Gender Differences in the Retention of Enlisted Army Reservists

Abstract

This report investigates factors influencing the retention behavior of young enlisted men and women in the U.S. Army Reserve. Data from the 1984 Reserve Components Survey were matched with 1989 military personnel records to gain information on actual turnover/staying behavior of enlisted Reservists. A sample of 4,042 enlisted personnel serving past-time with the Army Selected Reserve was extracted and used in developing turnover models based on threshold behavior theory. Logit regression techniques were used to estimate separate turnover models by gender and prior Active Duty service status. Explanatory variables included demographic, military background, economic incentive, and cognitive/perceptual factors. Factor analysis was used to identify dimensions among attitudinal responses and to construct a set of composite variables. Model results indicate that all prior service/gender cohorts were significantly influenced by retirement benefits. Additional significant influences for these groups include 1: intrinsic job characteristics and family status for nonprior service women; age at entry, paygrade, and income for nonprior service males; intrinsic job characteristics and drill characteristics for prior service women; and age at Reserve entry, paygrade, travel time to drill, and family status for prior service men