The military seeks female fighter pilots for three key strategic reasons:
First, diversity in the cockpit enhances combat effectiveness. Different perspectives and approaches to problem-solving reduce groupthink and improve threat assessment. “Having people who have reached the exact same standards, but from a completely different origin, makes finding solutions a lot more efficient as a team,” according to military aviation experts[1].
Second, the military needs to expand its talent pool amid pilot shortages. Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper explained: “When you’re a country that’s going to face a country with a population that’s four times your own…if we begin with a recruitment population that we’ve artificially halved because of how we design our cockpits and workstations, we’ve just doubled our work”[2].
Third, cognitive diversity strengthens risk assessment and decision-making in high-stakes situations. Research shows diverse teams spot different threats in the same situation and communicate more effectively in safety-critical environments[1:1].
You’re getting downvoted for saying something sorta close to true, but not exactly. I agree strongly with everything you said here, though.
Generally, with any complex human-machine interface, you want to cast as wide of a net for accommodation as possible because there are so many variables that come into play.
Like if you are putting together a basketball team, you probably want a bunch of tall dudes, but you never know how many Muggsy Bogues’s are out there unless you let everyone play.
For a fighter pilot, would you rather have a female with greater ability to distinguish color, or a male that can pull higher g’s? It’s impossible to say what specific traits would lead to the best outcome in all possible engagements.
Even things like colorblindness can be a positive in situations because camouflage can stick out to colorblind people. Some types of deafness comes with immunity to motion sickness.
Well, anyway
The military seeks female fighter pilots for three key strategic reasons:
First, diversity in the cockpit enhances combat effectiveness. Different perspectives and approaches to problem-solving reduce groupthink and improve threat assessment. “Having people who have reached the exact same standards, but from a completely different origin, makes finding solutions a lot more efficient as a team,” according to military aviation experts[1].
Second, the military needs to expand its talent pool amid pilot shortages. Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper explained: “When you’re a country that’s going to face a country with a population that’s four times your own…if we begin with a recruitment population that we’ve artificially halved because of how we design our cockpits and workstations, we’ve just doubled our work”[2].
Third, cognitive diversity strengthens risk assessment and decision-making in high-stakes situations. Research shows diverse teams spot different threats in the same situation and communicate more effectively in safety-critical environments[1:1].
Breaking Barriers: The Rise of Women Fighter Pilots ↩︎ ↩︎
To get more female pilots, the Air Force is changing the way it designs weapons ↩︎
You’re getting downvoted for saying something sorta close to true, but not exactly. I agree strongly with everything you said here, though.
Generally, with any complex human-machine interface, you want to cast as wide of a net for accommodation as possible because there are so many variables that come into play.
Like if you are putting together a basketball team, you probably want a bunch of tall dudes, but you never know how many Muggsy Bogues’s are out there unless you let everyone play.
For a fighter pilot, would you rather have a female with greater ability to distinguish color, or a male that can pull higher g’s? It’s impossible to say what specific traits would lead to the best outcome in all possible engagements.
Even things like colorblindness can be a positive in situations because camouflage can stick out to colorblind people. Some types of deafness comes with immunity to motion sickness.