On Friday, March 23rd,
Barrington Irving departed the Opa Locka
Airport in Miami, Fl. to begin his aerial
adventure to fly around the World. As we
recently reported, the young pilot's historic
flight will make him the youngest aviator
and first African American to circumnavigate
the globe. More importantly, Irving is using
this trip to promote aviation careers to
the disadvantaged and minority youth across
the planet.
Minorities have always played an important
role in aviation. Many of our subscribers
may not realize there are many professionals,
like Barrington, that have worked hard to
bring new career opportunities to youngsters
that that may only dreamed of working around
airplanes. One classic example is Paul Foster
Jr. who dedicated his time to promoting
careers in aviation maintenance and other
industry jobs.
Man With
A Mission
To learn more about this gentleman's diversity-based
educational efforts, we invite you to read
the following excerpt from an article that
originally appeared in the September 2003
edition of diversityinbusiness.com:
Paul Foster Jr. is a man with a mission
to increase awareness among minorities and
women about career opportunities in aviation
maintenance. Although Foster has taught
aviation maintenance in the military and
private sector, he recently completed his
doctoral dissertation on minority and women
participation within the field of aviation
maintenance. It is a field where Foster
has considerable expertise, and he hopes
his findings will serve as a catalyst for
more concentrated efforts to recruit minorities
and women into the field of aviation maintenance.
Foster originally wanted to conduct research
on Blacks in aviation, but due to the lack
of information, he focused on minorities
and women. He was surprised to discover
that his own employer, the Federal Aviation
Administration, which maintains extensive
records on individuals involved in aviation,
does not keep statistics on minorities according
to race and ethnicity.
Foster started his doctoral program in
1999 and finished in July 2003. He earned
a doctorate in education (EDD) from Pepperdine
University in California. For his dissertation,
which is entitled, Recruiting Minority and
Women into Aviation Maintenance, Foster
surveyed 17 aviation maintenance schools
located throughout the United States. He
restricted his research to schools that
were serious enough about diversity to have
at least a minority or a woman among the
teaching staff. Foster said that one of
the most startling findings of his research
was how little minorities and women avail
themselves of aviation maintenance programs.
He believes the problem is a function of
two conditions: one, the way information
is presented in school brochures; and two,
the limited efforts by aviation maintenance
schools to attract minorities and women. "If
schools want to recruit minorities and women,
at the very least, their materials should
show minorities and women so they can identify
with the opportunity," said Foster.
But Paul Foster isn't one to wait on
others to get things done. He routinely
goes into Southern California middle schools
and high schools and talks with students,
particularly minority students, about opportunities
in aviation maintenance and beyond. "I
try to expose the kids to all aspects of
aviation," said Foster. "If I
don't know the answer to a question, I know
people who do, and I'll get back to the
student with the answer. The National Black
Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees
(NBCFAE) is a great resource for anyone
interested in aviation. We have people who
are pilots, air traffic controllers, engineers,
electronic technicians, in addition to aviation
mechanics."
Foster serves on NBCFAE's Education Committee
and he has been employed by the FAA for
eight years. He is currently working out
of the Runway Safety Office in Southern
California, which is a unit within the FAA
that researches incidents involving aircraft
that come too close to one another, unauthorized
access to runways by pedestrians, and unsafe
activities among vehicles that operate on
airport runways. Prior to joining the Runway
Safety Office, Foster was a training program
manager. He was responsible for setting
up training forums for FAA employees. In
addition to coordinating training programs
specific to aviation, Foster also organized
sessions that dealt with business leadership,
interpersonal skills, and communication
skills - topics that Foster said were designed
to create a more complete employee.
Before joining the FAA, Foster was an
assistant professor at Fairmont State College
in West Virginia, where he taught aircraft
maintenance technology. He spent 21 years
in the U.S. Air Force where he progressed
from an aircraft mechanic, to a master instructor
teaching aircraft mechanics, to superintendent
of the aerospace and aviation sciences program
at the Community College of the Air Force.
Foster is keen on minorities and women
getting their start in aviation in the Air
Force. "Treat the military the same
as you would any other employer," advised
Foster. "Go in and ask for what you
want; and get what you want. I asked for
aircraft maintenance because I love taking
things apart, putting them together, and
then watching them work. I got what I asked
for, aircraft maintenance, loved it, and
I stayed for 21 years." Foster's passion
for the military and teaching are a direct
reflection of his upbringing. His father
was a military police officer and his mother
was a teacher. His father's many assignments
took Foster around the world. "I had
a cop and a teacher in the house, so I had
to behave myself," said Foster with
a joyous smile. He not only behaved himself,
he leveraged his background and opportunities
into a meaningful career - one he is very
passionate about.
Industry studies suggest a shortage of
aviation mechanics within the near-future.
Foster believes that shortage will create
a tremendous opportunity for minorities
and women. "Pilots cannot fly an airplane
that's not airworthy, and it requires a
mechanic to make them safe for operation,"
said Foster. He is hopeful that his dissertation
will motivate more education institutions
to reach out in ways that allow minorities
and women to be part of the solution to
a growing problem.
See What
it's All About
We recently celebrated Black History Month
in February and will do the same with Hispanic
Heritage Month scheduled later this year.
In recognition of minorities role in aviation,
we invite you to view the accompanying short
documentary produced by the FAA. It is titled "Nuestra
Herencia" and is a brief historical
recount of Hispanics in aviation. This video
was the winner of the prestigious CINE Golden
Eagle Award, Spring 2000.
In addition, we invite you to watch Gerald
E. Lavey, FAA Deputy Assistant Administrator
for Internal Communications and Ron Lozano,
President of the National Hispanic Coalition
of Federal Aviation Employees (NHCFAE) discuss
the group's current efforts and changes
in promoting their ideas. NHCFAE is a professional
organization acting as an advocate for equitable
representation and opportunities in employment,
development, and leadership. The organization
was established in 1978 in an effort to
provide a network for Hispanic employees
of the FAA and the aviation industry. It
became a national organization in 1983.
Today, the Coalition is the chief advocate
for issues affecting Hispanics in the FAA.
The group derives its support from membership
dues, corporate sponsorship and private
donations.
