Gender inequality at a public military college 1
Gender Inequality at a PublicMilitaryCollege: Examining Gender Inequality through the Perspectives of Male and Female Cadets and Alumni
Savannah J. A. Greer
ColoradoStateUniversity
Abstract
Incidences of gender inequality that occur at a public four year military college, Castle College, and specifically possible advantages afforded to female cadets were examined by this preliminary research study. This study reports on the experiences of three cadets who are currently enrolled at the military college and fouralumni who graduated from the military college within the last three years.Two of the cadets interviewed were male, one of the cadets interviewed is a female, two of the alumni interviewed are male, and two of the alumni interviewed are female. The integration of female cadets into an all male environment affects gender relations between cadets at CastleCollege and simultaneously creates disadvantages and advantagesfor cadetsdue solely to their gender.These findings suggest that though male and female cadets experience disadvantages following the integration of female cadets into a formerly all male public military college, female cadets are also afforded some advantages-a concept not represented in current research.
Keywords: military college, gender, inequality
Gender Inequality at a PublicMilitaryCollege: Examining Gender Inequality through the Perspectives of Male and Female Cadets and Alumni
Students at military colleges throughout the United States face a drastically different college experience than those of their civilian college student counterparts. Military college students adhere to strict guidelines that dictate when they eat, sleep, and study. Unlike civilian college students, military college students are subjected to intense physical and mental training. CastleCollege, a military college located in theUnited States and protected through the use of pseudonyms in this study, exemplifies a publicly funded military college. CastleCollege requires its cadets to memorize the creed of the college which promotes mental, physical, and moral toughness and is located throughout the campus, on the college’s website, and in the cadet handbook in order to impress its importance upon the cadets. The creed of CastleCollege illustrates the need for its cadets to remain not only mentally, but physically strong, thus signifying a drastic difference between military colleges and civilian colleges.
Furthermore, the integration of females into public military colleges such as CastleCollege is only a relatively recent occurrence which again illustrates a difference from civilian colleges. The integration of female cadets into the all male environment of Castle College a mere fourteen years ago brought about changes not only in the protocol of Castle College, but within the cadet student body. The integration of female cadets into the strictly all-male environment was met with great resistance in its initial stages of development, and said resistance has not wholly disappeared in subsequent years. Though the media focused on the initial resistance to female integration into CastleCollege, as well as on claims of sexualharassment and sexual assault by female cadets following their integration, little attention has been paid to developments in gender relations since CastleCollege opened its doors to female cadets.
Literature Review
Though female cadets experience disadvantages such as sexual harassment and sexual assault, their gender also provides them with advantages that are in turn denied to the male cadet population. Therefore, an apparent paradox of female cadet integration is that female cadets experience some advantages due solely to their gender. Whereas females were once the “second sex”, the term coined by Simone De Beauvoir that illustrates how females were second class citizens in a patriarchal society, the progression of the feminist movement and the subsequent integration of females into Castle College may in turn lead to various advantages for females. In the case of CastleCollege, the integration of female cadets into the previously all male environment provided advantages for female cadets, and conversely, lead to what David Benatar labels the second sexism (2003). Benatar, in direct contrast to De Beauvoir, stated that in some instances males may become the second sex due to the progression of the feminist movement. In the case of CastleCollege, for instance, the integration of female cadets led to the development of new sanctions by CastleCollege administration which gave female cadets an advantage over the male cadet population. Male cadets therefore became the second sex in the population of cadets at CastleCollege. Two main questions are thus addressed in this paper: how has the integration of female cadets into an all male environment affected gender relations between cadets at CastleCollege and what disadvantages and advantages do female cadets experience due solely to their gender?
National policies to end racial and sexual discrimination in the military have resulted in more women entering the Armed Forces(Kurpius & Lucart, 2000). The long history of the male-only environment in the military and military training academies has come to a close, thus new areas of research are becoming available. Whereas vast amounts of research exist in regards to the disadvantages of females such as sexual assault and discrimination, little research exists on what advantages females incur as a result of their integration into a formerly all-male environment.
A combination of social, legal, and market forces in the 1960s began to move most all-male institutions towards integration of females. The integration of females into formerly all-male institutions consequently led to sanctions such as Title IX, the 1972 federal statute barring sex discrimination in federally financed education programs (Salamone, 2003). Though legislature such as Title IX illustrates the progression of females in formerly male-centric institutions, including military colleges like CastleCollege, little research exists on how the integration of females may lead to an almost reverse sexism situation where females experience advantages that are withheld from their male counterparts. The purpose of this paper is therefore to offer insight into gender inequality at a publicly funded military college while filling the gap that exists in current research in relation toseveral advantages afforded to females upon their integration into a formerly all-male environment.
Disadvantages that female cadets experience upon their integration into CastleCollege and other publicly funded military colleges across the countryhave been exhausted by the media and have been the focus of numerous research studies. This preliminary study instead takes disadvantages that female cadets experience into consideration while simultaneously exploring how the integration of female cadets may significantly alter relationships between cadets of differing genders and may also create an environment disadvantageous to male cadets. The following research questions are therefore examined in this study:How has the integration of female cadets at a public military college impacted relationships between cadets?What disadvantages and advantages have male cadets experienced as a direct result of the integration of female cadets? How do these disadvantages and advantages influence male cadets’ perceptions of female cadets?What disadvantages and advantages have female cadets experienced as a direct result of their recent inclusion into a previously all male public military college?
Method
The link between the relatively recent integration of female cadets at a public four year military college and the affects that this integration had on the cadets, including advantages afforded to female cadets, is the main focus of this study. Theoretical sampling was used for this research study as it allows for an intentional sample from participants who are central to the research. Besides sampling data for its theoretical value, however, an emerging design in grounded theory research was also implemented. An emerging design in grounded theory research was essential to this research study as it required an initial collection of data, a period to understand and analyze this data, and the formation of ideas about what subsequent data to collect (Creswell, 2010). Stories and experiences from currently enrolled male and female cadets and alumni were consequently gathered, analyzed and connected to themes from preexisting literature, and illustrated any missing information required for the research.
Typical purposeful sampling was also used for this study as it applied to both individuals and sites. This qualitative method of sampling occurs when a researcher “studies a person or site that is ‘typical’ to those unfamiliar with the situation” (Creswell, 2010, p. 216). Cadets and alumni who embody the cultural norms of the school were intentionally selected. These participants have been enrolled at CastleCollege for a minimum of three years or have successfully graduated from CastleCollege within the last three years. I deliberately chose to interview upperclassmen and alumni, hence those who have spent at least three to four years enrolled at the school, in order to ensure a wide range of experiences and perceptions. Snowball sampling, another type of purposeful sampling, was also utilized for this study. I began by contacting several currently enrolled cadets though when I was only able to obtain three participants I asked these participants to recommend other individuals for the study. In one instance, a male cadet volunteered after learning that his classmate participated in an interview. I also contacted one female alumnus who offered the names of several of her classmates whom she believed would participate. This procedure led to “purposeful sampling of individuals that had not been anticipated when the project began” and increased the sample size used for this study (Creswell, p. 217). Seven interviewees in total participated: one female cadet, two male cadets, two female alumni, and two male alumni.
Participants
Female Cadet 1 (Janice Jones)
Janice Jones is a female junior cadet at CastleCollege. She is nineteen years old and is the fourth member of her family to attend CastleCollege. She is the first female member of her family to attend. She is on an athletic scholarship and currently participates with the track team at the college.
Male Cadet 1(Cain Franklin)
Cain Franklin is a male senior cadet at CastleCollege. He is twenty-one years old and holds the rank among his peers of Cadet Captain. He is the human affairs officer for his battalion. By holding this position, this cadet oversees the training of fellow classmates and ensures the proper treatment of all cadets.
Male Cadet 2 (Alex Johnson)
Alex Johnson is also a male senior cadet at CastleCollege. He is twenty-one years old and does not hold any rank. He is the first member of his family to attend CastleCollege. He chose to attend this college in order to motivate himself scholastically.
Female Alumnus 1 (Amelia Hale)
Amelia Hale is a 2007 graduate of CastleCollege. She attended the college on an athletic scholarship and participated with the soccer team for four years. She was a Cadet Captain while enrolled at CastleCollege because she was a Military Captain on CastleCollege’s Women's Soccer Team, but she never used that rank and always went by Cadet First Lieutenant for her company. She was also a Platoon Leader her senior year at CastleCollege. I conducted an electronic e-mail interview with her due to logistical reasons.
Female Alumnus 2 (Sofia Torres)
The second female alumnus is a 2007 graduate of CastleCollege. As a senior enrolled at CastleCollege she held the rank of Cadet Captain where she served as a battalion religious officer. As a religious officer, her role was similar to that of a chaplain in the military. She was also responsible for carrying out staff duties on the battalion level and religious involvement on a campus wide level. An electronic e-mail interview was conducted with this participant.
Male Alumnus 1 (Adam South)
Adam South is a 2007 graduate of CastleCollege. As a senior enrolled at CastleCollege he was the Executive Officer (XO) of his cadet Company, second in command to the Company Commander. He was in charge of the daily operations of the company, ensured that they adhered to the training schedule, supervised the training of the fourth class (freshmen), guaranteed the company staff performed their duties appropriately, and enforced all policies of the Company Commander. I conducted an electronic e-mail interview with him due to logistical reasons.
Male Alumnus 2 (Mike Honcho)
Mike Honcho is also a 2007 graduate of CastleCollege. Mike held the rank of Cadre Platoon Leader while a cadet at CastleCollege and was responsible for training theincoming freshman class. He completed an electronic e-mail interview due to the distance of his geographical location in relation to my permanent residence.
Materials and Procedure
Research Settings
I have a preexisting relationship with several male and female cadets and alumni due to the fact that my husband graduated from CastleCollege in 2007. I was able to gain access to research sites by drawing from my previous knowledge of the field and by using several alumni as gatekeepers. Research settings therefore varied drastically in relation to whether or not I was making observations on the campus of CastleCollege, interviewing cadets who are currently enrolled, or interviewing alumni through the use of electronic e-mails. Since the location of the college is several hours away from my permanent residence, I chose to take advantage of an event at the college where I knew many currently enrolled students as well as alumni would be present. I again had prior knowledge of the date of this event due to my preexisting relationship with several alumni of CastleCollege.
I began to have a more difficult time finding other participants after conducting the first three interviews during that weekend, however. I returned to my permanent residence from CastleCollege with three completed interviews though I had hoped to conduct interviews with at least three female cadets and three male cadets. I then decided to expand my scope to include alumni of CastleCollege since this would allow me to take advantage of electronic e-mail interviews rather that returning to the location of the college while simultaneously enriching my sample. I successfully completed three one-on-one interviews with currently enrolled students and four electronic e-mail interviews, therefore the research settings varied considerably.
My first interview took place with a female cadet, Janice Jones, who is currently enrolled at CastleCollege and was conducted at the library on CastleCollege’s main campus. We chose a small conference room in which to conduct the interview. This location was temperature controlled, quiet, and free of distractions. The room was completely enclosed with the exception of a glass insert in the door which I believed help ease the tension of the interview since the cadet was not as worried about being seen by other cadets during the interview process.
My second interview was with a male cadet, Cain Franklin, who is also currently enrolled at CastleCollege and took place at the residence of the cadet. I did not have a preexisting relationship with this cadet, though he is an acquaintance of my husband and agreed to participate. He noted that his place of residence would be the most convenient; therefore, we went into a room in his house and conducted the interview. This location was also temperature controlled and quiet. Cain sat on a bed while I sat in a chair across from him and conducted the interview with a handheld tape recording device. The only distraction at this research setting was his parents, who were present at the residence, as they were very intrigued with the interview process. I therefore answered general questions they had about my hand held tape recording device and consent form before interviewing their son.
The third interview coincided with the second interview as there was another male cadet present at the resident of Cain Franklin who stated that he would also like to participate. I was very lucky to find this male cadet, Alex Johnson, through an unexpected incidence of snowball sampling and took advantage of the opportunity. The same room where I had previously interviewed Alex Johnson was utilized for this interview as well. I again sat in the chair while Alex sat on the bed and I conducted the interview with a handheld recorder. I thought that this interview might actually become a disadvantage as I was afraid that Alex might ask about Cain’sresponses, but this surprisingly did not occur. Alex Johnson was very forthcoming and actually seemed excited to participate in the interview process.
Though I was successful with finding my first three participants, I quickly began having trouble finding any other cadets willing to participate. I then decided to widen my sample to include recent alumni of CastleCollege, those who have graduated within the last three years, and conducted my next four interviews via electronic e-mail correspondence. The same questions were asked of e-mail respondents as were asked of one-on-one respondents, and if I needed further clarification of an answer from an e-mail response I continued correspondence by e-mail. The first e-mail interview participant is a female alumnus (Amelia Hale). The second e-mail interview participant is a male alumnus (Adam South), the third e-mail interview participant is also a male alumnus (Mike Honcho), and the final interview participant is another female alumnus (Sofia Torres). All alumni graduated from CastleCollege in 2007. I supplied all electronic e-mail interview participants with an electronic consent form and explained the entire procedure exactly as I had to the one-on-one interviewees.