Female pilots perform better under pressure, study finds

Female pilots may outperform their male counterparts in high-pressure flight situations, according to a new study led by University of Waterloo researchers.  

The findings challenge traditional assumptions in aviation and suggest that women pilots may have unique strengths that could be better recognized in pilot training and evaluation systems. 

“These findings are exciting because they push us to rethink how we evaluate pilots,” said Naila Ayala, lead author of the study and postdoctoral scholar in Waterloo’s Multisensory Brain and Cognition Lab.  

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

The research also found that despite male and female pilots having nearly identical visual attention patterns and flight experience, female pilots tend to make fewer flight control errors when stress levels increase.  

This means that while both genders paid attention to the same information during a flight, women were more consistent and accurate in how they responded to it. The results highlight the importance of looking beyond surface-level indicators like visual focus when measuring pilot performance. 

The researchers used a high-fidelity flight simulator to study 20 experienced general aviation pilots—10 women and 10 men—as they flew through a series of typical and emergency situations. During each scenario, the team recorded where the pilots were looking and how they responded.  

The pilots all wore eye-tracking glasses and completed standardized flight tasks that included unexpected engine failures and landing challenges, designed to test their reactions under pressure. This allowed researchers to gather data on both visual attention and performance accuracy. 

“Understanding how different people perform under pressure helps us build better training programs for everyone, safer cockpits, and more inclusive aviation systems,” said Suzanne Kearns, associate professor and director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics.  

“At a time when the industry is facing a pilot shortage, tapping into the full potential of all pilots, regardless of gender, is more important than ever.” 

The team hopes the findings will help shape future pilot training and evaluation standards by recognizing a wider range of strengths and abilities. 

The study, “Exploring gender differences in aviation: Integrating high-fidelity simulator performance and eye-tracking approaches in low-time pilots,” is published in the Proceedings of the 2025 Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications (ETRA '25).