Gender Discrimination in the Flight Deck: An Analysis on the Experiences of Ab-initio Pilots

Abstract

Gender-related issues among pilots are increasingly recognized as a serious, worldwide safety concern. A considerable amount of literature has been published on gender discrimination in commercial aviation and general aviation. However, to the best of authors’ knowledge, no research has been found that examined the gender-related issues among ab-initio pilots in Turkey. The aim of this research project has therefore been to investigate the gender discrimination among ab-initio pilots. With consideration in mind, a survey was developed by using previously published two questionnaires in the field of gender-related issues in aviation and conducted to collect data. By the end of the survey period, data had been collected from 104 ab-initio pilots. The independent sample t-test was employed to analyze the results of the survey. It has been concluded that female ab-initio pilots face gender discrimination. Furthermore, it has been found that there was no significant difference in difficulties faced during the training due to gender-related issues between male and female ab-initio pilots. The results of this study provided an understanding on gender-related issues among ab-initio pilots. The findings of this study may provide important implications in the field of crew resource management training for ab-initio pilots and increase overall safety in aviation

Keywords

• Ab-initio pilot
• Gender Stereotype
• Pilot Training
• Human Factors
• Gender Discrimination

References

1. FAA, “U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics,” 2019 Active Civil Airmen Statistics, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/civil_airmen_statistics/. [Accessed: 03-May-2020].
2. M. A. Turney, “Attracting Women to Aviation Careers: What Recent Studies Reveal,” Coll. Aviat. Rev. Int., vol. 18, no. 1, 2000.
3. D. Bridges, J. Neal-smith, and A. J. Mills, “Chapter 6 -Grounded ? Women Pilots , Gender Identity and Integration into the Australian Defence Force,” in Absent aviators : Gender issues in aviation, no. January, 2014.
4. F. Mccarthy, L. Budd, and S. Ison, “Gender on the flightdeck: Experiences of women commercial airline pilots in the UK,” J. Air Transp. Manag., vol. 47, pp. 32–38, 2015.
5. M. L. Germain, M. J. R. Herzog, and P. R. Hamilton, “Women employed in male-dominated industries: Lessons learned from female aircraft pilots, pilots-in-training and mixed-gender flight instructors,” Hum. Resour. Dev. Int., vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 435–453, 2012.
6. F. McCarthy, “An Exploration of the Gender and Professional Identities of Ab Initio Pilots,” Loughborough University, 2017.
7. C. Thatchatham and W. Peetawan, “An Exploration on Pilots ’ and Student Pilots ’ Perspectives towards the Gender Bias in Thai,” in Innovation Aviation & Aerospace Industry—International Conference 2020 (IAAI 2020), 2020, pp. 1–5.
8. M. D. Matthews, M. G. Ender, J. H. Laurence, and D. E. Rohall, “Role of group affiliation and gender on attitudes toward women in the military,” Mil. Psychol., vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 241–251, 2009.

9. T. A. LaPierre and M. K. Zimmerman, “Career advancement and gender equity in healthcare management,” Gend. Manag., vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 100–118, 2012.
10. N. Kaewsri and T. Tongthong, “Favorable Female Attributes in Relation to Career Challenges of Women Engineers in the Thai Construction Industry,” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 222–236, 2014.
11. D. H. B. Welsh, E. Kaciak, and C. Minialai, “The influence of perceived management skills and perceived gender discrimination in launch decisions by women entrepreneurs,” Int. Entrep. Manag. J., vol. 13, no. 1, 2017.
12. M. Hardin and E. Whiteside, “Consequences of being the ‘Team Mom’: Women in sports information and the friendliness trap,” J. Sport Manag., vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 309–321, 2012.
13. C. L. Davey and M. J. Davidson, “The right of passage? The experiences of female pilots in commercial aviation,” Fem. Psychol., vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 195–225, 2000.
14. M. Ferla and A. Graham, “Women slowly taking off: An investigation into female underrepresentation in commercial aviation,” Res. Transp. Bus. Manag., vol. 31, p. 100378, 2019.
15. K. McCullough, “Worldwide Airline Female Pilot Numbers by Region,” The International Society of Women Airline Pilots, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.iswap.org/content.aspx?page_id=86&club_id=658242&sl=1530518160. [Accessed: 18-Mar-2020].
16. M. A. Turney, Tapping Diverse Talent in Aviation: Culture, Gender, and Diversity (Studies in Aviation Psychology and Human Factors). Routledge, 2004.
17. L. P. Vermeulen, “FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS ’ PERCEPTIONS OF PILOT BEHAVIOUR,” SA J. Ind. Psychol., vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 128–135, 2009.
18. L. P. Vermeulen and J. I. Mitchell, “Development and validation of a measure to assess perceptions regarding gender-related pilot behavior,” Int. J. Aviat. Psychol., vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 197–218, 2007.
19. B. Kilic, “HFACS Analysis for Investigating Human Errors in Flight Training Accidents,” J. Aviat., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 28–37, 2019.
20. B. Kilic and C. Ucler, “Stress among ab-initio pilots: A model of contributing factors by AHP,” J. Air Transp. Manag., vol. 80, no. March, p. 101706, 2019.
21. B. Kilic and S. Soran, “How Can an Ab-Initio Pilot Avert a Future Disaster : A Pedagogical Approach to Reduce The Likelihood of Future Failure,” J. Aviat., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–14, 2019.
22. L. P. Vermeulen, P. Schaap, J. I. Mitchell, and A. Kristovics, “Exploring the equivalence of the aviation gender attitude questionnaire for South African and Australian pilots: A cross-cultural comparison,” Int. J. Aviat. Psychol., vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 367–390, 2009.
23. B. Kilic, “Self-Medication Among Ab Initio Pilots,” Aerosp. Med. Hum. Perform., vol. 92, no. 13, pp. 1–6, 2021.
24. B. Kilic, “Fatigue Among Student Pilots,” Aerosp. Med. Hum. Perform., vol. 92, no. 1, pp. 20–24, 2021.
25. C. A. Havle and B. Kilic, “A hybrid approach based on the fuzzy AHP and HFACS framework for identifying and analyzing gross navigation errors during transatlantic flights,” J. Air Transp. Manag., vol. 76, pp. 21–30, 2019.
26. B. Kilic and E. Gumus, “Application of HFACS to the Nighttime Aviation Accidents and Incidents,” J. Aviat., vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 10–16, 2020.
27. B. Kilic, “The Analysis of Hot-Air Balloon Accidents by Human Factor Analysis and Classification System,” J. Aeronaut. Sp. Technol., vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 17–24, 2020.
28. B. Kilic and S. Gundogdu, “Human Factors in Air Cargo Operations: An Analysis Using HFACS,” J. Aviat. Res., vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 101–114, 2020.
29. E. Seymour and N. M. Hewitt, Talking about leaving. Westview Press, 1994.