A Study of Black Officer Candidate Attrition in the United States Air Force
Abstract
This study investigated the correlation between measures of academic achievement and success in the Air Force commissioning process. The correlation between area of high school attendance and success was also examined. Any significant differences in the correlations for black officer candidates and other officer candidates were determined. An extensive literature review revealed that no similar Air Force study had ever been conducted. Discriminant function analysis was performed on a sample of approximately 14,600 U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) cadets and 6,500 Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) cadets. The researchers found that measures of past academic success were only slightly correlated with success. The researchers also found that although area of high school attendance was slightly correlated with success for other USAFA candidates, there was no correlation for black candidates. The researchers concluded that using these factors alone to predict success would be inadequate. There are other non-quantitative factors that are crucial to predicting commissioning success. Furthermore, there are unique non-quantitative factors that are crucial to predicting success for black cadets. The authors stress the need to continue this research. Potential areas of future research are suggested. U.S. Air Force, Blacks, Cadets, Attrition, Officer training.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA275905
Entities
People
- Philbert A. Cole Jr
- Rodney D. Carroll
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology