Hello,
I am about to graduate high school with my associates degree in science. I have been looking into being a pilot and I have found my passion. Would being a women in this industry help or hurt me? Does it set me apart from other applicant and make company’s interested or what is your experience?
Madison,
Being a woman will neither help or hurt you, nor should it. There have been a number of discussions on the subject on this forum. I recommend you simply search “women” at the top of the page for more in depth answers.
Adam
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I don’t have any experience in the aviation hiring realm, but if it’s anything like every other career in the cooperate world, being a woman pursuing a line of work that doesn’t have many women puts you at an insane advantage. Especially with today’s social climate and the push for equality. If it comes down to two equally qualified and capable candidates, and only one is getting in, the woman will win out more times than not. Minority woman? You’ll never have to worry about employment ever - as long as you can pass whatever skills tests are required.
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Madison,
I’m a Capt at a Major airline and I have a GREAT deal of experience in aviation (including hiring) and I stand by my answer. Unfortunately (and sadly) the above response reflects an attitude that you may encounter in your life (btw, there are NO equally qualified candidates). It’s easier for some to rationalize or look for other reasons for different circumstances in their lives (I’m also not naïve enough to believe their are no biases in this world). That said aviation is one of the most fair and impartial industries I’ve ever been a part of. You either pass the checkride or you don’t. In fact I’d argue if there are any dinosaurs that are still out there with a chip on their shoulders they’d try and make it harder but honestly I haven’t seen it. My dearest friend in aviation is a woman who’s a Capt and check pilot with type ratings in the E145, B717, A330 and B747. She’ll be the first to tell you while she’s never felt any discrimination (other than the occasional stupid passenger comment) no one handed her a thing. The fact is women still only comprise 5-6% of the airline pilots in this country and we could certainly use more.
If you want to be a pilot then by all means do so. As for the rest, sticks and stones 
Adam
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Madison,
This industry is very male dominated, but because of that the airlines really like to hire women. Now, this doesn’t mean that you get any shortcuts, you will still have to be qualified like anybody else and build the necessary flight time.
Chris