Women in the Royal Air Force: Gender, Sexuality and Contemporary Britain
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: School of Humanities
Abstract
The involvement of women in active roles within the military has increased exponentially
over the last 100 years. As the youngest service in the UK, the RAF (Royal Air Force) has
experienced these issues of change and continuity at regular intervals. In 2018 all combat
roles in the military became open for female training recruits, reflecting a changing attitude
towards normative gender expectations and barriers within wider military communities. The
expansion of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work over the last 20 years has surfaced the
many inequalities and inequitable experiences that are lived throughout the UK. This
research seeks to address this within the RAF by taking a broad approach to the experience
of women and seeking to understand how this might be different, or the same, for women
from marginalized or minoritized communities.
over the last 100 years. As the youngest service in the UK, the RAF (Royal Air Force) has
experienced these issues of change and continuity at regular intervals. In 2018 all combat
roles in the military became open for female training recruits, reflecting a changing attitude
towards normative gender expectations and barriers within wider military communities. The
expansion of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work over the last 20 years has surfaced the
many inequalities and inequitable experiences that are lived throughout the UK. This
research seeks to address this within the RAF by taking a broad approach to the experience
of women and seeking to understand how this might be different, or the same, for women
from marginalized or minoritized communities.
