As someone who has sat in terminals many times watching aircrew pre-departure inspections I would make the following comment......
I have seen and even timed some incredibly fast PDIs, often with the pilot scarcely looking at the actual aircraft, just a few cursory glances! As an unscientific generalisation, I have never seen a female pilot do anything but a very thorough inspection!
I sometimes get the impression that the inspection 'assumes' that everything will be OK having been checked previously by an engineer and that the aircrew inspection is merely a 'tick in the box'.
I have always taught that the inspection [in any circumstance] is the opportunity, may be the last opportunity, to discover a problem before that problem causes an even bigger problem. It requires time, concentration, thoroughness, detailed knowledge of the subject matter and the state of mind which 'expects' the unexpected.
I have only read about 50% of this thread, so please forgive any duplication and I make no comment on the specific incident concerning the BA aircraft.