Raising the Bar on Gender Equity
Together, we empower, inspire, advance and celebrate women around the world
During Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, we celebrate the historic and game-changing contributions of women in aerospace and honor our female teammates who are making a positive impact on our company and the world.
This year, our commitment to accelerate equity and create an inclusive, supportive environment for all teammates is influenced by the disproportionate effect COVID-19 is having on women in the workforce. Now more than ever, it’s up to all of us to raise the bar on gender equity, together.
We know that when we build a more equitable future for women, we build a better future for all.
Working Toward Improved Representation
The historical underrepresentation of women in STEM is still evident in aerospace today, with women comprising approximately 24% of the industry, according to a 2019 Aviation Week study. While we continue to invest in the early STEM pipeline, we simultaneously need to ensure that women at Boeing can thrive and advance their careers. This is an especially challenging time given the obstacles and hardships COVID-19 has imposed, with a disproportionate impact on women, and women of color in particular.
We’ve expanded support offerings for working families, including flexible work schedules and working-parent coaching. Coaching services emphasize stress management and work-life integration strategies. Over the last few years, we’ve also enhanced our benefits portfolio by increasing paid parental leave and adoption assistance and providing access to backup child care and elder care.
We are committed to being more transparent about where we are and the steps we’re taking to advance gender equity. This year, for the first time in our history, we will share gender and diversity metrics and the steps we’re taking to improve. Transparently sharing our progress now and every year going forward will help hold us accountable for the goals we’ve set to improve in all areas.
Employee-Led Groups Promote Inclusion
Boeing Women Inspiring Leadership (BWIL) is the largest of our employee-led business resource groups, with 32 chapters worldwide. BWIL inspires leadership in team members of all genders — helping position women to lead the company into its next century and supporting team members in strengthening gender partnerships and breaking down masculine stereotypes that hamper progress.
Women making a difference across Boeing
Bilin Zhou
Bilin Zhou is a Systems Engineer on the first aircraft Australian engineers have designed in more than 50 years.
Read Bilin's Story
Yvette Smith
Yvette used the pandemic to take a hard look at her career, ultimately pursuing her master’s degree and pivoting into a new role as a Boeing systems engineer.
Read Yvette’s Story
Carine Liang
When COVID-19 paused client solution owner Carine’s project, she rotated to internal improvements that translated to better collaboration when work with the airline resumed.
Read Carine’s Story
Kim Baker
Kim and her team currently lead the E-7 Wedgetail data and documents life cycle, helping to ensure this critical information is organized and traceable.
Read Kim’s Story
Julie Mason
Many dream of becoming an astronaut. Julie is on her way to making it happen. The Boeing space propulsion engineer hopes to launch herself to the moon — or beyond.
Read Julie's Story
Anne McIlveen
As a Boeing military transport aircraft service engineer, Anne works to provide around-the-clock support for all of our C-17 Globemaster III customers.
Read Anne's Story
Maria Garcia
Single mom Maria is building history with her work on the CST-100 Starliner program. She also paved the way for her three daughters to follow in her footsteps.
Read Maria's Story
Kathleen “KJ” Jolivette
Rosebud Sioux. Veteran. American Indian Science and Engineering Society 2020 Professional of the Year. Vice president. KJ continues to aim high.
Read KJ's Story
Nicolette Gan
As a Boeing composites research engineer and STEM advocate, Nicolette is breaking ground in designing future technologies and encouraging more young women to pursue careers in STEM.
Read Nicolette's Story
Jennifer Radtke
When Jennifer was a child, she helped her father work with sheet metal. Now a chief mechanic, she helps engineers understand assembly principles to design better airplanes.
Read Jennifer's Story
Miwa Kobayashi
Miwa’s job is to strengthen Boeing’s relationship with the Japanese government, as well as lead initiatives close to her heart — environmental and community investments in Japan.
Read Miwa's Story
Paris Forest
As End User Services senior director, Paris is responsible for all of the technology that enables Boeing productivity — a challenge she rose to even when the pandemic struck.
Read Paris' Story
Elia Morales
Elia’s job focuses on understanding the needs of employees, customers and communities. When working from home became the new normal, she also learned to focus on work-life balance.
Read Elia's Story
Haesun Kim
Eager to apply her skills in developing autonomous cars to aerospace, software engineer Haesun achieved her dream at the Boeing Korea Engineering & Technology Center.
Read Haesun's Story
Creating Opportunities Focused on Gender Equity
The underrepresentation of girls and women in STEM fields is a global challenge.
We’re focused on building a global, diverse STEM talent pipeline and developing early-career talent through a variety of internships, rotation programs and professional development opportunities. Of our more than 1,200 interns in 2020, 42% were women and 50% were racial/ethnic minorities. It’s progress, but we need everyone to walk this journey together, seeking out every opportunity to encourage STEM diversity and build the most inclusive culture at Boeing.
Boeing is also a global supporter of Catalyst — a recognized leader in gender equity with a mission to accelerate progress for women through workplace inclusion.
Community investments in a more equitable, diverse future
Boeing invests in young women in STEM to encourage top talent to join the industry. In 2020, Boeing inspired an estimated 3.7 million young women and girls through various STEM engagement programs.
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Community Initiatives and Partnerships
Boeing contributed $57 million toward community initiatives and partnerships with more than 429 STEM organizations and colleges, helping to inspire an estimated 3.7 million young women in STEM in 2020.
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Community Contributions
Boeing has made $232 million in community contributions that have helped inspire young women and girls across the world over the last nine years.
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STEM Investments
Over the last nine years, 9.7 million young women and girls were positively impacted by Boeing STEM investments.
We Build on the Work of Pioneering Women in Aviation
Women have played an important role in Boeing history since the company’s earliest days, beginning with seamstress Rosie Farrar, hired by William Boeing in 1916 to stitch linen wings for the B & W seaplanes, and Helen Holcombe, who became the first woman in the drafting department one year later.
Attracted by the challenges of aviation and the magic of flight, the trailblazers — female pioneers, aviators, engineers and executives — worked hand in hand with thousands of other dedicated employees to help make Boeing what it is today.
We All Can Do It! Collection
The 2021 Rosie Collection reflects the resiliency of women during this past year and exemplifies the “We All Can Do It!” spirit. The design represents a spectrum of women — all ages, cultures and racial ethnicities — and amplifies Boeing’s commitment to advance equity, diversity and inclusion.
