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I’ll tell you something: Maria Da Cunha

If we want more senior women we only have to ask, says BA’s high-flier

A few years ago, a vacancy arose for head of legal at British Airways. I weighed up my skills against the job requirements and prevaricated about applying. I ultimately decided against it, based on a paucity of experience in certain areas. When the director of the department questioned this decision, it became apparent that – unlike my male counterparts who had all applied for the role – I had focused heavily on those aspects of the job for which I didn’t feel qualified, rather than the many where I was more than capable.

If I hadn’t got that tap on the shoulder, I wouldn’t have applied for the position, and ultimately I might not be where I am today, directing the airline’s legal and HR functions. And the issue of women having the confidence to put themselves forward and proactively manage their careers isn’t likely to go away soon.

The insight I received into my own behaviour has stayed with me as I have progressed through BA. It has made me determined to actively encourage people who may need a nudge to recognise their potential and capabilities. Many women have the tendency to undersell themselves and dwell on the downsides, rather than emphasising the positives.

It can be seen even in senior level interviews, which is why we have instigated a policy of mixed panels for all senior management positions. It goes some way towards addressing the issue of how different styles of leadership are recognised. We also strive for balanced gender shortlists for all management roles and have invested in improving the soft skills of our leadership community with the aim of being more inclusive – for example, all managers are trained to recognise unconscious bias.

While these may be regarded as small steps, aviation has had a long legacy to overcome. At its inception, the people who built aircraft, flew them and maintained them were male. Even looking after customers on flights was a male preserve. Things have changed gradually over the past few decades, and today two thirds of our cabin crew are female. For the first time, we have a female senior general manager within our engineering department, and our head of Heathrow customer service, who manages 3,000 employees, is a woman on a part-time contract.

We have more female pilots than any other UK airline but this equates to just 5 per cent of the total and we are determined to see the number rise. We recently launched a campaign to promote flying as a career for women, inviting applications from anyone aged 18 to 55 with no previous flying experience.

I am not going to pretend that my company is a beacon of gender progressiveness. But I do believe we are moving in the right direction. And I hope that with initiatives like ours and those being undertaken by other major businesses, no woman will think twice about applying for a senior role.

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