Navy Nuclear Recruiting Markets: Race-Ethnic/gender Qualification Rates

Abstract

This report presents exploratory model-building for identifying and analyzing the recruiting market for Navy occupations in the highly technical nuclear field. Variation in eligibility for nuclear occupations by race and gender subsets of the recruiting market is examined. Logistic regression models for race/gender market segments estimate the relationship of socioeconomic factors and geographic location to four classifications of mental qualifications: (1) high quality (mental category IIIA and above) eligible for Navy nuclear occupations, (2) high quality not eligible for these highly technical occupations, (3) mental category IIIB, and (4) not eligible for the military labor market (mental category IV and below). The results of these models are then used to estimate the size of nuclear qualified markets of 17 to 21 year old high school graduates at the county level. Great variation in nuclear qualification by gender and race-ethnic group is apparent in these estimates with white males qualifying at rates substantially above all other groups. Regional variation reflects these demographic characteristics.