Gender issues in aviation : pilot attitudes and employment relations

This paper examines the Australian component of a cross-cultural study of gender issues in aviation. For over twenty years female pilots have had access to the professional pilot positions within airlines but their numbers continue to be very low. Both the civil and military sectors in the aviation industry continue to be dominated by masculine attitudes and behaviours. A survey of pilots was conducted to ascertain their attitudes towards women pilots. The results indicated a normal distribution of attitudes across the respondents and a factor analysis revealed two main factors. These are Flying Proficiency and Safety Orientation and reveal gender differences. The implications of these attitudes in respect of recruitment and training and development are considered and continuing inequities, stereotypes and bias are highlighted