Aviation Managers’ Perspective on the Importance of Education

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that working adults with at least a four-year college degree earned an annual average salary of $63,400 compared to the $24,300 salary of high school graduates with no college. The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental study was to survey managers in the U.S. aviation industry to describe their perspective on how education has impacted them. Following a robust review of the literature, we analyzed the responses from 103 managers’ and discovered that there is a significant association between degree importance and level of education among aviation managers that has application to professional practice. The resulting recommendations including the need for aspiring aviation managers to obtain degrees and the top three most preferred degrees for new hires to obtain. We also provide several recommended areas of future study for aviation, management, or education scholars to explore.