The perception of organizational attraction of students taking flight training in the aviation sector: The case of Başkent Yıldızları Flight Academy

The aim of the research is to investigate the perception of organizational attractiveness of the pilot profession, which has recently gained prominence in terms of students undergoing flight training. The “Organizational Attractiveness Scale” established by Highhouse et al. (2003) and modified to Turkish culture by Dural et al. (2014) was used in the study to assess the organizational attractiveness attitudes of students who had received flight training in the industry. Necessary permissions for the implementation of the scale were obtained. The scale includes 15 statements. Factor and t-Test analysis methods were used in the study. As a consequence of the factor analysis, the “Organizational Attractiveness Scale” scale was divided into three distinct variables: general attractiveness, prestige, and intentions to pursue. Furthermore, the findings of the Independent Group t-Test revealed that the characteristics of overall general attractiveness, prestige, and intentions to pursue are not gender specific. In general, the organizational attractiveness was not differing significantly by gender. As an example indicator; female students' attractiveness ratings (X=4,68) were significantly higher compared to males (X=4,29) in intentions to pursue dimension. In this context, female pilot candidates' organizational attractiveness ratings of the pilot profession were shown to be higher than men's in all three component dimensions.