Barbie and Virgin Atlantic have partnered up with bespoke one-of-a-kind dolls representing three careers in STEM and aviation – pilot, cabin crew and engineer. With current stats from the Women’s Engineering Society showing only 12 percent of the UK engineering workforce is female, the two companies hope to encourage girls to pursue careers in aviation and engineering. The trend for male domination is particularly marked in the aviation sector, and only 4.3 percent of all UK pilots are women. Known and loved around the world, Barbie has had over 200 careers throughout her history – and has partnered with Virgin Atlantic in the 60th year of the brand to continue to inspire girls to widen their horizons and realise they can achieve anything.
Shockingly, girls as young as five start to doubt themselves, research has shown – this is known as the Dream Gap.
In an attempt to champion change, Barbie launched the Dream Gap Project, which is an on-going initiative with the goal of levelling the playing field for girls around the world.
Virgin Atlantic have joined forced with Barbie in a move which marks the start of a wider initiative at the airline to encourage more women to pursue STEM and aviation careers.
The Passport for Change programme, in which the airline are working with its charity partner WE, aims to inspire young people to engage with STEM subjects and consider a future in aviation.
Part of Barbie & Virgin Atlantic’s mission includes its annual Future Flyer open day at the airline’s HQ, with female engineers and pilots to show girls real role models, through school visits and trips to the airline’s engineering hangars, that spotlight STEM careers using Barbie as an educational tool, inspiring on-board Barbie content, and a social campaign; #SeeHerFly.
Speaking about the partnership, Dawn Childs, President of the Women’s Engineering Society, commented: “The fact that so many young girls narrow their career prospects from an early age by believing that some roles and jobs simply are not for them is a tragedy.
“This is not just a tragedy for them but it denies businesses 50 percent of the potential future talent pool at a time when the engineering skills gap is widening and unsustainable.
“This fabulous initiative will help to normalise seeing women in these vital roles and help them to aim high in their future career aspirations.”
Nikki Humphrey, SVP People at Virgin Atlantic, explained why the company decided to pursue this partnership, and said: “We know that women are currently underrepresented across a number of careers within aviation.
“We also know we can’t change this position overnight. Therefore, it’s imperative we play the long-game, highlighting to primary aged children that any job role is open and our partnership with Barbie marks another milestone in our commitment to this.
“It’s astounding that girls start believing they can’t follow a certain career path from as young as five and it’s our ambition to help close the dream gap.
“By working with Barbie, it allows us to speak directly to our future generation of aviation professionals, whether they aspire to be cabin crew, engineers or pilots.”
Phil Maher, EVP Operations at Virgin Atlantic, commented: “It’s essential that Virgin Atlantic plays a pivotal role in encouraging women to succeed in STEM careers.
“It’s evident that for those women who do become pilots and engineers, career satisfaction is exceptionally high, and it’s no surprise that job satisfaction is exceptionally high.
“It’s essential we showcase to girls of all ages just how fulfilling a career in our industry can be and our partnership with Barbie is just one of the steps we’re undertaking to achieve this.”
For further information on Barbie’s Dream Gap Project to inspire the next generation visit https://barbie.mattel.com/en-us/about/dream-gap.html
For more information on Virgin Atlantic cabin crew and engineering apprenticeships as well as their pilot cadet scheme, visit www.virginatlantic.com/careers