Recruiting issues
In general, men and women had similar influences for entering USMC aviation (e.g., family aviators, living near air stations, attending air shows, seeing movies such as
Top Gun, and the guaranteed aviation contract). Exposure to Marines and the USMC are key influences in men’s and women’s service and occupation interests. One of the challenges to recruiting women into USMC aviation is women’s limited awareness about military and aviation opportunities, which is rooted in social norms related to jobs women can perform and a lack of female aviator role models. Women are concerned that they may not be able to balance family and career aspirations.
Women score lower than men on all cognitive ASTB subtests, with the biggest
differences …show more content…
The biggest flight-training issue brought up during our focus groups was a concern that the USMC would retain women who did not meet the qualifications just to keep women in the community. We do not have evidence that this is true, but one reason this perception may exist is that there are so few women in the aviation community that they tend to be categorized as either good students/pilots or bad. This means that it is possible for a woman who is meeting the standard but may not be the best in her class to be perceived as not meeting the standard.
Retention issues
The biggest challenge to retaining women is their struggle to balance their aviation careers with their desires to raise families. Not flying or veering off path can reduce promotion opportunities. In addition, there is a perception that getting pregnant in a flying billet is “selfish” and that a desire to have children is “letting the Corps down.”
Because female pilots are more likely than male pilots to be married to otherservicemembers, female pilots also struggle with dual-military and …show more content…
This can lead to lower job satisfaction, increased burnout, and lower retention. The stress of taking on roles no other woman has held (such as forward air controller) also can have these effects.
Recommendations
If the USMC does not explore options that allow female aviators to have children and progress in their careers, female retention issues will persist. The largest potential for gains in female aviator representation, however, is through improvements in recruiting and training outcomes. We have identified several actions that the USMC can take to make gains in the recruiting, training, and retention phases of the pipeline. In Table 1, we categorize our recommendations based on their perceived relative costs and benefits and the phase of the pipeline to which they apply.1
Table 1. Relative costs and returns to CNA recommendations
High return Low return
High
cost
Expand MCFOP (1)
Advertise to increase USMC aviation awareness (1)
Expand NROTC/USNA summer training to include USMC aviation (1)
Advertise to women to increase female applicant competitiveness (2)
Identify nondeployable, careerenhancing aviation billets
In general, men and women had similar influences for entering USMC aviation (e.g., family aviators, living near air stations, attending air shows, seeing movies such as
Top Gun, and the guaranteed aviation contract). Exposure to Marines and the USMC are key influences in men’s and women’s service and occupation interests. One of the challenges to recruiting women into USMC aviation is women’s limited awareness about military and aviation opportunities, which is rooted in social norms related to jobs women can perform and a lack of female aviator role models. Women are concerned that they may not be able to balance family and career aspirations.
Women score lower than men on all cognitive ASTB subtests, with the biggest
differences …show more content…
The biggest flight-training issue brought up during our focus groups was a concern that the USMC would retain women who did not meet the qualifications just to keep women in the community. We do not have evidence that this is true, but one reason this perception may exist is that there are so few women in the aviation community that they tend to be categorized as either good students/pilots or bad. This means that it is possible for a woman who is meeting the standard but may not be the best in her class to be perceived as not meeting the standard.
Retention issues
The biggest challenge to retaining women is their struggle to balance their aviation careers with their desires to raise families. Not flying or veering off path can reduce promotion opportunities. In addition, there is a perception that getting pregnant in a flying billet is “selfish” and that a desire to have children is “letting the Corps down.”
Because female pilots are more likely than male pilots to be married to otherservicemembers, female pilots also struggle with dual-military and …show more content…
This can lead to lower job satisfaction, increased burnout, and lower retention. The stress of taking on roles no other woman has held (such as forward air controller) also can have these effects.
Recommendations
If the USMC does not explore options that allow female aviators to have children and progress in their careers, female retention issues will persist. The largest potential for gains in female aviator representation, however, is through improvements in recruiting and training outcomes. We have identified several actions that the USMC can take to make gains in the recruiting, training, and retention phases of the pipeline. In Table 1, we categorize our recommendations based on their perceived relative costs and benefits and the phase of the pipeline to which they apply.1
Table 1. Relative costs and returns to CNA recommendations
High return Low return
High
cost
Expand MCFOP (1)
Advertise to increase USMC aviation awareness (1)
Expand NROTC/USNA summer training to include USMC aviation (1)
Advertise to women to increase female applicant competitiveness (2)
Identify nondeployable, careerenhancing aviation billets