Filtering by
- All Subjects: Communication
- Creators: Hugh Downs School of Human Communication
- Creators: Alberts, Janet
- Resource Type: Text
This study sought to inform the curriculum of crew resource management (CRM) for multi-pilot flight deck operations. The CRM curriculum requires continued reexamination to ensure safe flight in the changing demographic of flight decks in the US. The study calls attention to the CRM curriculum’s insufficient inclusion of robust training components to address intercultural communication skills and conflict management strategies.
Utilizing a phenomenological approach, the study examined the communicative experiences of African American female military and airline transport pilots on the flight deck and within the aviation industry. Co-cultural theory was used as a theoretical framework to investigate these co-researcher’s (pilots) experiences. A parallel goal of the investigation was to better understand raced and gendered communication as they occur in this specific context—the flight deck of US airlines and military aircraft.
The researcher conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews and shadowed two co-researchers (pilots) for a period of days and built a relationship with them over the course of one year. Eight years of preparation working in the airline industry situated the researcher for this study. The researcher collected stories and interviews during this time immersed in industry. The data collected offers initial insights into the experiences of non-dominant group members in this unique organizational environment.
The study’s findings are reported in the form of a creative
arrative nonfiction essay. This effort was twofold: (1) the narrative served to generate a record of experiences for continued examination and future research and (2) created useful data and information sets accessible to expert and non-expert audiences alike.
The data supports rationalization as a co-cultural communication strategy, a recent expansion of the theory. Data also suggests that another strategy—strategic alliance building—may be useful in expanding the scope of co-cultural theory. The proposed assertive assimilation orientation identifies the intentional construct of alliances and warrants further investigation.
Travel Vignettes from London, Dublin, and Edinburgh is comprised of a series of vignettes based on the travelogues of a month-long trip to the UK. The vignettes are narrative nonfiction and born out of the observations, interactions, and conversations with local residents, resulting in what’s classified as “creative ethnography,” or the translation of cultural field notes into a creative medium. Each vignette focuses on a specific location and narrate the environmental and cultural features as experienced by the author. The critical introduction to the collection defines creative ethnography and discusses its value over traditional ethnography (and other forms of social research) to a contemporary/GenZ audience. The author also discusses how this form of cultural preservation has impacted/shaped their perceptions of travel and how it informs their creative/professional/academic future.