Research by the Universities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Ministry of Defence, published today, Wednesday February 5 2003, says that although the Army has made good progress in its equal opportunities policy, many male soldiers and officers still find it hard to adjust to the presence of women in the organisation.
This attitude, coupled with media stereotypes of the sexy or tomboyish woman soldier, affects important decisions taken about women in the Army and also influences the organisation's policies and promotional literature, the research found.
The researchers, Dr Rachel Woodward of Newcastle University and Dr Patricia Winter of Sunderland University say the findings are particularly significant as the Ministry of Defence is trying to entice more women to seek a career in the Army.
About eight per cent of the British Army is female – a proportion which has grown since the number of posts available to them was expanded in 1998. Women represent 9.5 per cent of officers, and 6.8 per cent of other ranks.
For the report, Drs Rachel Woodward and Patricia Winter interviewed Army staff responsible for implementing equal opportunities, analysed Army and Ministry of Defence policy documents relating to the integration of women soldiers and studied relevant media reports.
Many senior staff told the researchers they found the task of implementing equal opportunities policies across the rank and file very difficult. Some had met opposition to the idea of accommodating women amongst 'opinion makers' in the senior ranks, and one member of staff involved in policy implementation provided the analogy, 'it's like turning a super tanker'.
Among the policy documents scrutinised was the study into Combat Effectiveness and Gender, which led to the Secretary of State, Geoff Hoon, announcing in May 2002 that women would continue to be excluded from some direct combat positions. Drs Woodward and Winter found that although the report appeared to support the idea of women soldiers through references to equal opportunities and other policies, closer scrutiny revealed an attitude which viewed women as a disruption.
For example, Geoff Hoon explained that "military judgement" supported the view that women's exclusion from some combat positions was justified for reasons of unit cohesion and combat effectiveness. But the researchers say he did not detail the reasons behind this "military judgement", or cite any scientific evidence – hence implying that the very presence of women constituted the risk.
Further research revealed that media images promote the idea of women as a disruption, which in turn fed Army perceptions. Women are either portrayed as sexualised, such as Lance Corporal Roberta Winterton, the first serving soldier to pose topless on page three of a tabloid newspaper, or as 'gutsy' tomboy figures who will never be quite good enough to be real soldiers. The Newcastle University report said these images were also reinforced in policy documentation and publicity materials on women in the Army.
Dr Woodward said: "The Army is trying very hard to attract and integrate women into the organisation. Equal opportunities policies and attempts to implement these throughout the rank and file should be recognised as an example of best practice.
"Nevertheless, our research revealed attitudes and language used when discussing and writing about women which undermined the Army's efforts to portray itself as a progressive employer.
"We found that the Army is still a traditionally masculine organisation which is only adapting gradually to the inclusion of women – and this adaptation process is uneven through the ranks. There is evidently great opposition from many soldiers who think the Army should be an exclusively male preserve.
Dr Woodward added that media images of soldiers did the Army no credit, particularly as it increasingly needs to recruit women soldiers:
"More progressive figures of the woman soldier are needed as part of a wider cultural change which the Army needs in order to get the most from its workforce. Moreover, the Army needs to draw on a pool of labour with the potential to become good soldiers and that pool is increasingly female.
"The Army needs to take on board and promote the idea that a woman soldier can be just that – a soldier who is a woman."
Notes to editors:
1. Contact for interviews and a copy of the full report: Dr Rachel Woodward, available from 11am until 6pm GMT on Tuesday February 04 2003. Tel: 44-191-222-8354 r.e.woodward@ncl.ac.uk
2. Newcastle University cannot supply any case studies for this story.
3. For broadcasters: Newcastle University has a fully equipped radio studio with ISDN line, and is five minutes from local BBC and independent TV studios.
4. The ESRC is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It has a track record of providing high-quality, relevant research to business, the public sector and Government. The ESRC invests more than £53 million every year in social science research. At any time, its range of funding schemes may be supporting 2,000 researchers within academic institutions and research policy institutes. It also funds postgraduate training within the social sciences thereby nurturing the researchers of tomorrow. The ESRC website address is http://www.esrc.ac.uk
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