This is part of the problem. Being able to challenge the Signaller is a product of training and not determined by ones sex.
It's that perception that we, as Drivers, need to be dominant males to be successful is a perception that needs to change.
Any Driver should be able to challenge an instruction.
I'm sure you are not suggesting that women are somehow more submissive and wouldn't challenge and I totally understand that confidence is part and parcel of the role but it shouldn't be about having a backbone or a bit of fire in the belly. It should, and is, about being a professional Driver. I certainly believe that not enough of us stop and challenge. Two wrong routes recently at our place could have been resolved is the Driver challenged the route when they weren't sure.
In agreement with bramling, I wasn’t thinking of something as clear-cut as a wrong route (there’s not much of an argument to be had!) as something like an instruction from Control that seriously contravenes the Rule Book, in one of those moments where they’re all mega stressed, the passengers are contemplating rebellion and the driver’s stuck in the middle trying to keep it all together and get the job done safely. The gender of the driver is irrelevant - what matters is the ability of the driver to rise to the occasion and act correctly under pressure. That is indeed...
...partly what the MMI checks for.
Are women less likely to pass the various stages of psychometric testing than men? I genuinely don’t know - I think the stats would make interesting reading.
The current approach seems sensible anyway, targeting recruitment to try to get more women to apply and then give everyone the same chance from then on. I’m all for making reasonable adjustments to accommodate those in the grade who need it (their “lifestyle choices”, as I’ve often heard it referred to, are what will pay our pensions in the future). How far should we go to accommodate those entering the grade though? If there’s a successful push along those lines, there’ll come a point where there just isn’t enough work that fits into “childcare friendly hours”, even before considering the effect on those who aren’t accommodated. It’s a difficult one.
The culture in the messroom - as I say above, I’m not at all sure that anything needs to change, and indeed I think it’d be counter-productive. It’s largely a happy ship at our place, in no small part down to the fact that pretty much everyone gets on with each other and can have a good laugh without causing offence whilst also leaving those in relative peace who want to be left in peace. How could you even change that, short of somehow policing messrooms? Personally, I don’t think I could stand spending hours in the messroom in near-silence, with everyone scared to speak in case they’re judged to have over-spoken by some arbitrary observer after the event...