A Critical Analysis of Airlines' Efforts to Address the Challenges Faced by black women in Aviation

To critically examine the response of Airlines to the challenge of underrepresentation of women of colour as pilots and engineers.

Objectives:

• To investigate the historical and current underrepresentation of women of colour in the aviation industry.  
• To define the key criteria required for women of colour to be positively represented in the aviation industry. 
• To examine the initiatives and strategies employed Airlines to address the underrepresentation of women of colour.  
• To provide recommendations to an airline to improve the representation of women of colour in their work force.  

By reviewing the literature, you should undertake definition analysis of any key concepts and create an academic framework for your topic. You should identify any clear gaps in the literature review

Literature Review (LR) [guidance of 1200 words]

A Literature Review is simply a review of existing literature for the following purposes:

What previous studies have covered this theme, what were their conclusions, where are the gaps? This forms the basis of your question as well as provide you with a rationale for your study.  

What theoretical framework (or toolkit) could I use to address my question?

Establish the most appropriate definition and model (or sections of a model) to address your question. Then conclude with a theoretical framework/model (toolkit) that you will apply to your case study within the Findings/Discussion chapter. This will help you to explain your findings, identify and good practices/gaps within your findings and support you to make overall 'judgements'.

What specific themes of this theoretical framework will I focus on? Many frameworks include numerous sections/themes - you may not need to focus on all sections.

How to conduct a LR

• Identify critical literature to be included within this review (this links to Secondary Methods covered within the Methodology).

• Start with a definition analysis of the key concepts within your study.
  1. Create a table & place them in chronological order (starting with the earliest first).
  2. Note the similarities/differences across definitions.

• Determine the most appropriate definition for your study.  

• Review the key relevant themes(that are pertinent to your study) within the literature that you have chosen.

Themes to consider:

Theme 1: Historical and Current Underrepresentation of Women of Colour in the Aviation Industry    

 Theme 2: Criteria for Positive Representation of Women of Colour in the Aviation Industry     

Theme 3: Initiatives and Strategies for Addressing Underrepresentation of Women of Colour in the Aviation Industry  

Theme 4: Gender diversity and Inclusion in The Aviation Industry:

Under each theme, review each study within a chronological order as it may showcase how a specific theme has changed/evolved over time because of various external forces.

• Critique these studies based on the following:
  • their strengths and weaknesses
  • identify any opposing views
  • note any ‘gaps’ in the studies (a gap will help you to provide the rationale to your study)
    • Examples of possible gaps:
      • Time gap– the last study on this topic was several years ago, so it is important to see if these findings are still relevant today;
      • Case study gap– no such study on your specific case study has been conducted;
      • Theoretical gap– consideration of a different theory/definition or criterion for your study;
      • Methodological gap– previous studies have not used a specific method to generate findings.

Can you please Review TWO key models/theories relating to the key theme of my study.

Determine the key similarities/differences across the models.

Decide if a ‘section’ of a model is only relevant to my research question. Conclude with the key model/section of model that  will apply to my case study delta airlines

 (within the Findings section).

Remember: a theoretical framework or model will help you to structure and explain your findings, identify good practices/gaps with your case study, and support you to make overall 'judgements'.

Note: a model is simply a drawing of a theoretical framework.

• Conclusion to the LR
  • Where is the overall gap within the literature to justify your research question?
  • What overall ‘theoretical model’ will you use to ‘frame’ your study – in other words, help you to structure and explain your findings (at a later stage)