In the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, Congress directed the Department of Education to enter into appropriate arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study of civilian aviation training programs. Congress wanted the study to discuss the implications of military downsizing for both training capacity and workforce diversity in the aviation industry. Specifically, Congress was interested in ways to increase the access of women and minorities to civilian aviation jobs, particularly high-skilled jobs as pilots and aviation maintenance technicians ( or "aircraft mechanics").

In 1993, 101,000 people earned their living as pilots and 139,000 worked as aircraft engine mechanics. Women and minorities are vastly underrepresented among pilots and aircraft mechanics. In 1990, 92 percent of pilots and 76 percent of aircraft mechanics were white men, compared with 43 percent of the civilian labor force. Less than 2 percent of pilots were black, less than 3 percent were of Hispanic origin. In 1990, 3.5 percent of pilots were women and 4.7 percent of aircraft mechanics were women.
Historically, the military has been an important source of trained professionals, especially pilots, for commercial aviation. The major carriers have relied on the military for about 75 percent of their pilots. As expected, the military's aviation-related workforce is not noticeably more diverse than the civilian aviation workforce