I must admit that sometimes I think the company's approach to equal
ops does backfire on the very people it's supposed to encourage.
Having gained promotion last year, I have heard a number people
comment "oh well you had an advantage as a woman, they want more women
controllers", which is more than a little annoying - especially as I
know full well that I got the position on merit and hard work.

Also I think a lot of it is lip-service and window-dressing i.e. they
have to look like they are making a serious effort on equal ops but
what this mainly means is things in OTM, special recruitment days for
women into certain grades, but very little practical action to examine
WHY certain groups are so under-represented.

JMO though.