Let’s Address Gender Myths in Aviation

Written by Madison Dooley

For over 100 years female aviators have taken to the skies, however with only 4.7% of pilots currently being female, aviation remains a male-dominated industry. Elevate(her) raised the question as to why women are underrepresented in the Aviation Industry, a recurring answer from our followers was the attitudes and opinions of others. Resistance to accepting female pilots into the flight deck because of preconceived notions as to how each gender performs has altered attitudes. However, it’s not just the way people perceive female pilots that is dangerous, arguably more so is the way these perceptions alter the way females think about the opportunities available to them. There are a multitude of myths circulating as to why women could make inferior pilots, let’s address these myths and alter these perceptions…

Physical Strength

Women naturally possess around 50-60% of the upper torso muscular strength of men, therefore, it is a scientific fact that women are weaker in terms of physical strength. However, with advancements in modern technology, aircraft control systems have eliminated the need for great physical strength. Fly-by-wire and hydraulic systems have reduced control forces and the use of power-assisted systems, mechanical boosters, and servo controls has improved aircraft handling. 

The average woman can sustain around 60 pounds of longitudinal force, much larger than aircraft control forces required of around 3 pounds per g. Skill and knowledge are required to fly a modern aircraft, not physical strength, and both skill and knowledge are not gender specific.

Group Cohesion

An argument commonly circulated to preclude women from flying careers is that women may become distracting and reduce the bonding ability of crew members. The presence of women in a male-dominated environment may ‘upset the balance’ and reduce the effectiveness of operations. 

This opinion can be dispelled by research conducted amongst US Air Force pilots with findings stating 97% of males and 98% of females felt comfortable flying with a mixed-gender flight deck. Furthermore, 77% of males and 74% of females believed mission effectiveness was not altered by mixed-gender flights. The flight deck should be open to all, and female pilots are skilled and qualified professionals who contribute to the safe operation of flights.

Skill

Surprisingly, there are still beliefs rooted amongst the public and aviation professionals that flying with a male pilot is preferred over a female pilot. A US study showed pictures of male and female licensed pilots, in uniform, to participants (about half of whom were licensed pilots) and asked them to rate the pilots’ abilities. Respondents rated male pilots significantly higher in terms of ability when compared to female pilots. However, a survey by the UK Civil Aviation Authority's General Aviation Safety Department (GASD) reveals that male general-aviation pilots in the UK are more than four times as likely to have a fatal accident as their female counterparts.

 With only 4.7% of UK general-aviation pilots being female, it makes them a statistically small sample, however, GASD had studied the figures for Second World War ferry pilots in the Air Transport Auxiliary to find statistically firmer figures. Here pilots usually flew solo and faced identical demands. More than 309,000 aircraft were ferried, and women constituted about 20% of ferry pilots. The GASD found that men were twice as likely as women, to suffer fatal accidents. Of course, the purpose of these figures is not to brand female pilots as having superior skill levels to their male counterparts, but rather to suppress the hesitance some people find they have flying with a female pilot. Each pilot goes through the same rigorous testing for their respective license and upkeep of skill and safety standards should be paramount for both genders.

Emotional Stability

A common belief is that females tend to be more emotional in adverse situations which can negatively impact their flying. Research conducted by a range of bodies has consistently proved that men’s and women's emotional stability and fluctuations are "clearly, consistently, and unmistakably more similar than they are different”. Researchers also intentionally included women with natural menstrual cycles and those using different types of oral contraceptives to explicitly address the notion that women are more emotionally variable. Researchers found there were no meaningful differences and emotions are dictated by a person’s environment and experiences. Emotions are an important part of being human, its how we manage these emotions that is critical to aviation safety. Eradicating dangerous attitudes and controlling the pressures and stresses experienced in aviation operations should be the focus, and awareness of the role of emotions is important for both genders to promote safe operations. 

Pursuing the career of a pilot is a truly rewarding career and negative stereotypes and opinions should not deter you from pursuing your dream. The above proves that much of what we hear is not founded on fact, but rather on deeply engrained stereotypes. Developing our understanding of a female’s place in aviation and keeping up to date with new research and knowledge will aid in the shift from thoughts to facts.