Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth Implications for Military Recruitment (2003) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
9. Conclusions and Recommendations
9. Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 250-275
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 250... ...
Our focus was not on producing a definitive answer to the question of what caused the military recruiting shortfalls of recent years, but rather on identifying factors likely to influence future recruiting effectiveness. There was no expectation that we would uncover a single factor accounting for recruiting effectiveness, given the broad set of individual, situational, organizational, and societal influences on decisions about military service.
|
From page 251... ...
Sixth, we examined a range of issues involving military advertising, including goals, strategies, and messages. Advertising is a part of the broad recruitment process, and we examined this process more generally, including a comparison with recruiting practices in the civilian labor market.
|
From page 252... ...
of recent accession cohorts with the civilian population ages 18-23, and with minimum aptitude requirements for military jobs. These analyses indicate that military enlisters compare very favorably to the civilian population and that the Services are accessing individuals well above the minimum requirements for successful performance.
|
From page 253... ...
The degree to which this reflects changes in individual reactions to the military experience or changes in the ease with which individuals seeking to leave are permitted to do so is unclear. Personnel who are dissatisfied with their Service experience return to their home towns spreading word about negative aspects of military service, which makes the job of the recruiter much more difficult.
|
From page 254... ...
A process is needed to provide timely leading indicators that will help decision makers focus efforts and inform decision making in ways that can positively impact retention, especially for critical skill sets and for quality of life issues. DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS Changes in Youth Population Size and Composition Both size and composition of the youth population have implications for military recruitment.
|
From page 255... ...
Average levels of maternal education for teenagers have increased markedly and will continue to do so over the next two decades, a result of increases over time in educational attainment in the population. This is important, given the positive relationship between maternal the education and the educational aspirations of youth.
|
From page 256... ...
increased economic incentives to attend and complete college, a result of changes in the labor market for collegeand non-college-educated workers. Rates of college enrollment increased in the 1990s for new high school graduates, whether they were employed shortly after high school or not.
|
From page 257... ...
This downward trend in success in recruiting high school diploma graduates is especially noteworthy given the population trends in high school graduation rates. High school graduation rates have continued to rise for the past 10 years, so the negative trends in military applicants and accessions appear to reflect a decrease in propensity rather than the supply of qualified youth.
|
From page 258... ...
Projections About the Supply of Highly Qualified Youth For the nation as a whole, high school graduation rates have risen. Rates have also risen for minority groups, and especially for black students.
|
From page 259... ...
We note that if there were to be a small increase in aptitude levels, a higher proportion of the youth population would score in AFQT categories I-IIIA. If AFQT were renormed to ensure that categories I-IIIA contain 50 percent of the youth population, the result would be that the absolute aptitude level needed to be in the top 50 percent would increase.
|
From page 260... ...
As these recruiting resources differ in costs, cost data and elasticity data are combined to produce estimates of the marginal costs of one additional highly qualified recruit. The marginal cost estimates are roughly similar for recruiters, educational benefits, and enlistment bonuses.
|
From page 261... ...
But this is probably because advertising expenditures in the Marine Corps have been smaller, less variable, and therefore more difficult to measure precisely; the small Marine Corps mission makes it more difficult to distinguish between demand-constrained results and the true enlistment supply curve. Conclusion: A number of resources appear to be viable mechanisms for increasing the numbers of enlistments of highly qualified youth.
|
From page 262... ...
About 25 percent enter the full-time civilian labor market immediately upon high school graduation. Over time, there has been an increase in the proportion of youth who choose full-time participation in school as opposed to those who choose full-time work.
|
From page 263... ...
Roughly two-thirds of American youth participate in some form of postsecondary education by their late 20s. In 1999, about two-thirds of high school graduates enrolled in a 2- or 4-year institution in the same year they graduated from high school.
|
From page 264... ...
But increased parental and societal pressures for pursuing higher education suggest that increased opportunities for the simultaneous pairing of military service and higher education could enhance recruiting effectiveness. Conclusion: If highly qualified youth can be drawn into the military, it will increasingly be through a concurrent military service-education combination.
|
From page 265... ...
We also note an important change emerging from an analysis of data from the Youth Attitudes Tracking Study: namely, a considerable decrease in the value attached to duty to country. Conclusion: In general, the past two decades have not seen dramatic changes in youth ratings of important goals in life, preferred job characteristics, preferred work settings, and views of military service.
|
From page 266... ...
Closer examination of the empirical data suggests that parents, peers, counselors, and recruiters may influence youth career decisions. Formulating direction, a defined occupational career objective or trajectory, requires cognitively processing information, but acting in the direction of a particular career also requires motivation.
|
From page 267... ...
Accurately ascertaining contemporary women's ideological stance toward the military and fashioning recruitment messages that appeal to rather than counter their perspectives may hold additional promise for more effective recruiting. Conclusion: Parents, peers, school counselors, and recruiters provide information and support that can influence youth career decisions.
|
From page 268... ...
Effective research to examine the determinants of enlistment decisions and of the propensity to enlist requires data conducive to individual-level as well as aggregate-level analysis. Recommendation: We recommend that: · Advertising campaigns and other messages to increase propensity should be based on sound empirical evidence that identifies the beliefs to be targeted.
|
From page 269... ...
i' · One way to increase the pool of youth with a propensity to enlist s to increase the importance young adults place on patriotic values, such as "doing something for my country" and "self-sacrifice," as well as on the importance they place on the "opportunity for adventure." · A second way to increase propensity is to strengthen beliefs that certain valued attributes are more likely to be obtained in the military than in civilian jobs. In particular, attention should be focused on issues of patriotism, opportunities for adventure, and extrinsic motivations, including pay, vacations, and parental support and approval.
|
From page 270... ...
Thus a key and underutilized role of military advertising is to support the overall propensity to enlist in the youth population and maintain propensity at a level that will enable greater productivity in military recruiting. It follows from this that an important part of evaluating the effectiveness of advertising is to monitor its effects on propensity.
|
From page 271... ...
The decline in the proportion of youth with a positive propensity suggests that the military cannot rely solely on attempting to increase yield in this market but must also devote efforts to changing propensity among those with a negative one. · When thinking about military service, intrinsic factors are foremost in the minds of only about a quarter of the youth population.
|
From page 272... ...
Military Recruitment The Services have well-structured selection and training programs for recruiters. The Services' recruiter selection systems, however, are opti
|
From page 273... ...
· Explore innovative incentives to reward effective recruiting performance. RECOMMENDATIONS This volume examines a wide range of factors hypothesized as potentially contributing to recent or future military recruiting difficulties.
|
From page 274... ...
and intrinsic rewards, including duty to country and achieving purpose and meaning in a career. While many youth are responsive to an extrinsic focus, an additional segment of the youth population sees intrinsic factors as the primary appeal of military service.
|
From page 275... ...
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 275 Third, in the domain of recruiting practices, we suggest that attention be paid to the selection and training of recruiters. There are substantial differences in recruiter performance, yet the process of staffing the recruiting services does not focus centrally on selecting individuals on the basis of expected productivity.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.