Repost: Women in Combat

The armed services have announced the opening of combat positions to women. Before this announcement, women already made up 15% of the military. There is NOTHING more difficult in construction than in the military, and yet construction is only at 2 - 3% women. It is clear the military has lessons to teach about bringing women into nontraditional occupations.

We hope the military will share these lessons, and that researchers will document them.

-PGTI

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Women in Combat: The Fight Isn’t Over

By Mary Gatta

U.S. Marine Corps

Women have served dutifully and effectively in our armed forces, from the American Revolution to the ongoing war in Afghanistan, without equal opportunity or just reward – until now.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s announcement that women will be able to serve in full combat roles breaks the final glass ceiling in the military. It also eliminates the last formal practice of sex discrimination by the federal government.

Women’s role in the military has grown in fits and starts over the years. Early in the 1900’s, military policy opened up nursing and clerical jobs; more recently, women have performed nontraditional roles, such as radio operators, medics, tank mechanics and more. (View a slideshow of women currently serving in the military.)

Yet the combat ban excluded women from 20% of jobs across the active-duty force; such jobs pay more than others and represent the route to top leadership.  And though many women have actually served in combat roles during war, the legal exclusion largely prevented them the recognition and material benefits — largely pay—of combat veterans.

This historic change is critical for women both in and out of the military.  It may encourage other women to pursue opportunities in male-dominated industries; within the military, it may bring important new voices to military decisions and foreign affairs.

As for critics who say women don’t want these combat roles, not only have women already performed them, this change provides additional opportunities for women to advance in the armed forces and access greater economic security, along with fairer wages and benefits. (Despite the grueling working conditions outlined in this Opinion piece from Thursday’s Journal.)

But access to combat roles is only the first step. Discrimination does not magically vanish when women gain entry to previously restricted sectors; in fact, it sometimes worsens. Military leaders will need to address other forms of discrimination, such as sexual harassment, assault and bullying. They’ll also need to ensure leadership opportunities are fairly available to women, and devise work and family policies to support them.

The end of legal sex discrimination by the federal government and the military is a significant step towards ensuring that all jobs, industries and workplaces are open to women’s full, equal and safe participation. However our work still continues, in the effort to remove all legal, social, and cultural barrier — such as pay inequality, sexual harassment, and occupational segregation — that prevent women from achieving full equity and equality in our nation’s armed forces and throughout our workplaces.

Dr. Mary Gatta is currently a Senior Scholar, at Wider Opportunities for Women in Washington. She has published several books, articles, and policy papers on women in the workplace, occupational sex segregation, low-wage work and workplace skills, and social welfare policy. Read more of her work here.

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View the original article on The Wall Street Journal blog.