issues that affect individuals from BAME communities.

Racism in the workplace

Two polls were held during the webinar. The first identified that 83% of the audience members were currently or planning to work or study in the aerospace, aviation and space sectors. The second asked the audience if they had ever experienced racism in the workplace or another professional setting. The poll results showed 40% of the attendees responded that they had experienced racism. Sousa, who represented AFBE-UK (an organisation dedicated to providing support and promoting higher achievement among students and professionals in engineering), identified this shocking statistic as a very high percentage that cannot be ignored.

Among the panel it was agreed that it shows there is a lot of work that needs to be done and that only a response of 0% is acceptable. This statistic also highlighted that it is not enough to just ‘recruit more diverse candidates’; employers need to make efforts to create an inclusive environment to allow these candidates to succeed and feel like they belong, as well as understanding what impact experiencing racism has on their well-being and ability to perform in the workplace.

When is banter not banter? ​

One of the ways in which racism has been experienced by many is under the guise of ‘banter’. Barick described banter as a way for individuals to freely make offensive remarks and derogatory comments, while hiding behind the ‘it’s just banter’ tagline. The panel all agreed that the route forward to tackling this issue is by ‘calling it out’. This is an important action not only for those who are the targets of ‘banter’ but also for those who witness it. Sousa iterated: “any of us can do this… call it out because we won’t change behaviours unless we accept that something is wrong.”

The panel also discussed what organisations, groups and societies can do in order to create an environment in which everyone feels safe speaking up about banter and other associated behaviours. Abubakar raised the issue that, in many situations today, speaking up can have an adverse effect where the individual is labelled and stigmatised for doing so. The panel discussed this further, stressing that representation in HR is as important as representation within the technical fields. Ensuring diversity among those responsible for dealing with reports of discrimination creates a comfortable space for empathy and compassion where concerns are understood and taken seriously.

D&I in a post-Covid world

The pandemic has exposed socio-economic imbalance issues in more ways than previously publicised. On 16 June 2020 the UK Government released a report revealing the negatively disproportionate effect of Covid-19 on the BAME communities. This topic was deliberated on by the panellists who called on organisations to recognise that there is a problem and to embed diversity & inclusion (D&I) as part of the social and economic recovery from the pandemic. The panellists particularly advocated for a shift in recruitment and promotion to showcase what is possible. The method discussed in the session involved instigating a change at all levels within an organisation with recognition of role models at different career stages being key to this change. The panel also addressed the fact that the economic climate has changed, particularly within aviation and, while many of these changes are heartbreaking, the industry’s recovery can be treated as an opportunity to enact the change that is required in a way that makes it resilient to future challenges and avoids repeating history.

Actions not statements

A common theme throughout the panel discussion and Q&A was focused on identifying the specific actions that can be taken to address issues faced by the BAME communities. Following the unlawful killing of George Floyd and the subsequent global Black Lives Matter protests, many organisations and institutions released public statements in support. However, it has been made abundantly clear that these statements are meaningless without action. Not only is action the only way real progress can be made but a public statement without following through with subsequent actions is perceived to be an act of publicity or following a trend, as opposed to representing the true morals of the organisation.

Numerous different actions were covered by the panellists who emphasised that lots of small steps by many can lead to big change for all. These smaller actions included:

• ‘Blind CVs’ where names are left off entirely to reduce the effect of bias in recruitment processes.
• Analysing the diversity of speakers and panellists at events and webinars and notifying organisers to help them improve.
• Making sure the information and resources that are put out on the topic are positive and are there to educate on the way forward, rather than to reprimand mistakes.
• Organisations assessing their current state and setting up targets using industry benchmarking frameworks.
• Releasing action plans to make the organisation publicly accountable.
• Publish diversity statistics above and beyond the government-mandated gender pay-gap statistics.

Sousa pointed to AFBE-UK Scotland’s ‘ACCESS.A Action Plan’ – an action plan for some simple and important steps that any organisation can take.

Encouraging the next generation

The inspirational General Charles Q Brown, Jr is the new Chief of Staff of the US Air Force. US Air Force

Many of the actions suggested by the panel had a focus on inspiring the next generation, including under-represented groups, to consider a career in STEM and aviation by presenting them as careers they can see themselves thrive in. It is important to show that aerospace, aviation and space are global industries in which everyone is welcome. Promotion across all ages, from primary school to university level, was frequently stressed and the push for extensive programmes with a wide variety of opportunities was encouraged.

To reach different audiences and schools who have not had visibility of STEM initiatives before, Abubakar recommended a prominent use of social media aimed at generating widespread awareness. The younger generations use a myriad of social media platforms that can be leveraged by the Society and the aerospace sectors to show that anyone and everyone can succeed in these industries. She also called on large organisations and government to sponsor and support these programmes to enable their success.

Diversity does not work without inclusion​

Attracting and recruiting a more diverse workforce is only half the story – how do organisations keep their recruits and enable them to succeed in the workplace? Reiter advocated for internal support groups, stating that the Society’s D&I WG was a great initiative, as it allows the Society’s members to come together and work through solutions on how to diversify the Society’s membership – a critical component to ensuring the Society’s longevity and relevance in ‘tomorrow’s world’.

Abubakar also praised training and development schemes for managers to help them understand all of their employees and what those employees uniquely need to be able to contribute their best to their teams and thrive, not just survive, in the workplace.

NASA-TV featured two black co-hosts; retired astronaut Leland D. Melvin and SpaceX Mission Integration Engineer, Lauren Lyons, for their live streamed launch program, covering SpaceX’s successfully launched manned commercial expedition into space back in May 2020. NASA

What next? ​

Improving diversity and inclusion is one the strategic aims of the Royal Aeronautical Society and is a fundamental contributor to the future of the organisation. The future viability of the Society as a membership organisation is predicated on being attractive to the widest audience, as well as reflecting the changes taking place within our Corporate Partners. Following the release of the Society’s statement on BLM (available to view on the RAeS website), the ‘BAME Perspectives on Aerospace and Aviation: Shaping the Future’ webinar was designed to be a starting point to enable further discussions and debates on race-related matters and to ensure that these issues are not overlooked or forgotten. The points raised throughout the panel discussion and all the questions submitted to the Q&A have been and will be used to inform further activities, drive action for change and improve the inclusivitly of the Society.

The D&I WG would like to thank the panellists and chair for their time and expertise contributing to the first event of this type for the Royal Aeronautical Society. Thank you also to Rishi Radia, RAeS Education and Diversity Officer, who was the MC for the event. For those that missed it, the webinar was recorded and can be viewed on the Society’s YouTube channel. Further information on the Society’s D&I activities, as well as the D&I WG, can be found here. The group welcomes any thoughts and suggestions and will be running further webinars to pick up on related topics in the coming months. If you would like to be involved in any future events, please contact careers@aerosociety.com.

As aerospace faces its biggest challenge yet, we should not forget the struggles that many people within our talented workforce face on a daily basis. Getting from 40% to 0% is not an easy endeavour but, in the words of Eddie Rickenbacker: ‘aviation is proof that, given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible’.