Human Flourishing in Aerospace

There is a significant underrepresentation of women in the aerospace (aviation / aeronautical and space / astronautical) industry[1]  as compared to their presence in the overall workforce. Women face cultural issues and labor challenges that affect them personally exacerbating generally acknowledged barriers to entry, retention, and promotion. My doctoral research centered on the question: Are women in the aerospace industry flourishing?

The purpose of the mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) research was to examine the state of individual flourishing of women in the aerospace industry, sources of challenges or social support that may enable or diminish their flourishing, and the potential impact on entry, promotion, and retention. In this study, I sought personal narratives and women’s assessment of their own flourishing guided by widely utilized flourishing measures.[2] This flourishing survey allowed me to gauge the reported state of individual flourishing of women in their environment, the aerospace industry, at that moment in time (January 2025). Further research and follow on dialogue is needed to provide context to understand the lived experience of women in aerospace. The dissertation is under copyright although has not yet been published in full. To learn more about this doctoral research, return to this blog space read future additions and updates.

[1] For this research, industry descriptors are taken from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) terminology, wherein “aeronautical” deals with flight in the earth’s atmosphere which I will also call “aviation,” and “astronautical” deals with travel in “space,” while “aerospace” covers both realms. The aviation or aeronautical sector falls under the purview of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) while the astronautical or space sector falls under the purview of NASA.

[2] See the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University ( https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/ ), the Flourishing Network ( https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/flourishing-network-HFH ) and the Global Flourishing Study ( https://www.cos.io/gfs )