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A really good long form article (with data) illustrating the tension at Service academies between the need for diverse perspectives in their officer corps and systems that often disadvantage the diverse individuals. While this tension is seen in the experiences of the socio-economically diverse and prior enlisted (both apply to me), it is most acute for racial diversity because it is an ever-visible part of a students identity. The academy prep schools like the United States Military Academy Preparatory School provide immense value by improving the access to and success of these more of these diverse populations. However, the core quantitative “meritocracy” of the academies present inherent challenges evidenced by the data in this article. The article sums up the challenges of quantifying every aspect of “merit” for officer candidates: “Owens has expressed concern that cadets are too often treated as numbers: their GPA or class rankings that determine who gets coveted assignments such as a place in flight school…But I've been talked down to more because of my class rank than because I'm a Black man." United States Military Academy at West Point United States Air Force Academy United States Naval Academy US Coast Guard Academy United States Merchant Marine Academy #serviceacademy
Nate LaMar, MBA
5mo
Matt, thanks for sharing. Interesting to see how the USAFA prep school is open to anyone who was denied admission to the academy the previous year, as that is not the case with the USMA prep school.
CEO at Rebel Strike | Harvard MBA | West Point | Former Army Night Stalker Aviator
5moQuestion: how do you know when an organization is optimally diversified? When is diversity done?