July 30, 2018
Pentagon Gender Gap Persists in Trump Era Even as Women Rise in Industry
At the Defense Department, 46 out of 52 positions confirmed or awaiting confirmation went to men
When Kathy Warden takes over as CEO of Northrop Grumman in January, women will run three of the primes, as the largest American defense firms are known.
Warden joins Marillyn Hewson at Lockheed Martin and Phebe Novakovic at General Dynamics as CEOs, while executive vice president Leanne Caret heads Boeing’s defense business.
Their rise coincides with a sharp uptick in women in influential security-related positions on Capitol Hill.
Texas Republican Kay Granger holds the gavel of the powerful House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, joining an elite club that has until now been open only to men. Meanwhile, women from both parties on the Senate Armed Services Committee have pushed into law dozens of new policies and regulations aimed at changing the military’s male-dominated culture.
However, the ascension to the top ranks of the boardroom and plum security committee assignments on Capitol Hill has not been matched in other parts of the defense apparatus. There has never been a female Defense secretary. There has never been a female member of the joint chiefs of staff.
What accounts for this discrepancy? While there are various theories, no single explanation seems to suffice.
Read the Full Article at Roll Call
More from CNAS
-
School of War Ep 150: Katherine Kuzminski on the Draft
Katherine Kuzminski, Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at CNAS, joins the show to discuss recruiting and mass mobilization in the event of war. Listen t...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
The Melting Fortress: The United States, Canada, and the Race Against Time in the Arctic
For years, Moscow has prioritized the Arctic as a critical pillar of its national security, opening or refurbishing over 50 military bases and scaling up military operations a...
By Andrew Spafford & Samantha Olson
-
U.S. military must reinforce Guam's crumbling infrastructure
In Guam, one is quickly struck by the juxtaposition of crystal-clear waters with crumbling infrastructure and abandoned cars strewn across the small Pacific island. Following ...
By Taren Sylvester & Evan Wright
-
Preparing for the Possibility of a Draft without Panic
Conscription has never had a political constituency in Congress. It remains a serious, costly, and potentially deadly tool meant to protect Americans from the extreme conseque...
By Taren Sylvester & Katherine L. Kuzminski