Air Force Female Pilots Program: Initial Performance and Attitudes

Abstract

Abstract : Following the 1975 decision to open Air Force pilot training to qualified officers of both sexes, research was undertaken (a) to establish a data base, from female pilot selectees, composed of pre-training measures found to be predictive of training performance for men, (b) to compare these data with those previously obtained from male pilot selectees for overall performance and predictive efficiency, and (c) to monitor the flying performance of women as judged by themselves, their instructors, and their supervisors in comparison with official Air Force flight standards and relative male performance. It should be noted that the results, presently available, are preliminary and reflect only the initial summary of findings from a continuing research project. Few significant differences were found between men and women entering pilot training. Comparable performance on most pre-training measures, combined with equivalent graduation rates, factors associated with flight training performance, and student impressions of the flight training experience, all lend strong support to the conclusion that men and women behave similarly in flight training. However, instructor ratings of male and female student characteristics did reveal several areas in which males were rated significantly better. The factors underlying these differential ratings were not discernible from the available data. Overall, the similarities between the sexes greatly outweighed the differences, indicating that coeducational pilot training can be accomplished without significant modification to the training system or resultant change in student attrition rate.