Capstone Project: Gender Pay Gap Analysis in Ryanair and BA

This capstone project investigates the gender pay gap within the airline industry, specifically comparing Ryanair and British Airways. The project begins with a literature review, exploring the demographic makeup of airline staff jobs, the existence of gender pay gaps across various industries, and analyzing current pay gap data in the airline sector. It delves into the probable reasons for the gender pay gap, including industry segregation, stereotypical tendencies, and factors such as labour market experience and bonus structures. The research methodology includes a detailed discussion of the research philosophy, design, data collection methods, and analysis techniques employed. The findings reveal significant pay disparities between genders in the airline sector, with Ryanair exhibiting a larger gender pay gap compared to British Airways. The project also acknowledges the limitations of the research and concludes with a discussion of the implications and potential solutions to address the gender pay gap in the airline industry. References are provided to support the research and findings.

Running head: CAPSTONE PROJECT
Capstone Project
Gender pay gap among airlines operating in Ryanair and British Airways
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Table of Contents
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................2
Evaluating the demographic of the airlines staff jobs............................................................2
Existence of gender pay gap in various industries.................................................................3
Analysing the current pay gap data in airlines industry.........................................................4
The probable reasons for the existence of Gender pay gap...................................................5
Research methodology...............................................................................................................8
Research Philosophy..............................................................................................................8
Research Design...................................................................................................................10
Data collection method........................................................................................................12
Data analysis technique........................................................................................................13
Findings/Results.......................................................................................................................14
Part A...................................................................................................................................14
Part B....................................................................................................................................17
Limitation of the research........................................................................................................18
Discussion................................................................................................................................18
References...............................................................................................................................21

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Literature Review
In order to address the issue of gender pay gap in the airlines industry the following
three objectives are addressed separately and these are –
Evaluating the demographic of the airlines staff jobs
Gender pay gap is an issue that has been lingering in the society for so long. In recent
times, this globalised issue have gained a lot of attention since more and more individuals are
being vocal regarding it. Every industry is affected by this age old practice and the airlines
industry is neither an exception. Even though the awareness of gender pay gap has increased
among the general public all over the world, the results to tame the issue is still inconsistent.
According to the reports published by the Airline Pilots Association International trade union,
it is noted that only 5.18% female employees belong to the job role of commercial pilots
globally (BBC News 2018). In Britain, 4.77% of women population are in the job role of
airline pilots (Caa.co.uk 2018). The highlighting cause of gender pay gap in the society is the
system of segregation in distinctive industry and occupation between men and women
(Chamberlain 2016). The differentiation in pay throughout the economy based on gender has
been a culture that has been prevalent for a really long time. In a study conducted by Dr
Andrew Chamberlain, approximately 505,000 salary data shared by United States based
employees in Glassdoor were analysed. The results from it showed that the male population
earned nearly 24.1% more base pay than women on average. It has been also observed from
the census figures that only 26% of the female population belong to the higher role of job title
compared to men on average (Chamberlain 2016). In aviation industry majority of female
employees belong to the cabin crew department whereas the high ranking job roles are
dominated by the male population. A number of factors lie behind this varied demographic
figures and as a result of which contributes to the issue of gender pay gap.

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Existence of gender pay gap in various industries
It has been observed that the level of gender pay gap vary from industry to industry
(Card, Cardoso and Kline 2015). In the field of healthcare, media, transportation and
logistics, the intensity of gender pay gap is high compared to industries such as travel and
tourism, bar and food service, agriculture and forestry and others (Petroff 2018). Taking into
account the field of airlines or aviation industry, the recent reveal of reports related to gender
pay gap data showed some of the horrifying figures that further raises the issue of gender pay
gap. It has been observed from the reports that the high paying job roles in the airlines
industry such as the job role of pilots are dominated by the male population (Petroff 2018).
Whereas, the majority of female population are recruited in the job role of cabin crew that
have significantly low wage compared to the higher job roles.
According to Graf, Brown and Patten (2017), the system of gender pay gap have
narrowed down majorly since the year 1980 however, it is still persistent in the society
especially since the past fifteen years. Now, digging deeper into finding out the cause behind
this stable existence of gender pay gap in the society it has been found out that approximately
in every four in ten working women have reported to be suffering or experiencing gender
discrimination in the workplace (Graf, Brown and Patten 2017). Gender discrimination in the
workplace have been specified to be one of the highlighting cause behind the existence of
gender pay gap. Four in every ten working women have been experiencing discrimination in
the workplace whether in the form of comparatively less support from the senior leaders of
the company or been denied from a job, women have been suffering from this biased
execution of workplace culture for a really long time.
Addressing to the issue of gender pay gap, government have been actively taking
steps that would help tame this bias system that have been affecting the society for so long. In
account of the recent growing awareness regarding the issue of gender pay gap, the

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government in United Kingdom issued a regulation where the companies that comprises of
250 or more than 250 employees have to disclose the gender pay gap report publically. This
regulation issued by the national government of United Kingdom revealed some of the
shocking results that were concealed from a long time.
Analysing the current pay gap data in airlines industry
According to Topham (2018), the figures that were revealed witnessed some of the
worst data that evidently stated the existence of gender pay gap in the field of airlines
industry. Ryanair, an Ireland based airline company, reported a shocking figure of almost
72% gender pay gap which was reported to be the worst figure in the field of airline industry
(the Guardian 2018). The women workers were significantly paid lower wages on an average
than the male workers in the company. The reports further revealed that among 1182 UK
staff members, women staff were paid 67% lower on mean hourly pay. Similar to the
scenario of United States, in United Kingdom as well the main reason behind this inequality
in pay between men and women is that the top or highest job roles are occupied by the male
members of the society. While on the other hand, female members are recruited in lower
hierarchy of job role.
The reports further reveals that Ryanair’s senior management board and other high
job role positions are predominantly occupied by the male members of the population
(Theirishtimes.com 2018). In addition to this, among 554 UK-based pilots of Ryanair, a mere
number of 8 are only female pilots in the company. It has been observed that only one third
of female staff members belong to the high paid position of pilots whereas the rest of female
staffs are recruited in low paid cabin crew profession (McCarthy 2018). The figures that were
revealed shows some of the worst scenario of gender pay gap where top UK based airline
companies are sitting atop each other. Ryanair being the worst hit and British Airways
showing a much better figure with a mean score of 35% (Morris 2018). Comparing the two

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airline companies Ryanair and British Airways, the score of gender pay gap is for Ryanair
which is at 72% whereas for British Airways it was slightly better with a score of 35%. It was
observed that Ryanair had a significantly low number of female employees in the top job
positions whereas British Airways have an impressive amount of female employees in the
highest paid job roles. However, the problem of gender pay gap remains the same as a result
of the less number of women pilots and as a result of which women earning comparatively
less than men. It has been observed that in the field of airlines industry the number of women
pilots are comparatively low and this has been expanding the issue of gender pay gap. Even
though the relatively low number of female pilots are progressing day by day, the figures still
need to go through a long way in order to eradicate this issue.
The probable reasons for the existence of Gender pay gap
This significantly vast difference in the job role recruitment between men and women
is blamed upon the insufficient amount of female pilots in the aviation industry. The
company states that it is a stereotypical tendency of the aviation industry that more male
population opt to enter into the profession of pilots compared to female population. It has
been observed that this stereotypical tendency among the individuals is as a result of the
employment segregation on the basis of sex of an individual (Blau and Kahn 2017).
According to Blau and Kahn (2017) men are more likely to be in high-paying craft and
skilled positions compared to women who are more concentrated towards the lower
hierarchical job role. However, this tendency have changed over the period of time as more
women are joining the labour force that demands high skills and crafts. Still, the numbers are
lagging behind in the aviation industry and as a result of which the airline companies are
changing their recruitment strategies to hire more and more female members in the higher job
positions.

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However, in the field of airline industry the number of female population are
comparatively higher than the male population. Unlike the other industries, the aviation
industry have a significantly more number of female workers than that of male (Standen
2018). Nonetheless, the issue of inequality in the wages between men and women remains the
same since the majority of female population in this industry as well are hired or remain in
the low paid occupational position compared to men that are recruited in the high hierarchical
job roles. Men have been filling up the position of higher job positions of pilots, senior board
members, senior management and others. While majority of women population belong to the
low paid hierarchical job roles of cabin crew.
Gender pay gap being an age-old issue that has been existing in the society for a really
long time, however, its negligence and callous attitude towards being aware of the issue is
what have ignited it to be prevalent in the society for so long (Chichilnisky 2009). The issue
of gender pay gap have been scrunching over the period since almost every industry have
virtually passed laws that mandate equal treatment of men and women in regards of pay and
other aspects as well. However, eradicating the issue from its root have a long way to go
since the age-old practices and traditions have what in the first place gave rise to this issue.
According to Smith (2016), the issue of gender pay gap lies in the gender based factors of
women having comparatively less labour market experience than men and as a result of
which the competitive market tend to recruit men that have significantly more labour
experience than that of women.
In addition to this, it has been also observed that men are comparatively paid higher
bonuses than that of women which adds more fire to the burning issue of gender pay gap
(Guibourg 2018). In accompany with the salary figures it is also noted that men are paid
comparatively more bonus than that of women. The worst hit industry in this field being the
aviation industry where the women are paid comparatively 35% less bonus amount than that

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of men on an average. Henceforth, sector-wide, it has been observed that where men are paid
every £1 of bonus money in the finance sector, whereas, the women shall take home a mere
amount of 65p only (BBC.com 2018).
Now, in addition to this, another major factor where the inequality of pay between
men and women further arises is that there is no industry that pays women more (Guibourg
2018). The reports that were released publishing the gender pay gap data, shows that the
majority of industries pay men more than women. Henceforth, expanding the figures of
unequal wage between men and women. By comparing almost 10,016 companies from
distinctive sectors it was noted that the majority of firms reported to be paying men more
compared to women on an average and that too by just analysing the median hourly pay
(Guibourg 2018). The construction and finance firms topping the chart revealing the widest
pay gaps.
While a number of gender based factors are identified to be the cause of this issue of
gender pay gap. It has been also observed that there are other factors as well that contribute to
the existence of gender pay gap for instance discrimination by race and ethnicity is another
factor that accelerates the issue of gender pay gap (Hegewisch and Williams-Baron 2018).
According to the reports published by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR),
women of all distinctive racial and ethnic groups have a comparatively low earning than that
of men belonging to the same group (Hegewisch and Williams-Baron 2018). One of the
reasons behind this difference in pay between difference races such as Hispanic, Asian, Black
women is that the number of white workers consistently belongs to the largest group of the
labour force. According to the reports submitted by the IWPR, it was stated that whereas in
2016 and 2017, the real earnings of white women increased by 1.6%, however, the increase
in earnings of racial groups of Hispanic and Black women were 0.8% and 0.4% respectively
(Hegewisch and Williams-Baron 2018). Whereas Asian women was reported to have a

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decline in these figures by 2% on an average. While a number of factors contribute to the rise
of low earnings among women in general the case of low earnings of women belonging to
racial groups is another highlighting factor that gives rise to the issue of gender pay gap
between men and women.
Some of the questions that are also being responded to through this literature review
are as follows –
Size of Pay Gap in Airlines Industry
It has been observed from the above scenarios that women in almost every industry
including the airlines industry have a comparatively low earnings than that of men (David
2015). A number of factors contribute to this persistent issue of gender pay gap ranging from
workplace discrimination between men and women, to race and ethnicity discrimination or
lack of participation of female population in the labour workforce. The aviation industry as
well is no exception from being impacted by this issue. Ryanair being worst hit by this
gender pay gap, the aviation industry have revealed some of the worst figures in the realm of
gender pay gap data. It has been revealed that Ryanair has suffered from a gender pay gap of
approximately 72% (). Whereas British Airways have scored 35% in gender pay gap. The
airline industry has revealed some of the worst pay gap scores that further exaggerates the
issue of gender pay gap.
Gender pay gap affecting female
From the reports published by almost 21 companies it has been observed that the
impact of gender pay gap has been mostly affecting the women population. The women are
the lowest paid employees in aviation industry. It has been observed that women are paid
71.8% low wage compared to male in Ryanair. In addition to this, in British Airways as well

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women employees are paid 35% less than their male counterparts. Henceforth, the females
are the most affected by the issue of gender pay gap.
Research methodology
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy plays a significant role in constructing the research methodology
of a study. Research philosophy helps in shaping up the study in a more concrete and
constructive way. Since research philosophy relatively means developing a belief regarding
the ways in which the data related to the circumstance or an occurrence should be collected,
analysed and utilised in order to present the results (Saunders, Mark and Thornhill 2009). The
research philosophy of a study deals with the source, nature and development of data and the
knowledge gained in that procedure. Research philosophy by nature means being aware of
the assumptions that are supposed to be made within the research and formulating those
assumptions in order to extract the appropriate findings of the study.
There are majorly four types of research philosophy and they are namely positivism,
realism, interpretivism and lastly pragmatism. Positivism is a research philosophy that is
highly structured that have the features of both quantitative and qualitative (Research-
Methodology. 2018). It generally analyses large samples and hence therefore an in-depth
analysis is conducted in this research philosophy. Realism is another popularised research
philosophy that utilises data that exist independently. In this research philosophy the methods
that shall be chosen must fit with that of the subject matter of the study whether quantitative
or qualitative (Flick 2015). The third type of research philosophy is namely interpretivism
that also as positivism is an in-depth analysis but instead utilises small sample size.
Interpretivism philosophy is significantly used for management functions and have an
investigative nature to it. This philosophy helps in finding out the concealed factors of a

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problem or a circumstance. For interpretivism, qualitative data analysis technique is used for
bringing out the investigative results (Vaioleti 2016). Lastly, pragmatism is a mixed or
multiple layered research design that claims that an assumption or ideology is true if it
functions satisfactorily. It is the least used research philosophy whereas positivism and
interpretivism research philosophies are widely used.
However, for this research study, a positivism research philosophy is used in order to
better understand the subject matter of gender pay gap. The issue of gender pay gap is a
worldwide phenomenon and hence, in order to understand the subject and its existence in
today’s world especially in the aviation or airlines industry, the positivism research
philosophy is the most apt one. The gender pay gap report that are mandatory to be published
by the firms is utilised in order to analyse the large samples that is required in positivism
research philosophy. Since the positivism research philosophy deals with understanding an
in-depth analysis about the subject matter, this research philosophy is the most suitable one
for this research topic. Now it is significant to understand that positivism research philosophy
takes advantage of the sensory experiences and the analysis is based on the facts that are
existent. The subject matter of gender pay gap especially in the sector of aviation have a lot
of facts that could be utilised in order to understand the issue in a critical an logical way.
Henceforth, positivism research philosophy being a part of research methodology that deals
with the beliefs and assumptions that are highly structured, therefore, the issue of gender pay
gap needs to be analysed in the light of positivism research philosophy (Flick 2015). This
research philosophy helps in understanding the issue of gender pay gap in a logical and
critical way.
Since for this particular study, the positivism research philosophy is used, the other
three research philosophies are rejected as the other three philosophies depend on each
individual or factor and the perception or insights that comes from it may vary from one

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individual to another. In short, the other three philosophies are not fit for this particular
research study.
Research Design
Research design is a methodical approach that is utilised by a researcher in order to
conduct a scientific research study (Creswell and Creswell 2017). For the purpose of
obtaining the most accurate and apt results out of a research study, the research design
adopted must be strategic and systematic in nature. Research design basically involves an
overall synchronisation of identified elements and data that results in a reasonable outcome.
In order to have a better understanding of the research paper topic that the researcher or
researchers are dealing with it is significant to identify the most appropriate research design.
There are significantly four types of research design and they are – exploratory research
design, descriptive research design, explanatory research design and evaluation research
design. The exploratory research design deals with exploring or finding out the suitable
answers to the research questions that is constructed within the research study (Simonsohn,
Nelson and Simmons 2017). As the name of the research design implies ‘exploratory’, the
research design deals with exploring the concealed facts and data that are not clearly defined
beforehand in the research paper. Exploratory research design tends to provide an insight into
problem or an issue and this type of research design is utilised where the problem or an issue
is not clearly identified. Henceforth this particular research design helps in exploring and
understanding the problem that is previously not clearly detected. Secondly, the descriptive
research design is an in-depth research design that helps to understand and evaluate the
research study in a descriptive way. Descriptive research design deals with observing and
describing the nature and behaviour of a subject matter or subject without actually
influencing the subject in any way. In this type of research design the subject is observed in a
natural environment that remains constant throughout. Thirdly, the explanatory research