Airline boss makes plea to schoolgirls
CityJet boss Christine Ourmières has urged more girls to study maths and science at school so they can pursue well-paid careers in engineering.
The CEO said she felt a ‘huge responsibility’ to recruit more women into engineering but is held back because they don’t take the right subjects at school.
She also claimed that if they do get into the business, women’s careers are hampered by a culture of networking that excludes them, she told the London Evening Standard.
Ourmières is one of only 15 female airline chiefs out of 200 globally.
She said the low number of women in airlines was ‘ridiculous’ and blamed it on education. "The fact that women most of the time are pushed into subjects like English or literature, philosophy, and it’s just not expected – people are not used to seeing women doing maths and physics."
She said her father pushed her to study engineering because he felt it would help her find employment.
In this year’s exams, only 21% of physics A-levels and 39% of maths A-levels were taken by girls.
Ourmières studied maths and physics at school before taking a masters degree in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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