Women Earning Their Wings At NMC
by Katy Gwizdala
Northwestern Michigan College’s (NMC's) aviation program is reaching new heights in at least one new area – its enrollment of female students has more than doubled its previous two years and is now roughly double the national average.
For the 2016-17 academic year, 11 of 100 enrolled students are female, versus 5-6 in the two years prior. That ten percent figure is almost double the national average of female pilots, which hovers around six percent.
“These numbers, which are proportionally higher than the national average, tells you there’s so much work to do to lead young women to fabulous career fields,” says Marguerite Cotto, NMC’s vice president for lifelong and professional learning.
One likely reason is a recent surge in demand – and pay. The challenging combination of an expensive upfront investment (the expected cost of NMC’s aviation program is approximately $73,000) and relatively low entry-level industry earnings (less than a decade ago, the starting annual salary for a First Officer was $20,000-$25,000) dissuaded many potential students.
But the math has changed dramatically as demand for pilots has increased in recent years. According to Alex Bloye, director of aviation at NMC, starting salaries for a First Officer are now $45-55,000, with signing bonuses for qualified pilot applicants up to $60,000. Bloye cites a “perfect storm of multiple variables” as the reason for the recent demand, including FAA-regulated age requirements leading to a wave of retirements, while the requirements to become a pilot are increasingly restrictive.
“The industry has responded with much higher pay, a higher quality of life, a better schedule… and pilots being recruited their first and second years of college," says Bloye. "It’s a real market for a good, high-paying career."
Bloye says the increase in salary and benefits has likely helped create gender diversity in students of aviation, and a “new generation of people who are more globally aware and conscious than in previous years.”
Another factor? NMC has invested in informing young women of their career options at an early age. In the last 7-10 years, an emphasis has been placed on working with Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS), Traverse Bay Intermediate Public School District (TBAISD), and high schools’ Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) programs to introduce young women to technology and engineering-related fields and demonstrate career paths.
According to Cotto, young women are “self-confident in making their choice. Whether it’s popular or not, it’s what they want to do. When a school tries to be smart, to market, to help promote the image of young women… recruitment shows young women (choosing) unexpected careers.” Cotto says the decision to begin opening doors to women earlier in their development keeps them attentive to what skills are needed, helps them imagine a path that is different and exciting, and makes fields like aviation seem viable, where “parents can really see the opportunities these careers can have.”
Other NMC technology fields of study have also experienced increases in female student populations, including welding, automotive, computer information technology, and engineering technology, many starting with just single-digit outliers and now growing to several that have double-digit female numbers.
