Retaining Women Air Force Officers: Work, Family, Career Satisfaction, and Intentions

Abstract

Despite efforts to improve women’s military representation, mid-career female officers attrit at twice the rate of male peers. Research and theory suggest women’s turnover is influenced by family life including marriage and parenthood. But previous research has grouped women together, failing to extrapolate which factors influence retention of women with different family types. Thus, this study explored a single career point (mid-career) at different family intersections (married, unmarried, with, and without children) to elucidate work and family factors associated with female officers’ retention decisions. Using 2011 Air Force survey data ( n = 1,309), regression models tested four hypotheses regarding work and family factors associated with different subgroups’ military life satisfaction and career intentions. Findings indicate that after accounting for satisfaction, work factors were insignificant for all subgroups, but family factors (as hypothesized) were significantly associated with married women’s career intentions. Results suggest that policies targeting family support/satisfaction may improve retention.