Military Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities
NSIAD-94-95
Published: Mar 17, 1994. Publicly Released: Mar 17, 1994.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the treatment of women and minorities at the U.S. Military Academy, focusing on: (1) differences in performance and experience between men and women and whites and minorities; (2) perceptions of the fairness of the treatment that female and minority cadets receive; and (3) actions the Academy has taken to enhance the success of women and minorities at the Academy.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| United States Military Academy at West Point | As part of the Military Academy's efforts to ensure fair and equal treatment of all cadets and to improve efforts to monitor gender and racial disparities, the Superintendent of the Academy should develop data systems that will permit the routine analysis of the honor, conduct, and academic board systems at the Academy for gender and race differences. |
The Military Academy's Office of Policy, Planning, and Analysis is overseeing the design and implementation of the data collection systems. That same office will annually conduct analyses of honor, conduct, and academic board proceedings and will report the results to the Superintendent.
|
| United States Military Academy at West Point | As part of the Military Academy's efforts to ensure fair and equal treatment of all cadets and to improve efforts to monitor gender and racial disparities, the Superintendent of the Academy should routinely monitor and compare performance indicators for all groups designated in the Department of Defense's Equal Opportunity Program and establish criteria for assessing when disparities warrant more in-depth attention and corrective action. |
Beginning this academic year (1994-1995), the Military Academy will monitor and compare performance data for all groups designated in the DOD Equal Opportunity Program. Reports will be reviewed and evaluated at least annually by the Academy's Office of Policy, Planning, and Analysis. As trends are identified, that office will recommend criteria for determining when performance differences warrant further study or command action.
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| United States Military Academy at West Point | As part of the Military Academy's efforts to ensure fair and equal treatment of all cadets and to improve efforts to monitor gender and racial disparities, the Superintendent of the Academy should establish a system to effectively monitor and document the actions taken in response to the recommendations of oversight and review groups. |
The Military Academy will document its decisions concerning recommendations offered by external oversight and review groups. For recommendations that are adopted, procedures are now in place to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation and determine if intended outcomes are being achieved.
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Topics
Attrition ratesCollege studentsFederal service academiesMilitary trainingMinoritiesRacial discriminationSex discriminationWomenMilitary forcesMinority groups