Education as a Factor in the Selection of Air Traffic Controller Trainees,

This longitudinal study of 2,352 air traffic control specialist recruits 1,858 En Route and 494 Terminal who entered the FAA Academy basic training phase in 1969 examined the validity of educational level, recency of education, and major areas of college study for the prediction of success in air traffic control ATC training. All educational variables, both before and after consideration of age effects and pre-FAA experience, were found to be negligibly andor inversely related to ATC success. College majors listed by 925 of the 1,265 recruits who attended college revealed little potential for prediction of ATC success even those 53 recruits whose majors were judged to be aviation related had a retention rate of only 56.6 percent compared to the 56.7 percent retention rate of all recruits indicating college work. None of the education variables had a significant interaction effect on the validities of other selection factors. Moreover, all types of aviation-related experience except ATC were found to be unreliable for prediction of training outcomes.