The Effect of Gender Schematicity on the Assessment of Male and Female Pilots’ Competence Given Identical Scenarios

<p>Gender has been identified as one of the top three categories, along with race, and age that are subject to stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination (Fiske, 1998). With the emergence of women in stereotypical male domains, gender research has never been more important. The aviation community is a prime example of one such domain.</p> <p>This study examined the presence of an existing perception that male pilots are more competent then female pilots. It suggested that there does not appear to be evidence that would explain why there should be a difference in this perception of competence. It also discussed social theories of gender and more specifically Bern's Gender Schema Theory in an attempt to explain why this perception does exist.</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to look at the effect of the gender schematicity of the participants and the gender of the pilot in a given scenario on the perceived competence of the pilot. A 3 X 2 between subjects, fully factorial ANOVA strategy was utilized and revealed no significant results for the main effects of scenario gender or schematicity or the interaction effect on perception of pilot competence. This study adds to the field of gender research but does not provide support for the conclusion that male and female pilots may be perceived differently while in the same situation and displaying the identical level of skill and ability.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Factors and Systems

Year

2006

Author dc:creator

• Laplante, Jan D.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Shawn Michael Doherty
• Albert J. Boquet
• Nancy Parker

• gender schematicity
• pilots
• competence
• sexism
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Aviation
• Personality and Social Contexts

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/111

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.erau.edu:db-theses-1156