Title: Women In The US Military Have a Unique Profile
Study: Women in the US Military: Growing Share, Distinctive Profile (Eileen Patten and Kim Parker, Pew Research Center 2011)
Finding: While women in the military are similar to the men they serve with in many respects, they show a greater propensity to become officers and are more likely to be critical of the war efforts.
InPower Insight: As women become a stronger force in our national security infrastructure, they are adding their own unique perspective. – Click To Tweet
Summary:
Research shows that women who currently serve in the military differ from their male counterparts in many ways.
-
- Growing Presence. From 1973 to 2010 the number of active-duty enlisted women in the military has grown from about 42,000 to 167,000.
- Ranks. While a smaller number of women than men serve overall, a slightly greater proportion among the ranks of women are commissioned officers, compared with the share of men who are officers (17% vs. 15%).
- Demographics. The current active-duty female force is more racially diverse than the male force.
- Combat. Among living veterans from any era, only 15% of women served in combat, compared with 35% of men. Since the 1990s, changes in military policies and a decade-long conflict have contributed to an increase in combat exposure among women, from 7% among pre-1990 female veterans to 24% of post-1990 female veterans.
- Re-entry. The Pew Research survey finds that women veterans are just as likely as men to experience the struggles and benefits of service upon discharge.
- Opinions of the Wars. The Pew Research survey also finds that women veterans are more critical than their male counterparts of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—fully 63% say the Iraq war was not worth fighting and 54% say Afghanistan has not been worth it (compared with 47% and 39% of male veterans, respectively). Among the general public, by contrast, there are no significant differences by gender in the share who say the post-9/11 wars were not worth fighting.
Personal Coaching Tip: If women can thrive in the military, we can thrive anywhere. How can you bring that strength into your own life and work?
Get our free personal branding guidelines to help you position yourself for long-term career success!
Guide to Women in Leadership
Organizations with women in their executive suites regularly out-perform others. Yet rising female executives (and their mentors) are frustrated at how hard it is to break through the glass ceiling. In this extensive guide, Executive Coach Dana Theus shares her tried and true strategies to help women excel into higher levels of leadership and achieve their executive potential.
