Flight instructors’ perceptions of pilot behaviour related to gender

Abstract

This study investigated flight instructors’ perceptions with regard to gender-related pilot behaviour. The subjects fell into two sample groups. The first sample consisted of 93 flight instructors and the second sample was a control group of 93 commercial pilots. The Aviation Gender Attitude Questionnaire (AGAQ) was administered to measure the perceptions that both groups held about female pilots’ flying proficiency and safety orientation. Statistical analysis revealed that flight instructors and commercial pilots differed significantly in their perceptions of female pilots’ flying proficiency but that the two groups did not differ in their perceptions of female pilots’ safety orientation.

Keywords

• flight instructors
• gender
• flying proficiency
• safety orientation
• pilot behaviour