Assessing Inclusion Behaviors and Impact of Inclusion within the Fleet
Authors
Tick, Simona L.
Arkes, Jeremy A.
Eger, Robert J.
Nissen, Mark E.
Helzer, Erik
Menichini, Amilcar
Subjects
diversity
inclusion
competency model
training
inclusion
competency model
training
Advisors
Date of Issue
2021
Date
2021
Publisher
Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School.
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School.
Language
en_US
Abstract
This project supports the Navy’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion (D&I), which are recognized as strategic imperatives that give the Navy a warfighting advantage against our adversaries. The study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand the major contributing factors to an inclusive and diverse command, accomplishing four research objectives: (1) developing metrics to assess behaviors of inclusion within the fleet; (2) assessing inclusion behaviors within the fleet using the developed metrics; (3) determining the most impactful D&I competencies for building inclusion; and (4) identifying command practices that contribute to greater acceptance of diversity. We develop and introduce a survey instrument to assess Personal Inclusion Factors (individuals’ feelings of being personally included within their command) and Command Core Inclusion Competencies (individuals’ beliefs about how their commands demonstrate practices that promote diversity and inclusion) suitable for a Navy context. The instrument captures best practices and validated metrics for promoting and assessing D&I in organizations and tailors them to the Navy and Sailors’ work. We fielded this survey to 489 active-duty Navy personnel (enlisted and officers) asking them to report on both their current and past commands. We find that females across all race/ethnicities on average report lower feelings of inclusion and rate commands lower on Core Command Inclusion Competencies than their male counterparts. This gender difference is stronger for sea versus shore commands. Participants also answered open-ended questions about the competencies that they believed were most important for promoting D&I in the fleet. "Inclusive leadership" emerged as a dominant theme; in particular, participants felt most included in commands where leadership valued their perspectives and ideas and where Sailors felt heard on a day-in, day-out basis.
Type
Poster
Description
NPS NRP Project Poster
Series/Report No
Department
Graduate School of Defense Management
Organization
Naval Research Program (NRP)
Naval Research Program (NRP)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
N1 - Manpower, Personnel, Training & Education
Funder
This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrp
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.