Gender disparities in enforcing the honor concept at the U.S. Naval Academy

Armed Forces and Society

Volumn 27, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 419-442

  Pershing, Jana L ^a  

^a SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0035593514     PISSN: 0095327X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0095327X0102700305     Document Type: Article

References (53)

1. Public Law 94-106 (10 U.S.C. 6954) was signed on 7 October 1975.
2. S. H. Disher, First Class: Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), xii.
3. The proportion of women varies and, at the time this study was conducted, was sometimes as high as 13% for women admitted. However, with high attrition rates, the proportion of women was typically around 10% for the entire brigade of midshipmen. Table 1 summarizes exact percentages for women in each graduating class. It should also be noted that the proportion of women attending the Naval Academy has slowly increased as a result of changes in combat-exclusion rules. For example, women comprised approximately 15% of the brigade of midshipmen during the 1999/2000 academic year. Despite this increase, women still qualify as a token population based on Rosabeth Kanter's seminal work, Men and Women of the Corporation (New York: Basic Books, 1977), 208-209. According to Kanter, the male to female ratio for token populations is 85:15. For women's status to be elevated to that of a "minority" population, the male to female ratio must be 65:35.
4. L. B. DeFleur and D. Gillman, "Cadet Beliefs, Attitudes and Interactions during the Early Phases of Sex Integration," Youth and Society 10 (1978): 165-190; K. P. Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy," Armed Forces & Society 4 (1978): 569-588; R.F. Priest, H. T. Prince and A. G. Vitters, "The First Coed Class at West Point," Youth and Society 10 (1978): 205-224.
5. L. B. DeFleur and D. Gillman, "Cadet Beliefs, Attitudes and Interactions during the Early Phases of Sex Integration," Youth and Society 10 (1978): 165-190; K. P. Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy," Armed Forces & Society 4 (1978): 569-588; R.F. Priest, H. T. Prince and A. G. Vitters, "The First Coed Class at West Point," Youth and Society 10 (1978): 205-224.
6. L. B. DeFleur and D. Gillman, "Cadet Beliefs, Attitudes and Interactions during the Early Phases of Sex Integration," Youth and Society 10 (1978): 165-190; K. P. Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy," Armed Forces & Society 4 (1978): 569-588; R.F. Priest, H. T. Prince and A. G. Vitters, "The First Coed Class at West Point," Youth and Society 10 (1978): 205-224.
7. C. Moskos Jr., "Minority Groups in Military Organizations," in Handbook of Military Institutions, ed. R. Little (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1971); S. A. Stouffer, The American Soldier: Adjustment during Army Life (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949).
8. C. Moskos Jr., "Minority Groups in Military Organizations," in Handbook of Military Institutions, ed. R. Little (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1971); S. A. Stouffer, The American Soldier: Adjustment during Army Life (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949).
9. Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy."
10. L. B. DeFleur, "Organizational and Ideological Barriers to Sex Integration in Military Groups," Work and Occupations 12 (1985): 206-228.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. DeFleur and Gillman, "Cadet Beliefs."
14. Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation.
15. For further discussions of the effects of imbalanced ratios, see also G. W. Allport, The Nature of Prejudice (New York: Doubleday, 1958); P. M. Blau, Inequality and Heterogeneity: A Primitive Theory of Social Structure (New York: Free Press, 1977).
16. For further discussions of the effects of imbalanced ratios, see also G. W. Allport, The Nature of Prejudice (New York: Doubleday, 1958); P. M. Blau, Inequality and Heterogeneity: A Primitive Theory of Social Structure (New York: Free Press, 1977).
17. Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation.
18. Some feminist scholars argue that the concept of "honor" should not apply to women in lieu of historical time periods when honor was directly associated with masculinity, patriarchal leadership, male dominance, and female subordination. For a detailed discussion, see C. Stivers, Gender Images in Public Administration: Legitimacy and the Administrative State (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1993), 87. In institutions like the Naval Academy, honor continues to be associated with effective military leadership. And, like their male counterparts, women who attend officer training institutions are expected to adhere to military cultural norms, which includes behaving "honorably."
19. Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy"; DeFleur, "Organizational and Ideological Barriers to Sex Integration in Military Groups." See also C. Becraft, "Women in the Military 1980-1990," Women & Criminal Justice 4 (1992): 137-154; J. H. Stiehm, ed., It's Our Military Too! Women and the U.S. Military (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1996):
20. Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy"; DeFleur, "Organizational and Ideological Barriers to Sex Integration in Military Groups." See also C. Becraft, "Women in the Military 1980-1990," Women & Criminal Justice 4 (1992): 137-154; J. H. Stiehm, ed., It's Our Military Too! Women and the U.S. Military (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1996):
21. Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy"; DeFleur, "Organizational and Ideological Barriers to Sex Integration in Military Groups." See also C. Becraft, "Women in the Military 1980-1990," Women & Criminal Justice 4 (1992): 137-154; J. H. Stiehm, ed., It's Our Military Too! Women and the U.S. Military (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1996):
22. Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy"; DeFleur, "Organizational and Ideological Barriers to Sex Integration in Military Groups." See also C. Becraft, "Women in the Military 1980-1990," Women & Criminal Justice 4 (1992): 137-154; J. H. Stiehm, ed., It's Our Military Too! Women and the U.S. Military (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1996):
23. J. D. Yoder, J. Adams, and H. T. Prince, "The Price of a Token," Journal of Political and Military Sociology 11 (1983): 325-337.
24. J. W. Bodnar, "How Long Does It Take to Change a Culture? Integration at the U.S. Naval Academy," Armed Forces &Society 25 (1999): 289-306.
25. Both the Military and Air Force academies have similar honor systems, which are also largely student-run. In contrast to the Naval Academy, however, both West Point and the Air Force Academy have nontoleration clauses that make it an honor offense to allow a violation to go unreported. In other words, cadets are not given the option to counsel and caution. For a detailed discussion, refer to U.S. General Accounting Office, DOD Service Academies: Comparison of Honor and Conduct Adjudicatory Processes, Document #GAO/NSIAD-95-49 (Washington D.C.: Author, c. 1995). It should also be noted that although some civilian universities have honor systems, they differ substantially from the service academies in that students are not formally required to respond to honor violations. For an example of a highly developed student-run honor concept, refer to the University of Virginia's official website: 〈http://scs.student.Virginia.EDU/〉. In contrast, the majority of civilian universities do not have student-run honor systems but, instead, have judicial procedures in place to process cases that involve students who allegedly cheat.
26. U.S. Naval Academy, Reef Points 1989-90: The Annual Handbook of the Brigade of Midshipmen, 84th ed. (Annapolis, MD: Author, c. 1989), 37.
27. In 1993, the Naval Academy endured a highly publicized cheating scandal, involving several midshipmen from the graduating class of 1992. As a result of that scandal, some changes were made in an effort to improve the Honor Concept. These changes do not impact the findings presented in this article given that the purpose is to examine gender disparities in honor violation reports. The process of reacting to and reporting alleged honor violations remains the same under the new system.
28. This article is based on "case study research," which involves collecting and analyzing a variety of data sources to examine a specific issue. It should also be noted that the portion of the article that explains gender disparities in the enforcement of the Honor Concept relies on "analytic generalizations" as opposed to "statistical generalizations," which are the more widely recognized way of generalizing. Statistical generalizations refer to inferences made from empirical data collected from large, representative samples of populations. In contrast, analytic generalizations refer to generalizing a set of patterns and relationships found in qualitative (e.g., interview) data to a broader theory. For example, in my study, three factors emerged from an analysis of forty semistructured interviews, each of which may be generalized to Kanter's observations about the status of women who are members of a token population. For a detailed discussion of case study methodology and analytic generalizations, refer to R. Yin, Case Study Research, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994). For a detailed discussion of qualitative data analysis, refer to A. Strauss, Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists (Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press, 1987).
29. This article is based on "case study research," which involves collecting and analyzing a variety of data sources to examine a specific issue. It should also be noted that the portion of the article that explains gender disparities in the enforcement of the Honor Concept relies on "analytic generalizations" as opposed to "statistical generalizations," which are the more widely recognized way of generalizing. Statistical generalizations refer to inferences made from empirical data collected from large, representative samples of populations. In contrast, analytic generalizations refer to generalizing a set of patterns and relationships found in qualitative (e.g., interview) data to a broader theory. For example, in my study, three factors emerged from an analysis of forty semistructured interviews, each of which may be generalized to Kanter's observations about the status of women who are members of a token population. For a detailed discussion of case study methodology and analytic generalizations, refer to R. Yin, Case Study Research, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994). For a detailed discussion of qualitative data analysis, refer to A. Strauss, Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists (Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press, 1987).
30. The questionnaire was administered at a survey administration site. Attendance was not taken and respondents were guaranteed anonymity.
31. M. S. Weinberg and C .J. Williams, "Fieldwork among Deviants: Social Relations with Subjects and Others," in Research on Deviance, ed. J. D. Douglas (New York: Random House, 1972).
32. H. S. Becker, Doing Things Together (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1986), 138.
33. Ibid., 139.
34. B. G. Glaser and A. L. Strauss, The Discovery of Grounded Theory (Chicago, IL: Aldine Publishing Company, 1973), 18.
35. According to a GAO report, women and minority cadets at the Military Academy were also charged with violations of the Honor Code at higher rates than either men or white cadets. See U.S. General Accounting Office, Military Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities, Document #GAO/NSIAD-94-95 (Washington D.C.: Author, c. 1994). At the Air Force Academy, women were accused of honor violations at lower rates than men, while racial minorities were accused at higher rates than whites. See U.S. General Accounting Office, Air Force Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities, Document #GAO/NSIAD-93-244 (Washington D.C.: Author, c. 1993).
36. According to a GAO report, women and minority cadets at the Military Academy were also charged with violations of the Honor Code at higher rates than either men or white cadets. See U.S. General Accounting Office, Military Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities, Document #GAO/NSIAD-94-95 (Washington D.C.: Author, c. 1994). At the Air Force Academy, women were accused of honor violations at lower rates than men, while racial minorities were accused at higher rates than whites. See U.S. General Accounting Office, Air Force Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities, Document #GAO/NSIAD-93-244 (Washington D.C.: Author, c. 1993).
37. U.S. General Accounting Office, Naval Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities, Document #GAO/NSIAD-93-54 (Washington D.C.: Author, c. 1993), 3-4.
38. Ibid.
39. Quotations are not assigned numbers or names, primarily because several graduates expressed concern that people would be able to match information and discover their identities. I do, however, indicate the race and gender of respondents when relevant.
40. Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation, 216.
41. U.S. General Accounting Office, Naval Academy, 3.
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation, 216.
45. Ibid., 211.
46. Ibid., 226-227.
47. DeFleur and Gillman, "Cadet Beliefs"; Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy"; Priest et al., "The First Coed Class."
48. DeFleur and Gillman, "Cadet Beliefs"; Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy"; Priest et al., "The First Coed Class."
49. DeFleur and Gillman, "Cadet Beliefs"; Durning, "Women at the Naval Academy"; Priest et al., "The First Coed Class."
50. Bodnar, "How Long Does It Take to Change a Culture? Integration at the U.S. Naval Academy."
51. Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation, 209-210.
52. M. W. Segal and A. F. Hansen, "Value Rationales in Policy Debates on Women in the Military: A Content Analysis of Congressional Testimony, 1941-1985," Social Sciences Quarterly 73 (1992): 296-309.
53. It should be noted that some midshipmen occupy multiple minority statuses, which could increase the likelihood of either differential rule-enforcement or rule-breaking. For example, 65% of white women and 53% of minority women are varsity athletes. In contrast, only 33% of white men and 31% of minority men are varsity athletes. As discussed previously, varsity athletes are more visible and more likely to be perceived as subperformers, which, in part, exacerbates women's status as a token population because they are more likely to be varsity athletes. Future research would help to clarify the interaction effects of occupying multiple statuses.