Gender, Communication, and Aviation Incidents/Accidents

Crew communication and crew resource management are readily recognized as critical to safety of flight. With the inclusion of a greater number of female pilots in a traditionally male crew environment, it is imperative to investigate how gender characteristics impact crew communication. This study was a meta-review of existing literature. There have been a number of studies that examined differences in masculine versus feminine communication characteristics in general. Additional work has been done in the field of aviation, some with respect to differences between male pilots and female pilots and some with respect to the role communication deficiencies or breakdown played in aviation incidents or accidents. However, most researchers recognized the relative dearth of current studies of the effect of gender integration with respect to the collaboration and communication necessary for effective use of increasingly more technologically advanced equipment. This study should serve as a framework for examining more current practices in how possible gender differences in communication might be related to aircraft incidents or accidents, with the overarching purpose to inform current and future training programs so that the human side of aviation keeps pace with the increasingly more advanced technological side.