An Exploration on Pilots’ and Student Pilots’ Perspectives towards the Gender Bias in Thai Aviation Industry

Since the aviation industry is acknowledged as the male-dominated filed, the existence of female pilots in the cockpit has long been controversial over decades. However, it is revealed by many aviation organizations that the number of women pilots has been growing constantly recently. Several studies have been conducted to explore female pilots’ perspective towards the existing gender bias in the aviation field in the global scale. Meanwhile in Thailand, there is the scarcity of studies on the similar topic, especially perspectives towards the factors and motivations driving female pilot to enter the aviation industry in Thailand. This study purposes to investigate the perspectives of female student pilots, a female pilot and a male pilot towards the negative gender stereotypes in the pilot profession in Thai context. A mixed-method questionnaire was conducted to collect data by having two main approaches: a Likert-scale and close-ended questionnaire and the semi-structured interview from eight participants including six female student pilots (FSP), one female professional pilot (FP) and one male professional pilot (MP). The results yielded from all female participants revealed that gender prejudice still exists in the industry, which resulted in female pilots having to prove themselves and their skills set to be accepted in both the training duration and working period. However, all participants all opine that the aviation industry has recently seen the lesser degree of sexual bias towards female pilots and the positive trend of more female pilots stepping into this male-dominated field.

Review of Vinogradova, L. (2015). Defending the Motherland. Women fighter pilots of the Great Patriotic War. Moscow: Kolibri, Azbuka-Attikus. 448 pages.

The review considers the opinions of L. Vinogradova, who wrote a book about Soviet women pilots during World War II, based on the recently discovered documentary evidence and witness reports, as well as taking into account the relevant experience of her predecessors. At the centre of the book is a life story of the war hero L. Litvyak, who shared a similar lot with her sisters in arms. Following the descriptions in war correspondent V. Grossman’s Stalingrad Notebooks [Stalingradskie tetradi], the author details aerial battles in the skies above Stalingrad. In her reconstruction of the ferocious engagements, Vinogradova also covers the boisterous propaganda of pre-war years and questionable episodes in Russian war history. The book seeks to disprove the American historian B. Yenne, who, in his biography called The White Rose of Stalingrad, showed L. Litvyak as yesterday’s schoolgirl, killed when not yet 22.

Diversity Intelligence as a Source of Strength in Human Resource Development: Increasing the Presence of Women Pilots

The Problem Although more women have been entering the workforce in the past few decades, this progress has not readily been seen in the field of aviation. Indeed, of all current U.S. corporate and commercial pilots, women only account for 6%. Through a diversity intelligence (DQ) perspective, the authors explore the experiences of women pilots to identify ways of increasing female representation in male-dominated fields in general and in aviation in particular. Via a phenomenological qualitative research approach, a total of 33 female pilots were surveyed and an additional 20 participated in a one-on-one interview. NVivo qualitative data analysis software was used, employing an inductive constant comparative method to develop categories. The Solution Results indicate that female pilots face significant gender-related roadblocks to their careers. Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners can help organizations increase DQ to recruit and retain women in nontraditional occupations and industries. Increasing DQ would create a more welcoming environment for both women and minorities. It would also address cultural and organizational issues such as tacit and subtle discrimination, increase the presence of role models, provide support systems, and assist with cultural change to eliminate the good old boy mentality. The Stakeholders Industry leaders, women, and HRD professionals.

The Aviatrix: Nationalism, Women, and Heroism

This chapter examines women in modern aviation, beginning with the comic-book character Wonder Woman, who embodies themes of war, nationalism, and heroism. These themes continue to be examined through the lives of American aviator Amelia Earhart, women pilots in World War II (especially the German aviator Hanna Reitsch), and women who have taken part in NASA’s space programs. The relatively recent battles over whether and when to allow women to fly airplanes and space shuttles encourage speculation on how much or how little things have changed for women who long to fly. World War II female pilots also illustrate the early history of discussions about women’s fitness for combat.