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The Aerospace Education Center at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky recently hosted its first-ever "Girls in Aerospace" program. The program focuses on empowering young girls to pursue careers in aviation and is funded by NASA Kentucky and the University of Kentucky.
The event featured ten presenters who showed the program participants all that aviation has to offer, beyond being a pilot. The program focuses on girls ages 10 to 17 and has a special focus on girls from underserved communities. Museum Chairman Jim McCormick emphasized that every girl is deserving of a chance to explore the world of aviation and aim for the sky. The Aerospace program was a way for girls to explore career possibilities and learn about aviation and what is has to offer them.RELATED STORY:Celebrating the history of women in aviation
Women make up less than 20 percent of the workforce throughout the aviation industry. In the last 60 years, the introduction of women into the industry has been slow and relatively stagnant. The goal is to help girls see that they can overcome barriers like lack of visibility and access, lack of parent/child awareness, lack of teacher/counselor awareness, lack of mentoring and any gender stereotype.
The Aerospace Education Center has the initiative to attract, retain and advance women in aviation. Advancing women in the industry is crucial to the safety, sustainability, profitability and ability to innovate. The success of the program has introduced a new way to introduce future programs. The hope is that young girls will be inspired to pursue careers in aviation and aerospace.