How does the gendered labour market impact social construction and culture development in the Royal Air Force? An intersectional perspective
The RAF is committed to recruiting and retaining personnel with maximum diversity to harness the power of difference to deliver capability and operational effect. Whilst recognising diversity of thought as a critical component of the RAFs combat capability, diversity is primarily framed around gender and ethnicity as axes of difference. Despite this, evidence suggests that the gender culture of the homogenised UK Armed Forces is responsible for female personnel leaving the services earlier than their colleagues (HCDC, 2021). Despite this, there is no research which accounts for the RAF as a distinct service with its own gender and service culture, nor the experiences of women of ethnic minorities.
Aim
By using the subjective experiences of serving and veteran RAF personnel, and an intersectional perspective with a gendered lens, this research aims to examine how the negotiation and marginalisation of gendered and racialised identities created through the gendered labour market, impacts the social construction and gender culture of the RAF.
Research questions
- How do the axes of difference around gender and ethnicity, through which organisational cultures are constructed, present within the RAF?
- How are these axes of difference experienced in professional, social and operational contexts by women in the RAF?
- What agency do women have to manage, negotiate, conform to, or change this culture?
Sample / Participants
Participants will be RAF veterans and current serving personnel. All participants will be female, to provide insights into participants perspectives on RAF gender dynamics.
The project will aim to recruit 30 participants, 15 veterans and 15 current serving females.
To ensure observational completeness alongside currency and depth of participant data, only personnel who have completed minimum 5 years Regular Service, and Veterans who have retired from military service since 2018 when female service regulations were abolished will be included.