Women & Equality // Kenya

EDITOR"S NOTE: The last issue of The Controller included a 24-page special section – called "Women & Equality" – highlighting female controllers from 19 nations from every IFATCA region. This section included biographical and autobiographical articles, interviews, and other news pieces that together present an unprecedented snapshot of what it is like to be a female air traffic controller today and how the ATC work

environment has changed. The following article was submitted after the last issue was completed. We decided to run it in this issue. If you missed the last issue, you can download it at http://controller.ifatca.org.

I grew up in an era when women in my country Kenya and throughout most of the African continent were beginning to make a big push for female inclusion in decision making, politics, careers, and in all spheres of governance. The picture that most of us have of what a woman should be able to achieve was very different from the reality that most women experienced in Kenya during my childhood.

z Photo: Kenyan ATC Rosemary Kyalo

When I grew up, in a typical Kenyan home, boys in a household would be busy concentrating on their studies, while the females did all the chores. And if a family couldn’t afford all of the school fees, it generally would be the girls who would have to sacrifice their educations, so the boys in the family could go to school. Even the most ambitious girls were expected to grow up and get married.

When girls were able to attend school, they faced additional challenges in completing their educations. In the morning before they went to school, girls were expected to wake up early to complete household chores including fetching firewood, working on a family farm, and searching for water. The post-school routine for girls involved

finishing cooking and other chores before doing their homework. Despite these hardships, because I had a loving and educated mother, I was able to get an education.

Growing up with these challenges influenced my career decisions. My biggest dream was to be a flight attendant. I set this goal for myself, because it was a natural role for women who wanted to work in the aviation industry. It was the only place I thought I could fit. I kind of stumbled my way into the air traffic control profession, which at that time still was a predominantly male profession. I was among three women selected to become an air traffic controller out of a class of 15 people. Becoming an air traffic controller as a woman was a huge achievement in a country and a continent where females were battling issues such as female genital mutilation, economic suppression, and cultural and social expectations. I had made it.

At that time, because there were so few of us, we all knew the names of the women ATCOs in the system. We would have been forgiven if we didn’t know the names of our male ATC colleagues because they were many of them compared to us.

Women ATCOs in my country faced many obstacles such as being overlooked for promotions if we had children (a regulatory requirement). We were required to notify our CAA immediately if we suspected we might be pregnancy. Our ATC licenses would be suspended until after giving birth and after being declared ‘fit’ by a certified aviation medical doctor. This gave our male colleagues an advantage, because they continued their training and got promotions, while pregnant female ATCs could not. I am glad that these rules have changed and that this is no longer the situation. After Kenya adopted a new constitution, it also became mandatory that all public entities must employ at least 30% of both genders. This requirement has had a positive effect on ATC in Kenya, as we are seeing the number of female ATCs increase in the system. However, the gender issues are far from a closed chapter, as we now are fighting to have facilities where ATCOs who are breastfeeding can nurse, to have shifts which favour young mothers, have dedicated and fully equipped restrooms which ensure privacy for women. Female ATCOs face challenges in their relationships with their colleagues because some of them are seen as arrogant and too empowered in a society which expects a woman to be soft spoken and mild-mannered and dependent on men.

In IFATCA’s Africa and Middle East Region, there still are other countries that have not attracted female ATCOs because of cultural and religious restrictions. Some religions do not allow for the close interaction of females and males in a closed environment such as our ATC control rooms. Some cultures do not allow women to be away from their homes and husbands at night, meaning they cannot work night shifts. This presents a challenge for CAAs recruiting female shift workers in such countries. Some cultures also haven’t embraced the role of a woman in science-oriented fields like air traffic control. Therefore, you still find predominantly male control rooms. Is it perhaps time to consider building gender specific control rooms? And maybe have females and males sit in different rooms while providing the same service within the same airspace? (A fun food for thought).

Embracing women in ATC is embracing diverse and robust ideas. Embracing diversity improves systems. Furthermore, research has shown it can significantly, positively affect performance (Ozcan and Riza, 2016). It also can lead to more robust decision making and more informed risk management (Tan, 2014). Finally, increasing the number of women working in ATC, can lead to stronger corporate governance (Pathan and Faff, 2013). y

The IFATCA Professional/Legal (PLC) and Technical/Operations (TOC) Committees met recently at national office of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) in Washington, D.C.

This was the committees’ last meeting before the IFATCA annual conference in Singapore, March 30 - April 3, 2020. The attendees discussed the papers they’ll be presenting in Singapore, covering topics including drones, automation, and best practices. During the meeting, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert spoke to the members and joined them in thanking Deidre Hatchard (Denver TRACON, D01) for her work representing NATCA on the PLC.

“Thanks once again to NATCA for the unwavering support of IFATCA’s activities,” NATCA Rep to TOC Jaymi Steinberg said. “In particular, thanks to Trish, NATCA's Alaska Regional Vice President Clint Lancaster, and Executive Administrative Assistant Cheryl Lewis for helping us to set up such a successful IFATCA meeting. It was an honor to host at home.” y

z Photos: (top of the page) Members of IFATCA's TOC and PLC committees at at the NATCA national offices in Washington, D.C. (above/left) NATCA President Paul Rinaldi, Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert, and Alaska Regional Vice President Clint Lancaster thanked Deidre Hatchard (Denver TRACON, D01) for her work representing NATCA on the PLC (above/right) PLC Committee members meeting.