Female pilot performs well in high stress scenarios

Female pilots may have an advantage when there is a problem with the cockpit, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo.

The researchers found that women with limited flight experience performed more stably than men in high-pressure flight simulations, including emergency landings. Although male and female pilots showed nearly the same gaze pattern, women made fewer control errors, completed emergency tasks faster, and reported stronger situational awareness. These findings challenge persistent gender bias in aviation and suggest the need to rethink the way we train and evaluate pilots.

Bringing gender bias to the exam

“These findings are exciting because they prompted us to rethink how we evaluate pilots,” said Naila Ayala, the study’s lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the Waterloo Multisensory Brain and Cognitive Laboratory.

The research team, together with Ayala and co-authors Suzanne Kearns, Elizabeth Irving, Shi Cao and Ewa Niechwiej-szwedo, designed a controlled experiment to detect differences in performance, rather than perception. Their study involved 20 general aviation pilots – 10 women and 10 men, with a total of less than 300.

Each participant completed 9 landing scenarios within the Hi-Fi simulator, including a surprise engine failure designed to increase stress levels. Glasses of glasses monitor visual attention, while software records flight performance and timing.

Although the gaze behavior is almost the same, women:

– Perform a more stable landing path
– Complete emergency procedures faster
– Score higher on self-evaluation situational awareness
– Make fewer flight control errors

“We can’t assume that because two pilots are looking at the same thing, they will react in the same way. Our research shows that women may be better at staying in control and making decisions in stressful flight scenarios.”

Beyond the Eyes: Flying is Really Important

The study was published in Proceedings of 2025 seminar on eye movement research and application (Etra ’25), highlighting the importance of not only evaluating pilots’ perceptions, but also how they act on that information. Gazing alone at the data gives little insight into gender differences. However, when combined with performance results, a pattern emerges: Under pressure, female pilots always outperform men on key metrics.

This pattern remained even though all participants received similar flight training and time recording. It shows that female pilots may have or develop different strategies for dealing with mission overload, especially when time is critical.

Impact on the aviation industry

“Understanding how different people perform under pressure can help us build better training programs for everyone, a safer cockpit and a more inclusive aviation system,” said Suzanne Kearns, associate professor and director of Waterloo’s School of Sustainable Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The aviation industry faces a global pilot shortage and continues to struggle with gender imbalances. Women are less than 10% of licensed pilots worldwide. This study complements evidence that expanding women’s opportunities in aviation is not only fair but also improves safety and performance.

Looking to the future

Although the sample size is small and focused on early pilots, these findings raise important questions about how performance is judged in pilot certification and training. The team hopes that their work can inform future standards to better capture a range of advantages rather than relying on outdated assumptions.

Complete paper “Exploring Gender Differences in Aviation: Integrating Performance and Eye Tracking Methods for High-Fidelity Simulators in Low-Time Pilots” is available in Proceedings of the 2025 Workshop on Eye Movement Research and Applications* (ETRA ’25), Article 22, Chapter 22, pp. 1-8.
doi: 10.1145/3715669.3723124

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