Considerations for Integrating Women into Closed Occupations in U.S. Special Operations Forces

Thomas S. Szayna ; Eric V. Larson ; Angela O'Mahony ; Sean Robson ; Agnes Gereben Schaefer ; Miriam Matthews ; J. Michael Polich ; Lynsay Ayer ; Derek Eaton ; William Marcellino ; et al.

RAND Corporation

RAND Corporation

关键词: Gender Equity in the Workplace;    National Security Organizations;    Gender Discrimination;    Special Operations Forces;    Military Recruitment;    Survey Research Methodology;    Students;   

DOI  :  10.7249/RR1058
ISBN  :  9780833092670
RP-ID  :  RR-1058-USSOCOM

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: RAND Corporation Published Research

【 摘 要 】

The elimination of the Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule has opened to women some 15,500 special operations forces (SOF) positions. A RAND study helped to inform that decision and provides insight into the key factors surrounding the integration of women into SOF. The integration of women raises issues pertinent to the effectiveness of SOF teams, in terms of physical standards and ensuring readiness, cohesion, and morale. This report assesses potential challenges to the integration of women into SOF for unit cohesion and provides analytical support in validating SOF occupational standards for positions controlled by U.S. Special Operations Command. The report summarizes the history of integration of women into the U.S. armed forces, reviews the current state of knowledge about cohesion in small units, and discusses the application of gender-neutral standards to SOF. The report identifies widely agreed-on professional standards for the validation of physically demanding occupations and assists SOF service components with the application of these standards to SOF occupations. The report also discusses the primary data — a survey of SOF personnel and a series of focus group discussions — collected by the research team regarding the potential challenges to the integration of women into SOF. The report then presents recommendations regarding the implementation process of integrating women into SOF.