Dozens of Pittsburgh teens are learning about FAA certification with Fly Like a Girl Drone Academy.
High school drone pilots are taking to the skies as part of a program designed to close the gender gap in the aviation industry.
While the aviation industry provides fast-growing opportunities for young people to get involved, a stark gender disparity has prevented women from fully benefiting from this expanding industry, according to Janeen Peretin, an administrator at Baldwin Whitehall School District.
To combat that in the local Pittsburgh region, Peretin founded Fly Like a Girl (FLAG) Drone Academy alongside Kristin Deichler of South Fayette School District and Emily Sanders of Beaver School District in 2023 to increase young women’s access to careers in drone technology and aviation.
Since then, dozens of girls have learned to fly drones through the program and some have gone on to become certified drone pilots — paving the way for possible career opportunities in a male-dominated field with a strong local industry.
“We thought, let’s bring awareness to the students that this field exists and that there are so many possibilities within the field,” Peretin told Technical.ly. “Then, let’s also try to move the needle a little bit with the number of female certified drone pilots.”
FLAG Drone Academy is a free program helping high school girls in the Pittsburgh area pursue careers in drone technology and aviation by providing hands-on training, mentorship and the opportunity to obtain FAA Commercial Drone Certification. The Moonshot Grant-funded program has had three cohorts since it launched, pulling in students from McKeesport, Ambridge, Beaver, Baldwin and South Fayette High Schools, among others.