University of Waterloo study finds female pilots outperform their male counterparts under pressure

Female pilots outperform their male counterparts, according to a new University of Waterloo study. CTV’s Heather Senoran breaks down the data.

A new study from researchers at the University of Waterloo is challenging the gender biases in aviation.

Using eye-tracking technology and a high-fidelity flight simulator, the study found that female pilots performed better under pressure when put in a mock-emergency situation.

Ten men and ten women participated in the study, and all were general aviation pilots with the same experience. Researchers recorded where each participant looked and how they responded.

“We have data that challenges traditional assumptions in aviation these days, and that’s kind of groundbreaking to have this evidence to support the fact that women belong in this industry,” said Naila Ayala, lead author of the UW study.

She said the women appeared to be better at keeping control and making decisions in stressful flight situations.

In one scenario, participants had to complete standard flight tasks but with a twist – unexpected and total engine failure.

“Female participants were able to manage that much better in these high stress scenarios versus those male pilots who ended up having a little bit more error, with respect to things like the airspeed they’re trying to control, while coming down from engine failure and safely landing the plane,” Ayala said.

The simulator definitely put participants in the hot seat.

“They had to identify the emergency, understand where they were located with respect to the runway or the closest field they could possibly land, and then maneuver the plane to said space where they could land the plane and let the air traffic controllers know that there was a mayday and there’s an emergency onboard,” explained Ayala.

Aviation student Preksha Shah was one of the study participants. She said she didn’t feel too stressed when the engine suddenly failed in the simulation.

“I was immediately like, ‘Okay, we had an engine failure, and the runway is right there. Now I just need to land.’”

Shah said she always wanted to be a pilot. Her goal is to one day be a commercial pilot.

“For me personally, I’m an adrenaline junkie, so I love flying,” she explained. “And it’s also just really cool.”

The study highlighted the importance of looking beyond surface-level indicators when measuring pilot performance.

Especially since the aviation field has long been dominated by men.

“Only six or seven per cent of airline pilots are women,” said Suzanne Kearns, an aviation professor and founder of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics. “That’s a tremendous challenge when you think about there not being enough pilots in the system and how do we attract and retain the workforce to support the future.”

As for why female pilots did better in the study – the answer isn’t clear cut.

“There’s no clear tie to very distinct gender differences that have been shown in the neurocognitive research, just because it’s too complex of a task to tie to one specific type of mental capability,” said Ayala.

The team hopes their findings will help shape what the industry looks like for all future pilots.