Understanding Demographic Differences in Undergraduate Pilot Training Attrition / David Schulker, Douglas Yeung, Kirsten M. Keller, Leslie Adrienne Payne, Lisa Saum-Manning, Kimberly Curry Hall, Stefan Zavislan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schulker, David, author.

Yeung, Douglas, author.

Keller, Kirsten M., author.

Payne, Leslie Adrienne, author.

Saum-Manning, Lisa, author.

Hall, Kimberly Curry, author.

Zavislan, Stefan, author.

Contributor:

Project Air Force (U.S.)

Rand Corporation.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Flight training.

Air pilots, Military--Training of--United States.

Air pilots, Military.

Aeronautics, Military--Study and teaching--United States.

Aeronautics, Military.

Airplanes--Piloting.

Airplanes.

Military education.

Diversity in the workplace.

Aeronautics, Military--Study and teaching.

Air pilots, Military--Training of.

United States.

United States. Air Force.

Summary:

"U.S. Air Force policymakers aim to recruit and maintain a force that reflects the demographic diversity of the nation it serves. Prior research has noted that the Air Force officer population tends to underrepresent female and nonwhite personnel and that this gap grows as rank increases. One factor that contributes to this relationship between demographics and rank is an officer's occupation: Officers in rated (i.e., flying) occupations tend to have more opportunities at the senior levels of the Air Force, and data show that women and racial and ethnic minorities are not well represented in rated occupations. The goal of this study was to better understand the barriers to becoming pilots that are unique to minority and female candidates. This report examines one aspect of the pipeline for becoming a rated officer by looking at demographic differences in Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) completion. The report presents findings from a series of focus groups conducted with current UPT students and instructors to better understand potential challenges that women and racial and ethnic minorities might face in entering and completing UPT. The report also documents findings from a quantitative examination of demographic differences in attrition rates, reasons for attrition, and an analysis of whether certain individual characteristics (e.g., test scores, prior flying experience) account for differential rates of attrition. Finally, the report concludes with initial recommendations for improving current Air Force policies and practices to try to improve female and racial and ethnic minority representation in pilot career fields."--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Chapter One. Introduction. Study Approach ; Policy Changes in 2015 Could Affect the Applicability of these Findings ; Organization of This Report

Chapter Two. An Overview of Undergraduate Pilot Training. The Pilot Candidate Selection Process ; The Undergraduate Pilot Training Pipeline - Initial Flight Training - Undergraduate Pilot Training - Formal Training Units - Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training ; Process for Managing Student Progress ; Summary

Chapter Three. Potential Barriers to Increasing Minority and Female Representation in Pilot Career Fields. Focus Group Methodology ; Focus Group Limitations ; Key themes ; Motivation to Enter Pilot Training ; Challenges to Completing Training - Potential Lack of confidence Among Female Students - Specific Challenges for Women and Minorities ; Mentors and Peer Relationships - Access to Tools and Instructors - Base Resources - Peer Relationships - Mentors and Role Models - Female and Minority Affiliation Groups ; Summary

Demographic Differences in Pilot Training Attrition. Summary of Attrition Patterns - Overall Reasons for Attrition, by Phase of Training - Attrition, by Pilot Training Location and Commisssioning Source - Demographic Differences in Attrition ; Attrition's Impact on graduate Demographic Representation ; Summary

Can Other Characteristics Account for Demographic Differences in Undergraduate Pilot Training Attrition? Pilot Candidate Selection Method Scores and Attrition - Relationships Between Pilot Candidate Selection Method Scores and Attrition - Demographic Differences in Overall Pilot Candidate Selection Method Scores ; demographic Differences in Overall Attrition from Training ; The Most-Important characteristics in Explaining Attrition Gaps ; Summary

Conclusions and Recommendations. Key Findings - Women and Minorities Appear to Face Unique Challenges to Becoming Pilots - Minority and Female Candidates Have Relatively High Attrition Due to Flying Performance - Minority and Female representation Among Undergraduate Pilot Training Graduates Would Be Low Even If all Groups Had Similar Attrition Levels - Pretraining Characteristics Could Account for Higher Attrition Among Female and Black Candidates - More Information Is Needed in Several Areas ; Recommendations - Improve Pilot Training Experience for Women and Minorities - Continue to Increase the Number of Minority and Female Candidates ing Pilot training - Consider Ways to Raise the Test of Basic Aviation Skills Scores of Incoming Minority and Female Candidates - Review Training Progress-Management Policies to Determine Whether Less Prepared Candidates with Potential Have the Opportunity to Succeed - Conduct Research to Identify the Causes of Higher Attrition Rates Among Hispanic and Asian Candidates and to Further Assess differences Among U.S. Air Force Academy Graduates

Appendix A. Regression Methodology for Predicting attrition

Appendix B. Decomposition Methodology for Understanding Group differences in Attrition

Appendix C. Focus Group Methodology

Appendix D. Focus Group Protocols.