The Changing Military Profession: Integrating Women in the Australian Defence Force

Abstract

Along with the church, the military is the last major profession in which women face significant and entrenched obstacles to career advancement. In this paper, we examine the progress of women in the Australian Defence Force in the past two decades, and analyse attitudes towards female integration in the officer corps. The data are provided by a survey of 1518 officer cadets in Australia's four officer-producing institutions conducted in 1987, 1988 and 1989. The results show that family and educational background is of little significance in determining attitudes towards integration, but that gender and military values exert a strong influence. Possible reasons for these results are discussed and the prospects for the continued integration of women in the officer corps are evaluated.