Over the last 25 years, the Royal Canadian Air Force has become a more inviting place for women. But while women represent a larger portion of the Air Force today than they did in 1989, they remain significantly underrepresented.
The latest statistics available show that women now comprise 19% of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Twenty-five years ago, Maj. Deanna Brasseur made a major breakthrough. In June of 1989, she became one of Canada’s first two female CF-18 fighter pilots.
As a girl growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, Brasseur didn’t think flying was a career option.
“I remember going out to the end of the road and watching them flying all the time and thinking boys were really lucky they got to do that because if they let girls then I would want to do that,” she says. “And then it happened.”
But Brasseur faced rampant discrimination after her graduation from the CF-18 training program.
“It was always my wish that the guys wouldn’t have made it so difficult,” she says. “They were always willing to engage you in a discussion as to whether or not women should be flying fighters.”
Being the only woman wasn’t easy.
“You’re the only woman pilot on your squadron and you’ve got 15 to 16 other guys that don’t think you should be there,” Brasseur says.
Eventually attitudes started to shift.
“After a time, six months, eight months, a year, once you proved yourself capable and competent and were no longer a threat to their ego, then it was fine,” she says.
While the number of women in the Air Force has increased since Brasseur’s first days, chair for Women in Science and Engineering Catherine Mavriplis says gender inequality is still a problem.
“We don’t always get the same doors open to us that some guys will have open to them,” Mavriplis says.
Mavriplis says the number of women working in traditionally male fields, such as aviation, needs to be higher.
“A critical mass of 30% would change things drastically,” she says.
Underrepresentation also remains a problem for girls in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, which aims to increase interest in aviation among youth between the ages of 12 and 19.
Tanya Brooks, a second lieutenant for 632 Phoenix Air Cadet Squadron in Orleans, says girls are often outnumbered by boys two to one.
Brooks says that when she joined the cadets in 2003, her squadron only had two spots designated for girls. The other dozen spots were designated for boys.
Overtime, Brooks says she saw a shift toward equality.
“In 2005 and 2006 they changed it so that there was no discrimination from male to female. You were given an amount of spots and you could fill it with whatever candidates you wanted,” Brooks says.
Brooks says the policy shift has had positive results.
“The retention of female cadets definitely increased,” she says. “We started seeing a lot more female cadets progressing all the way to the age of 18 and achieving some of the highest ranks they could achieve in the squadron.”
While there are still barriers for women in the field of aviation, Brooks and Brasseur are among the women who want to carve out a space for themselves.
And despite the challenges, Brasseur still has fond memories of being airborne.
“Once you leave the ground, everything that’s on the ground stays on the ground. All the problems, all the challenges, all the whatever. And when you’re in the air it’s just pure joy.”
For more information on Brasseur’s career as a fighter pilot, click here and here.