Like Father, Like Daughter

Everyone has a unique back-story, no matter their journey. For Molly Blackford, former President of our partner Woman in Aviation Space Coast Florida Tech Chapter, it was an early exposure to aviation.

""My dad is a Florida Tech alumni and a pilot," the 22 year-old Certified Flight Instructor said. "I got involved in aviation when I was a junior in high school."

However, aviation wasn't always a clear cut path for her.

"Growing up, I never knew being a pilot was an option for me," Blackford said. "It seemed like something only older guys did. I never specially thought I couldn't, it just never occurred to me that I could."

Nevertheless, this changed for Blackford at age 17, when her father introduced her to his co-ed aviation fraternity, Alpha Eta Rho, of which she is now a member herself.

"[My father] brought me down to a meeting, one time, where I met a bunch of people... who were not much older than me," she said. "[They were] mostly guys but a couple girls too. Suddenly flying seemed like an achievable thing. These guys were doing it, why couldn't I? The rest is history."

So far, Blackford has been lucky enough to not have faced extreme gender bias in the aviation world. But still, she's had to deal with a few unwanted comments.

"I've been very fortunate to never experience anything too major [for the gender divide] and most people I know - guys and girls - are very supportive," Blackford said. "In aviation, the worst I've experienced was the occasional 'real pilots only, no girls', 'you only passed that because you're cute', or 'you only got hired because they want more girls'. Nothing too bad, but [it] still isn't something that makes me feel too good. Though I know some comments were meant as jokes, I didn't find them funny."

As a consequence of aviation being predominately a male field, Blackford had to deal with an internal conflict early into her career.

"I grew up with the lady pilot stereotype being a masculine tomboy woman who never did 'girly' things," she said. "Before I was a pilot, I loved being a girl. I loved dresses and painting my nails. Once I became a pilot, I felt a pressure to not do those things. In classes, I was often the only girl, with sometimes one or two more out of a [usually] 20-30 person class so I felt like I had to 'fit in' or else [I would] get comments like 'who are you dressing up for?'."

Now a graduate student at Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), Blackford said she soon found her home.

"It was through Women in Aviation that I met other [fearless] women pilots who also embraced their feminine side," Blackford said. "They would wear makeup and fly. Like what? Because I met others who did that, I slowly became more comfortable doing that myself. I still get dumb comments but you learn to laugh it off [like] 'oh, I just felt like blinding all the guys with my beauty!' or other funny responses like that. What really helped me through everything was meeting others like me."

Blackford became involved with Women in Aviation her freshman year at FIT.

"My friend was practically forcing me to go, but I loved it after the first meeting," Blackford said. "I learned that other girls would go through the same things and it helped just knowing [that] I wasn't alone. It was fun to swap stories with other girls - and guys - and learn some of the clever responses [that] they had for that stuff."

In the end, Blackford has sage advice for finding your way in unfamiliar places.

"If you have a support system, and know they're all going through the same stuff, it really helps you feel like you belong," she said.