Race, Gender, and Representation Index as Predictors of Equal Opportunity Climate in Military Organizations

Abstract

Recent analyses of the perceptions of Equal Opportunity Climate (EOC) in the military highlight differences among various demographic subgroups. Prior research (Dansby, 1994) indicates minority officer women have the least favorable views of EOC in military organizations when contrasted to comparable demographic subgroups (i.e., Caucasian officer men, etc.). Differences based on race, gender, and representation index (proportion of the total represented by a particular demographic group) are explored in a sample of 190 Army units (N=47,823) that conducted the Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey between 1990 and 1995. As predicted, minority officer women's perceptions of the favorability of the EOC improved as their representation in the organization increased (p<.05). Contrary to expectation, educational attainment failed to predict improved perceptions of EOC. The findings are interpreted as supporting the strategy of increasing representation as a means to improving perceived EOC.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1995
Accession Number
AD1072632

Entities

People

  • Dan Landis
  • Mickey R. Dansby

Organizations

  • Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • African Americans
  • Air Force
  • Caucasians
  • Databases
  • Department Of Defense
  • Discrimination
  • Education
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Research
  • Minority Groups
  • Perception
  • Psychology
  • Social Sciences
  • Sociology
  • Training
  • United States
  • Universities

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Naval Personnel Management
  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Tactical Satellite Communications Systems Engineering.