{"id":73805,"date":"2023-10-20T18:12:24","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T18:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/20\/us-military-has-more-work-to-do-integrating-women-report-finds\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:01:41","slug":"us-military-has-more-work-to-do-integrating-women-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/10\/20\/us-military-has-more-work-to-do-integrating-women-report-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"US military has more work to do integrating women, report finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Though women have technically been welcome in any military specialty since late 2015, it\u2019s been a slow process to integrate them into all units<\/a>, according to a report released Thursday by the Rand Corp<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. and its partner nations will need to continue to integrate women, at all ranks, to be able to solve complex security challenges, the report said, using the \u201cWomen, peace and security\u201d concept developed by the UN in 2000. As it currently stands, women make up 18% of the Army. In the Marine Corps, the representation is half that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, DoD published its own Women, Peace, and Security Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan, which aimed to not only ensure women hold varied positions throughout all parts of the department, but that partner nations fostered the same participation for women while ensuring human rights protections for women and girls in their respective countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RAND study points out that the military is still walking a fine line between touting women and men as having the same capacity to serve while celebrating the different perspectives women bring to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are concerns with both approaches: The first encourages women to conform to established masculine norms, while the latter encourages gender essentialism,\u201d according to the report \u2014 in other words, that there are traits only women or only men possess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is most pronounced in special operations. A 2021 U.S. Army Special Operations Command study found that women were often excluded or singled out for being parents, for what they wear and for perceptions that they are either too sweet or too tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\t