More Study

Do female general aviation students have a higher success rate (solo or earned private certification), if they participate in ground school first before air training?

Do female general aviation students have a higher Ground School success rate if taught in a classroom/seminar setting vs. self-study?

Do female general aviation students with simulator hours before air training have a higher success rate than those with air training only?

Do female general aviation students have a higher success rate with male or female instructors? Several experienced female flight instructors indicated in their experience, women earn certification more often with female instructors, especially in private instruction instead of flight schools/FBOs.

Is the female success rate higher with either gender of instructor in private instruction vs. flight school settings?

Do female general aviation students have a higher success rate in college/university programs vs. FBO/On-airport flight schools? If so, is it because of more easily available financial assistance? Is it college/university programs tend to point toward aviation careers? Is it the more social interaction setting of classroom/college-based programs?

Another area of study should be, even though this and past research has indicated that a male pilot family member or close friend has a very strong positive influence on a woman’s decision to pursue flight training and to succeed, is it because there are just more male pilots and a female pilot partner/family member/mentor has just as strong, if not greater influence on flight training decisions?

• Is it because a male pilot introduced the female to flying, perhaps in a gradual process and the female’s comfort level at the controls was increased over time? (As in the story of the “boiled frog!”)
• Was it that she has access and perhaps, less expense, to general aviation experience because a plane was more readily available and rental expense and even instructional time was less costly?
• Was it that often families owning a plane are in a higher income bracket so therefore flight instruction/training cost was not as burdensome?
• Does having a pilot as a relative or friend “normalize” the desire to pursue certification? Is the family more supportive of the decision of a female pursuing certification/flight training?
• Would any of the above be the same or even more encouraging to a woman, if her family member aviator was female?

What might be the difference, if any, in success rates of female flight students given a male pilot mentor vs. a female pilot mentor?

What role might female participation in organized athletics/sports play in the success rate of female flight students? In a post-Title 9 era are female athletes more confident and comfortable with risk activities. It is a well-known recruiting fact that Army recruiters for the Armor Branch, have display booths at “Monster Truck” events. Do successful women pilots demonstrate an affinity for certain organized or risk sports?

Because the flight training drop out rate appears to be high, do women have a higher drop-out rate than male students?

Earlier studies indicated female pilots tended to grasp instrument training more quickly than male students. Does this still hold true and, if so, why?

Also, earlier reported research indicated female pilots tended to have fewer accidents. Could this research information assist with lowering insurance rates and improving aviation safety? Or, do male pilots traditionally have higher ratings and fly more hours which might mean greater exposure to adverse weather conditions?

This research indicates female students tell their flight instructors the major reason they pursue flight instruction is personal satisfaction. How can this motivation best be used to recruit and retain women in General Aviation?