RAF Cranwell occupational psychologist awarded MBE in New Year Honours
A psychologist from Cranwell has been awarded a MBE in the New Year Honours list.
Occupational psychologist at RAF Cranwell, Margaret Po Ling Bailey, has been awarded a MBE for her work in aircrew assessment and aptitude testing.
Margaret studied a BSc in Psychology and MSc in Occupational Psychology at The University of Hull, before beginning her work with the RAF in 1992.
Margaret says she received a letter in November stating that someone had recommended her, and asking if she would like to accept or reject the nomination, but she "didn't expect anything" would happen.
She said: "I feel honoured, delighted, and really grateful that people have recognised the work that we have done.
"Sometimes we just work, and do our best, because that's what you do and so to be recognised for it is nice."
"I really do need to thank my colleagues for their support and assistance over the years, without whom all that we have achieved for RAF selection just would not have been possible. I am grateful that our work and effort is appreciated."
Margaret's work in aptitude testing has helped to develop 30 different types of computer-based assessment tests, a large number of which are interactive and dynamic.
She said: "Before, people developed tests because they feel that to be like a pilot you need to have co-ordination, so they devised tests that way to assess it.
"But now what we do is analysis first, find out what people have to do in order to succeed in training, look into all the different job activities, and then we do aptitude profiling and then we define tests to assess the different aptitude elements.
"So every little thing is evidence based and we also evaluate how well the tests actually predict training success."
Margaret continued: "We also make the system to be flexible because when candidates come to Cranwell to do the test they may apply for more than one specialisation, they may go for pilot and they may go for air traffic control.
"We don't want candidates to stay at Cranwell for days on end to sit all the different tests, so when we do aptitude profiling, there are specific tests for different aptitudes, and that aptitude can be common across different specialisations."
"There's a lot of evidence to show that ours tests are very predictive and trending success."
"I am really proud how much our selection methods have evolved and become renowned internationally for their effectiveness. Looking back over the years, I am so pleased that as Occupational Psychologists we have been able to build up a strong rapport with our RAF colleagues. It is the trust and respect from them that really has enabled us to explore, develop and implement different psychological measures and build an effective selection system."