Lack of Female Leadership at the Top: Content or Concerned?
Abstract
This year marks 100 years that women have been serving in the Marine Corps. The fact that the Marine Corps is publicly coping with the scandal involving nude photos of women, including Marines and other active duty service members, is indicative of the culture some would say has been the norm. The Marine Corps has an underrepresented segment of women in prominent and influential senior leadership positions. Until it recognizes and addresses its current unconscious gender bias, and misogynistic corporate culture and, additionally, takes action to remove the obstacles to an acceptable work life balance for its families, this is likely to continue. The Marine Corps has only 1589 (7.53%) female officers. The field grade and above are represented by only 235 Majors (6.5%), 81 Lieutenant Colonels (4.5%), and only 16 Colonels (2.6%). The comparison of these numbers by gender shows that attrition rates for female officers are roughly double that of male officers at Major and Lieutenant Colonel and almost triple at Colonel. Serving her country is a place where a young woman fulfills a patriotic calling rather than a place where she is discriminated against, undervalued, and made to feel more of a burden than part of the team.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1176934
Entities
People
- Misty N. Cook
Organizations
- Marine Corps University