Closing the aviation gender gap: This high school drone program is opening career pathways for young women   

High school drone pilots are taking to the skies as part of a program designed to close the gender gap in the aviation industry. 

While the aviation industry provides fast-growing opportunities for young people to get involved, a stark gender disparity has prevented women from fully benefiting from this expanding industry, according to Janeen Peretin, an administrator at Baldwin Whitehall School District. 

To combat that in the local Pittsburgh region, Peretin founded Fly Like a Girl (FLAG) Drone Academy alongside Kristin Deichler of South Fayette School District and Emily Sanders of Beaver School District in 2023 to increase young women’s access to careers in drone technology and aviation. 

Since then, dozens of girls have learned to fly drones through the program and some have gone on to become certified drone pilots — paving the way for possible career opportunities in a male-dominated field with a strong local industry. 

“We thought, let’s bring awareness to the students that this field exists and that there are so many possibilities within the field,” Peretin told Technical.ly. “Then, let’s also try to move the needle a little bit with the number of female certified drone pilots.” 

Molly Fircak, 18, is a senior at Baldwin High School who participated in FLAG’s first cohort back in the summer of 2023. She said the program changed the trajectory of her career aspirations, opening up whole new possibilities for her. 

“I probably wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the program,” Fircak said. 

Now, Fircak hopes to combine her certification with her passion for photography. She plans to study videography or cinematography in college and is already building her portfolio by using her drone to take photos for her school and the construction company her mom works for. 

“Students have been almost fearful to pick up the controls the first time we go out flying,” Peretin said. “But then to see them move from that state of nervousness and fear to one of confidence, both when they’re flying and then engaging with each other …that’s been fantastic.” 

Students can obtain certification that opens up job prospects

Around 60 students have participated in the academy since it launched in 2023, with five girls obtaining their FAA certification. Throughout the program, students learn about drones and how to fly them as well as their various applications across different industries. 

The focus on real-world skill building is crucial to FLAG’s mission to change the long-term opportunities for women in aviation. 

The percentage of active pilot licenses held by women in the US increased from 6.6% in 2013 to just 10.3% in 2023, according to a 2024 report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). While the number of female pilots has doubled in the past decade, from about 39,000 to nearly 83,000, gender representation in other aviation professions lags even further behind. 

For drones specifically, the percentage of female pilots also currently hovers under 10%, with women only making up about 8% of total drone pilots in the US, according to 2023 year-end data from the advocacy group Women and Drones. 

That leaves a big gap for opportunities in financial upward mobility. Not only is the commercial drone market projected to grow to over $14 billion in the next five years, according to Fortune Business Insights, but the lucrative jobs that come with that are often male-dominated. 

Women in aviation are disproportionately represented in lower-paying jobs, like customer service, flight attendants or administrative positions. This gender disparity in such a fast-growing sector contributes to a pay gap, where men oftentimes make more money because of their dominance in higher-paying technical roles. 

Why is there a deficit of women and girls in the aviation industry? A complex system of compounding barriers is to blame, according to a 2022 report from the Women in Aviation Advisory Board. Girls under 10 years old often lack industry role models in media, toys and cartoons. This absence of visibility and lack of targeted STEM education compounds throughout girls’ teenage years, contributing to a lack of confidence that they could enter the industry. 

Early exposure to aviation and ongoing engagement are essential to the recruitment of women in the industry, which is exactly what FLAG sets out to do, Peretin said.

At the end of the program, students have the opportunity to sit for the Aeronautical Knowledge Test and earn their FAA certification. So far, the five girls that have gone on to earn their certification are using their new skills to give back at their high schools and start building a portfolio for potential careers in the industry. 

Despite student wins, FLAG’s future remains uncertain

FLAG students have gone on to work as interns in the commercial drone industry, like Pranita Chakkingal, 16, a junior at South Fayette High School and an intern for Lori Paluti with Pittsburgh Drone Services and FLAG instructor. 

Chakkingal was inspired to participate in the program and earn her certification after learning about the lack of women in aviation. Gender disparities in STEM is something she’s been passionate about from an early age and it’s a personal goal of hers to “inspire other young women,” she said. 

Both Chakkingal and FLAG student Fircak said the program changed how they saw themselves, helping them build confidence and discipline. 

“Taking the test is definitely one of my proudest accomplishments,” Fircak said. “I definitely do feel like I have more confidence, and I feel a lot better about my future, my skill set and what I can do with it.”

Peretin said she and her collaborators hope to continue the program and another cohort is tentatively planned for May but continued funding is not certain. 

In the meantime, educators in participating school districts are bringing drone programming to students of all genders. For example, educators at Baldwin High School just started the second semester of a drone course that all students can participate in. 

“While the [FLAG] program has been great, and we’ve been able to impact a handful of students through it, I didn’t want the program itself to be a barrier for anybody who might be interested in learning more,” Peretin said. “Our hope is that these districts that have participated in the program…can take this model that we’ve built and bring it back to their home districts.”