Experiences of Officer Cadets in Canadian Military Colleges and Civilian Universities: A Gender Perspective

• Author: Nancy Otis,Sawyer Hogenkamp,Yan (Lizzie) Yan,Grazia Scoppio
• Published date: 01 January 2022
• Date: 01 January 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X20905121
• Subject Matter: Articles

2022, Vol. 48(1) 49 –69

Experiences of Officer

Cadets in Canadian

Military Colleges and

Civilian Universities:

A Gender Perspective

Grazia Scoppio

1

, Nancy Otis

2

,

Yan (Lizzie) Yan

3

and Sawyer Hogenkamp

3

Abstract

This study examined gender differences in the experiences of 923 officer cadets

attending Canadian Military Colleges and 135 officer cadets attending civilian uni-

versities who completed a survey. Overall, the findings revealed that the experience

of officer cadets in civilian universities was more positive, gender neutral, and their

institutions’ values and culture were a better fit for them compared to their peers in

Canadian Military Colleges. For officer cadets in Canadian Military Colleges, the

results revealed that women were less likely to perceive gender equality in the way

they were treated, the fairness of complaint mechanisms, and being treated with

respect compared to men. Men in Canadian Military Collegess were less likely to

perceive gender equality in performance standards than women. There were no

gender differences in experiences for officer cadets in civilian universities.

Keywords

gender issues, military colleges, military culture, Canada

1

Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

2

Director General Military Personnel Research and Analysis, Department of National Defence, Ottawa,

Ontario, Canada

3

Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Grazia Scoppio, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Email: Scoppio-g@rmc.ca

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50 Armed Forces & Society 48(1)

When it comes to the representation of women and gender integration in the military,

Canada is considered a world leader (Archer, 2017), havin g opened all military

occupations to women in 1989, except for submarine service that was opened in

2001. This milestone followed a landmark Canadian Human Rights Tribunal deci-

sion directing that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) remove all employment

restrictions and integrate women in all military occupations (Department of National

Defence and the CAF, 2019a). Thirty years later, the representation rate of women in

the CAF lingers around 15%(Department of National Defence and the CAF, 2019b).

Although this level of participation is considered low, it is still one of the highest

among Canada’s allies (Archer, 2017). The reasons for the low representation of

women in Canada’s military may include occupational segregation, challenges

regarding balancing military demands with family life, concerns of sexual harass-

ment and sexual misconduct, a very traditional and hierarchical organizational

structure, and a closed organizational culture (see, e.g., Deschamps, 2015; Earn-

scliffe Strategy Group, 2017; Scoppio et al. , 2018a). Indeed, in her review into

sexual misconduct and sexual harassment in the CAF, Deschamps (2015) noted that

“there is an undeniable link between the existence of negative and discriminatory

attitudes towards women in the CAF, the low representation of women in senior

positions in the organization, and the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault”

(p. 24). In an effort to achieve greater gender balance, the Chief of Defence Staff

General Jonathan Vance set an ambitious goal of increasing the representation of

women in the CAF to 25%by 2026 (Berthiaume, 2019).

A study was initiated in 2016 in order to investigate whether gender bias exists in

the recruiting process of the Regular Officer Training Plan (ROTP) and to examine

the experience of officer cadets attending Canadian Military Colleges (CMCs) or

civilian universities (Scoppio et al., 2018b). The ROTP gives Canadian youth an

opportunity to both become officers in the CAF and complete an undergraduate

degree at one of the CMCs, namely the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC)

and the Royal Military College Saint-Jean (RMC Saint-Jean), or another Canadian

civilian university (RMC, 2019). This three-phase study used quantitative and qua-

litative methods with the Gender-Based Analysis Plus design and analysis frame-

work (Status of Women Canada, 2018). Phase 1 involved informal consultations

with 18 stakeholders and subject matter experts to gain initial insight into factors that

could explain the low representation of women at CMCs. In addition, Phase 1

incorporated a secondary analysis of multiyear data on applicants and recruits col-

lected by the CMCs and the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group to identify the trends

of the representation of women in CMCs and civilian university over the years.

Phase 2 of the study, which this article is focused on, examined the ROTP officer

cadets’ perceptions of gender bias during the recruitment process, as well as their

CMC or civilian universities experiences through surveys and interviews (Scoppio

et al., 2019). Specifically, the aim of this article is to examine gender and institu-

tional differences in officer cadet s’ experiences, such as person-orga nization fit

within their respective institutions; perc eived equal treatment and opportunities ;

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