Can We Explain Gender Differences in Officer Career Progression?

"An ongoing concern in the Department of Defense is the lack of diversity among officers in the senior ranks. To address the gap in quantitative information on differences in the career progression of officers based on gender, as well as the factors that explain these differences, the authors analyzed career progression as a series of retention and promotion outcomes, using longitudinal data on officers to track cohorts of officers over their careers. The data include information on job-related characteristics, such as occupation, source of commission, and deployments, and on individual characteristics, such age and marital status (including dual-military status). The report finds that gender differences in career progression can be explained partly by differences in job-related and individual characteristics and partly by differences in the association between these characteristics and the likelihood of achieving a given career milestone. For example, male and female officers with the same family status, in terms of marital status and age and presence of children, had different likelihoods of reaching several career milestones. Policies that reduce differences in job and individual characteristics will contribute to reducing the gender gap in officer career progression but will not eliminate it. Additional attention must be given to structural factors, including how retention decisions and the promotion process differ for male and female officers with the same characteristics, and to potential differences in factors that are more difficult to observe, such as gender differences in attitudes toward military service and performance"--Back cover.