Gender and how it Affects Communication in the Cockpit

Gender and Communication

Brain Function and Gender

Men and women are very different in the way in which they communicate; this could be due to the differences in their brain function. Male and female brains are structured to process information different and it must not be assumed, as it often is, that one way of processing information is better than the other. Men show a higher level of left hippocampus activity and women show a higher level of right frontoparietal activity (Turney, 2004). As cited by Gron, Wunderlich, Spitzer et al. (2000, as cited in Turney, 2004) the differences in brain activity reflects the “gender specific recruitments that differentiate” between males and females.

Different parts of the brain serve different functions. The left hemisphere is engages by verbal stimuli, this is especially true for the left hippocampus region (Strange, Flecter, Henson, Friston and Dolan, 1999). This would suggest that males respond less to visual stimuli such as diagrams and words on paper as they do to oral instructions. The right hemisphere of the brain is engaged by visual stimuli (Battelli, Pascual-Leone and Cavanagh, 2007). This suggests that females respond better to diagrams and pictures. The left of right hemisphere domination in males and females cause people to think and ask differently. This is especially true for communication due to the difference in response cues.

Differences in Communication Styles

In 1990, Tannen published a study in which she described the differences she found in the way males and females communicate. The following list is a selection of her findings

  • Women are more inclined to face each other and make eye contact when talking, while men are more likely to look away from each other.
  • Men tend to jump from topic to topic, but women tend to talk at length about one topic.
  • When listening, women make more noises such as “mm-hmm” and “uh-huh”, while men are more likely to listen silently.
  • Women are inclined to express agreement and support, while men are more inclined to debate

All of these differences would affect communication in the cockpit environment, especially the last point. Men would have a tendency to argue with female co-workers if they disagree with a decision and women are more likely to agree with a decision even if it may not be the correct one. Anybody can see how this could be detrimental to the safety of flight operations. When women make noises while another person is speaking, a male will perceive this as interrupting. If a man listens silently, the women will perceive this as him being uninterested and not listening. This could be a cause for conflict. Conflict in a cockpit is highly undesirable. Conflict can lead to poor Crew Resource Management and ultimately accidents. Another cause for conflict in the cockpit is that while women are more likely to express agreement, men are more likely to debate. While men would think they are being helpful in showing the women both sides of the argument, women would perceive this as her being confronted or challenged. If men and women were aware of the differences in communication styles of the other gender then they would be more accepting of their approaches.

Differences in Communication Attitudes

Another difference between men and women is their attitudes towards communication. Wood (1998) suggests that these differences are a result of childhood games. The games that girls and boys play teach them rules about communication and shape their attitudes. The following points are from Wood (1998) and are about the rules that boys learn plays games with more formal structures and how those attitudes develop and are reflected in their adult lives.

  • Men emphasize independence and are therefore less likely to ask for help in accomplishing an objective
  • Men are much less likely to ask for directions when they are lost than women
  • Men desire to maintain autonomy and to not appear weak or incompetent

If men exhibit these attitudes towards communication in the cockpit there can be threats to safety. These attitudes can be likened to a high power distance culture. The sharing of information will be low if there are male and female mixed flight crew, as a result of the lack of desire to communicate (especially if the male is in a position of authority.) Ways of avoiding the cross gender communication problems can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_differences#Communication.

Positive Aspects of Having Cross-Gender Cockpit Crews

Because men and women think differently, they are likely to approach problems from different angles (Wheeler, 1999). This means that they will be able to provide different points of views and solutions to a problem. Decision Making is an important aspect of Human Factors in aviation and it has been found that in the cockpit environment there were not any differences between males and females when it came to selecting a style of decision making (Bergmann, Nazarkiewicz, Dolscius & Finke, 2005). This will be of great benefit to flight crews. If the crew members are in agreement of which style of decision making they should use, then they will be able to have a larger variety of information available to them due to the different attitudes and styles of communication between the genders.

References
1. Battelli L, Pascual-Leone A, Cavanagh P.., (2007). The 'when' pathway of the right parietal lobe. Trends in cognitive sciences 11, 5. 204-210. Retrieved on 4th September 2010, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17379569
2. Bergmann, J., Nazarkiewicz, K., Dolscius, D. & Finke, H., (2005). Decision making in the cockpit. The interactive dynamics of hierarchy, division of labour and gender in a technical complex work setting. Research Project 2004-2005. Retrieved on 5th September 2010, from
http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/soz/personen/bergmann/cockpit/index.htm
3. Strange, B.A, Fletcher, P.C., Henson, R.N.A., Friston, K.J., & Dolan, R.J., (1999, March). Segregating the functions of human hippocampus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 96, 7, 4034-4039. Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest Centre: Toronto
4. Tannen, Deborah (1990). Sex, Lies and Conversation; Why Is It So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other? The Washington Post, June 24, 1990
5. Turney, M. A., (2004). Tapping diverse talent in aviation: culture, gender, and
diversity. Ashgate Publishing: Aldershot.
6. Wheeler, R.S., (1999). The workings of language: from prescriptions to perspectives. Greenwood Publishing Group: Santa Barbara.
7. Wood, J. T. (1998). Gender Communication, and Culture. In Samovar, L. A., & Porter, R. E., Intercultural communication: A reader. Stamford, CT: Wadsworth

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Want to know more?

Gender Communication
This site provides much the same information as is provided here except the author goes into more depth, and it is not aviation specific. It can however be assumed that most differences observed between males and females can be applied to the cockpit environment.
Gender and communication at work (2006)
This book by Mary Mary Barrett and Marilyn Davidson provides a work-place specific view of how communication is affected by gender. It is especially good as it provides examples of how gender affects communication in different scenarios such as normal operations or during times of emergency.

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