'I’m a Pilot First, Female Second': Why Flight Deck Gender Imbalance Persists and the Case for Allyship

Author(s)

Kimberly Perkins ATP, FRAeS, University of WashingtonFollow
Rachael H. Merola PhD, Division of Public Administration, Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE)Follow
Sourojit Ghosh, Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering, University of Washington, SeattleFollow
Cecilia Aragon PhD, ATP, University of WashingtonFollow

Volume

33

Issue

2

Key words

allyship, gender bias, culture, s-frame, aviation

Abstract

Why is there greater gender parity for long-haul truck drivers, astronauts, and paleontologists than for women airline captains? This study uses a mixed-methods approach to examine the underlying causes of the gender imbalance in the United States aviation industry, in which only 3.6% of airline captains are women. Two polls and one survey gather data from professional pilots (N=1093) on their experience with stereotyping, gender bias, and allyship. Direct comments were analyzed to shed light on the results of the survey. Results suggest that, contrary to prevailing perceptions, the persistent gender imbalance in the flight deck can largely be attributed to an ingrained and self-perpetuating negative culture cycle unique to the flight deck and a lack of allyship which affects the recruitment and retention of women pilots. Findings from self-identified male pilots (N=575) revealed that the majority of potential allies are not participating in resolving the gender imbalance because they do not see it as their responsibility. The authors develop a model depicting this cycle and propose a novel system-level (s-frame) solution to fundamentally change the culture.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Perkins, K., Merola, R. H., Ghosh, S., & Aragon, C. (2024). 'I’m a Pilot First, Female Second': Why Flight Deck Gender Imbalance Persists and the Case for Allyship. Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research, 33(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.58940/2329-258X.2025