Minority Leadership in the Military - Research Paper Example

Running Head: Minority Leadership in the Military Minority Leadership in the Military Inserts His/her Introduction We human beings have a tendency to form groups on the basis of similarities. These groups provide solace for a person as it serves as his or her identity. Groups also provide a feeling of security to its members, and members feel that their interests will be protected in a group. It is also common in societies to formulate certain beliefs about different groups that are known as stereotypes. These beliefs do not have a rational or logical basis but they are ubiquitous in the society. In this essay we will focus on the topic of minority leadership in military. Minorities are often subjected to stereotypes and they are usually not expected to acquire higher positions. They are always looked upon with suspicious eyes and their ability is almost always questioned. In the same way females are also looked down upon in professions like military. In this paper we will look into the minority representation in army and whether it represents the minority representation in the society at large. The educational and financial background of minorities will also be considered and their impact on leadership style will be analyzed. The main question we would like to answer here is whether race or gender has an impact on leadership or management decisions in military or not. Representation of Minorities in Military It is important to understand the dynamics of minorities in a society in order to better understand how minorities feel and how the society feels about them. Minorities in a society are characterized by cohesion and close relationships. This is because they feel threatened by other majority groups in the society. Minority groups also try to differentiate themselves from ‘others’ and this is done to protect their identity. There are united because they have no place to go and they feel compelled to remain a part of their social group. Society in general feels negatively about minorities which in turn increases the cohesion in minorities. Military profession is seen as a patriotic profession and the job is to defend the country. This is why tensions between majority and minority groups is common in military. Majority group is always suspicious of the patriotism of the minority groups and therefore their representation is always low in military. An example would be in the United States of America when African Americans were not allowed to serve in the army before the Civil War. It was only when it was inevitable that they were allowed to serve in the military. Majority group in most cases feels suspicious of the minority group because they believe minorities might not have a stake in the country like they do. For all the above mentioned reasons minority representation is usually low in the profession to defend the country but this cannot be generalized all over the world. The world has developed morally and intellectually in the previous century. Racial discrimination and sexism has decreased substantially. Women now work in all spheres of life and African Americans are also not secluded from the society. Similar trend is now prevalent in military services as well. Things have improved but a more in-depth analysis is needed to make an argument. At the time of Vietnam War, there were only a handful of minority leaders in military (Commander’s Digest, 1972). A lot has changed since then and now almost all the minorities of United States enjoy representation in the armed forces. Minority representation in the armed forces should ideally mirror the minority representation in the society as a whole but this has not always been the case. The trend of minority representation keeps on changing in the armed forces of United States of America. In 1970s blacks were overly represented in the United States military while Hispanics were under represented (Armor & Gilroy, 2009). The trend changed in the 80s when Hispanic representation increased however 1990s Black representation declined (2009). More recent trends indicate both black and Hispanic representation is decreasing in military services of United States of America. All the representations mentioned above were relative to the representation of the minorities in the American society. We can clearly observe a surge of minority representation in the 1970s. It was because an all volunteer force policy was adopted in 1973 which meant that military services became voluntary instead of mandatory (Janowitz & Moskos Jr. 1979). It is obvious reason why we see over representation of blacks in armed forces but this trend did not continue for a long time. In 1990s representation of blacks started to decrease and it continues to drop even today. Racial discrimination cannot be blamed for such decline because there are a host of factors that influence social military representation. US army, during the middle part of 20t century, thought that social segregation should be represented in military as well and no social experiment can be conducted on the armed forces (Ulysses, 1968). This attitude had to change because of the increasing demand of soldiers in the armed forces and this can explain the increase in military representation of minorities. However the decline in social military representation in the 1990s may be because of the bad publicity of United States armed forces related to the Gulf War. The recent decline can be explained by the public disapproval of the Iraq war. A survey in 2006 indicated that majority of the American population believed sending troops in Iraq was wrong (Gallup, 2006). American soldiers also come from the society therefore the general public opinion impacts on military enlistment. This may explain the possible decline in minority representation in United States armed forces in recent years. High casualty rate in recent wars is also a deterrent when it comes to military enlistments. No one wants to get killed in combat therefore when chances of getting killed are higher, people opt for different professions. The high casualty rates also deter people who have families to join military. Fear of death is sometimes too much for a person with grave responsibilities therefore minority representation may be because of high casualty rate. Impact of Education and Income on Minority Military Leadership Education and income both have a considerable impact on the military leadership in general. A leader, if well versed with military skills (education), is likely to take better and timely decisions in the field of combat regardless of gender or racial orientation. Minority groups are not specifically affected by education and income. The impact of these two things is the same on minority and majority military leadership. Education is becoming increasingly important in military now a day due to the complex nature of combat environment and international relations. It is important to think strategically rather than militarily in order to find long term sustainable solutions to problems. Fighting and killing is usually considered the last resort today and the power of negotiations and influence is essential in today’s military realm. Education allows a leader to think in a multidimensional way in order to solve the problems. Training and learning has now become a part and parcel of military. Cyber warfare is a new field altogether and military leaders are now working in this area to sort out ways to strengthen the security infrastructure of the country (Corrin, 2011). Income might have some effect on the leadership of a minority military leader but there are no studies conducted that can verify this empirically. Monetary gain is a major incentive for army officers and they might not take any decision that could jeopardize their future income. Income therefore can enhance the performance of military leaders. Minority leaders also get affected by income because it puts them in a higher social position. Minority leadership may also have a high level of self efficacy because they will be prominent in the military as well as in their social groups. Impact of Race and Gender on Military Leadership and Management A leader must inspire people by his or her skill level. A person becomes a leader of a group when he or she has qualities that are unique to a certain extent in that group. The skill level of a leader must also exceed all the group members. But the most important thing for a leader is the support of its subordinates and without it no leader can effectively operate. All the members must have complete confidence in the leader and only then they will listen to their leader. Racial tensions within the army can cause problems for a minority leader because his or her subordinates will not have the respect for the leader. Also military is all about discipline and when subordinates will not respect their leader mayhem can erupt. This is where race becomes an important factor when it comes to military leadership. A leader from a non white origin might not be able to perform in a better manner because his or her subordinates may not respond to the commands. Actions of subordinates can have a drastic impact on a leader’s performance so race might have an impact on military leadership and management. It was under sheer need for soldiers that allowed minorities to enlist in the armed forces but racial discrimination was considerable in the 70s and 80s (McGuire, 1983). White soldiers were not accepting non white recruits and there existed hostility in the military. But this trend is not strong today. Strict laws exist which condemn racial discrimination therefore the problem is not ubiquitous in the army. Also the society has developed therefore racial discrimination has decreased in the American society as a whole. But race can impact leadership and military management in other ways as well. People might not explicitly discriminate on the basis of race but implicit attitudes are difficult to change. People who today serve in military have seen a society where racial discrimination was prevalent. Implicit racial tensions therefore might exist in military today and that can affect leadership styles of minority leaders. A minority leader might react differently to other leaders because he or she might feel people are observing him or her. Race can impact on the way a leader might take decisions because the leader might try to prove a point to other people in the military. It is sometimes very important for minority leaders to prove themselves to others therefore they might be audacious or too afraid in taking decisions. Racial discrimination is not as prevalent in the military today as it was in 70s and 80s but it exists still today. Racial discrimination still exists in some forms in military (Antecol & Cobb-Clark, 2009). It effects the promotion of soldiers and also causes dissatisfaction among the soldiers in general. It restricts the upward movement of soldiers in the army and also creates tensions within the army. As mentioned before tensions within the army can create lots of problems for leaders. Leadership is therefore affected when it comes to racial differences. People from different races can react differently when assuming leadership positions. Gender can also impact military leadership and management. Gender differences are still prevalent in the society and they are stronger than racial differences. Military profession is usually considered as a male profession where females have no space whatsoever. But now things are changing and women are taking active part in combat along side with men. Females face discrimination in the armed forces because they are still considered weak and incapable of a job as tough as military. It is very difficult for the society as a whole to accept the changing roles of women and this is why females had to face severe backlash when they started to enlist in the military. Sexual harassment also exists in military as it exists in other organizations. Women are still considered in appropriate for jobs of men and are expected to work in ‘feminine’ professions like nursing. The social stigma that s attached to women working in military hinders promotion possibility of female officers. They may also go through emotional and mental abuse in their stay in military. The need for more recruits is the basic reason why women are now expected to work in military (Fitts, 2009). It is the same reason for enlisting African Americans in the army. It is not because our society has morally or intellectually developed that women are being accepted in the military. This may be the reason why women are still striving for a position equal to men in the military. Gender stereotypes play a strong role in restricting women in moving into roles that are considered ‘masculine’ (Carli & Eagly, 2002). Women are considered weak therefore it is not convenient for men to accept them in a role of a military officer. They are always under observation even though it is not official. People are suspicious of their talent and efficacy, and therefore they are not expected to take leadership positions in the military. Gender therefore has considerable impact on the leadership decisions made in military services. Women are always cautious about their decisions and they feel they are under a lens. They also have to prove everyone that they are the right choice for the job. Women are judged to be less effective in leadership position compared to men in military (Eagly, 2007). This is why there leadership style and decision making will differ from men because they will always try to prove themselves to the society and to their fellow men. Mitigating Race and Gender differences in Military It is important to find ways in which racial and gender differences can be resolved in the military. The efficacy of the whole institution in undermined when such differences exit. These differences can be reduced in the military by providing training and education to soldiers. The change has to come from the top and the top level management should ensure that women are being promoted as frequently as men. Merit should be the only standard that should play a role in promotion of a military men, and racial and gender differences should be ignored. It is also important to ensure that culprits who try to discriminate on the basis of sex or color should be punished. They should be made an example for the rest of the members of the military so that this behavior is eradicated. Military schools should specifically design courses that should teach recruits about equality and humanity. Changing attitudes at an early age can help mitigate racial and gender differences in the military. Conclusion Race and gender impact the leadership and management of military leadership. Military leaders are also human beings and they are also influenced by the society. People in general still hold implicit biases regarding races and genders. These biases are also present in military and soldiers regularly face racial and gender discrimination. The need for more soldiers has included women and minority groups into the armed forces but they are still not welcomed whole heartedly. These differences affect the leadership decisions of minority leaders because they attempt to prove themselves to others. Sometimes they may be overly cautious or audacious and this is how their decisions are affected because of their race and gender. References Armor & Gilroy. (2010). Changing Minority Representation in the U.S. Military. Armed Forces & Society, 36(2): 223–246 Carli & Eagly. (2001). Gender, Hierarchy, and Leadership: An Introduction. Journal of Social Issues, 57: 629–636. Corrin, Amber. (2011). Military leaders honored for cyber security efforts. Federal Computer Week. Retrieved from http://fcw.com/articles/2011/04/01/military-leaders-get-cybersecurity-awards.aspx Eagly, A. H. (2007). Female Leadership Advantage and Disadvantage: Resolving the Contradictions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31: 1–12 Fitts, Jennifer. (2009). Female Soldiers Protecting Convoys in Iraq. About.com. Retrieved from http://usmilitary.about.com/od/womeninthemilitary/a/femalesoldiers.-v24.htm Gallup’s Pulse of Democracy: The Iraq War. (2011). Gallup Poll. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/1633/Iraw.aspx#1 Janowitz & Moskos, Jr. (1979). Five Years of the All-Volunteer Force: 1973-1978. Armed Forces & Society 5: 171-218 McGuire, Phillip. (1983). Desegregation of the Armed Forces: Black Leadership, Protest and World War II. The Journal of Negro History, 68(2): 147-158 Ulysses Lee. (1968). The Draft and the Negro. Current History, 55: 30 U.S. Marine Corps Minority Officer Recruiting Program. (1972). Commanders Digest, 12(2): 12-13 Read More