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Women and CNAS
Micah Zenko has a piece up on Foreign Policy's website about gender (im)balance in think tanks. His data (which I assume he took from our website, here) demonstrates that only 18% of our policy-related staff is female and that just 31% of our overall staff is female.
There are lies, though, damn lies, and then statistics. In this case (and I can only speak for myself, obviously), CNAS does not seem like such a male-dominated place if you actually work here. This is because our staff includes a lot of non-resident and part-time staff who are rarely here. If you subtract part-time staff like Tom Ricks and Bob Kaplan (sorry, guys) who are rarely here and non-resident staff like David Asher and Nancy Berglass (who are almost never here), the numbers are different: CNAS actually has just as many female full-time staff (50%, or 11) as we do male full-time staff. (And two more females are about to join the full-time staff in the next week, putting men in the overall minority.) Among our research staff, we do have a big gender imbalance: 11 men to just three women. (With another on the way, making the percentage either 21% or 27%, depending on how charitable you want to be.) That having been said, our director of research is Kristin Lord, and her deputy is Nora Bensahel. So to the degree that we are hierarchical, women are in real positions of authority when it comes to shaping our research agenda.
But what is your front line
But what is your front line strength in terms of riflemen? By that I mean what is your strength in terms of men and women as either analysts or senior analysts, or senior fellows?
gian
I'm genuinely curious about
I'm genuinely curious about the emphasis you put on Lord/Bensahel. I mean, to what extent is the structure of CNAS (or other think tanks) hierarchical? Your areas of emphasis and interest are both evident and established - it's not like you're going to be writing about the financial system of Latin America. You're going to be writing about MENA, AfPak, and/or COIN, I'm guessing. Moreover, particularly now that you've your doctorate, you've got more power to "go it alone" - leave for another think tank, enter academia, join an aerospace/defense consulting firm, etc. How much power do Lord and Bensahel (or Nagl or Fick) have over you, anyway? To return to my point, does it make sense to issue a rejoinder of "We're largely male, but we have women in the positions of authority,?" when (I suspect) think tanks don't really work on an hierarchical authority model as one might understand it?
I doubt this is any different than any other professional services firm - e.g., a law firm, a management consulting firm, an accounting firm, at which partners with clients are different than associates or analysts or partners without clients - so I guess perhaps the question is, to utilize Gian Gentile's analogy, how could one analogize CNAS to a (say) three-tiered management consulting firm - say, analyst/associate/partner - and how many of each category is male/female? (Or, feel free to propose a different analogy, and/or a different tier system of employees.)
ADTS
PS - Usually I check out Abu M for the expected topics. Today, though, the topic is the industrial organization of the professional services firm. Woo-hoo. This is a dull read but maybe I didn't read it in vain after all: http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Professional-Service-David-Maister/dp/068...
ADTS: I think such
ADTS: I think such meta-topics are intensely fascinating. Does CNAS publish its decisionmaking structure flow-charts somewhere? lol.
Ive been following the recent "Death of COIN" debate, and I just dont understand why there are no discreet units being set up for COIN work come the next time while the rest of the combat brigades get on with their maneuvering exercises. In the olden days they were sappers and intel, these days its engineers and ... intel. I dont understand why there are no specialized units focusing on building an adaption strategy next time we have to go in somewhere. None of this fing contracting, emulate the chinese and start mil contracting companies with personel earning money.
You make a fair point, but I
You make a fair point, but I don't think an argument is being made about what the gender imbalance/everyday work environment feels like ("CNAS does not seem like such a male-dominated place if you work here"). It's about the stats: Zenko's numbers show that more men are hired, period, and there is a gender imbalance across the hiring board.
gender?!!!! how about the
gender?!!!! how about the fact that theres no Afro-americans in CNAS?
Exum, not sure where you are
Exum, not sure where you are going with this.
Now go do something useful.
Look at the mission statement for your Think Tank. If you don't have one, go to the upper management and ask them what the group's purpose is. Hopefully there is some synergy to the future goals of America, not just the Middle East, or one Political Party. You get money from all American People in one form or another.
Then assign some metrics to how to achieve your group's goals. Go through the list of employees and see how they perform to your metrics. Look at the group of people that exceed and why they exceed. Look at the people that under perform and why they under perform.
How many Think Tanks are there in Washington? Hopefully all your people are pulling their loads. Last thing we need is more people either pulling American the wrong way or just being sponges for tax dollars (Those military contractors on your funding list get a lot of US tax dollars. The payment that contractors get is VERY generous to produce jobs in America for American Security ).
Read this..... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59076.html
I pay this person good money, if this employee wants to get "off the merry go round" the door is wide open. This one has been full of it since day one. Hardly been back in the US, now off for another world tour. This Merry Go Round was self made for one purpose only ( It is a run for POTUS. There is a lot of self interest wrapped up in this one How does women's rights in the Middle East help find a solution to the same issue in America? If that is not personal interest, I do not know what is. Who is footing the bill...Americans or Egypt? Who should get the most attention?).
Gender has nothing to do with it. Meeting your objectives, bringing REAL solutions to the table, and creating a future for everyone in America is what matters. I do not give a hill of beans for "first" unless they are doing their jobs right.
I really have no idea what this does for America..... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59076.html Expect for selecting one segment of the population as "special". Not exactly equal rights when you mandate special treatment.
It has nothing to do with preference either.
It has everything to do with special interests.
What are American's interests? That should be part of your Mission Statement if you are getting tax payer dollars. Otherwise write your policy for someone else.
Why should it matter?
Why should it matter?
Exum, you should voluntarily
Exum, you should voluntarily step down from your position so that CNAS can hire a female/black/hispanic/latino/gay/asian/octaroon in your stead.
Embrace DIVERSITY, sacrifice your job that you were given due to white male patriarchy.
Hey - We all know the Rangers
Hey - We all know the Rangers (especially 101) have a special place in their hearts for minorities, including women. That was sarcasm... Most of the Rangers I've met in the enlisted ranks have unfortunately been racist and machismo. Funny thing is, there is a larger percentage of minorities in Delta, than in Ranger units.
Anyone know if there has ever been a black Commanding Officer for the Rangers?
Apples still fall close to the trees they grow on, last time I knew.
LAPD SIS has more minorities
LAPD SIS has more minorities too (and there's like 20 of them, plus 10 to 15 loanees at any given time), compared to LAPD SWAT which is made up of 7 foot, muscular, white men.
Real hunters usually come from diverse backgrounds, I reckon, check out the line up for the Alamo Scouts of WWII.
Shouldn't we expect women to
Shouldn't we expect women to be "underrepresented," as Zenko put it? This conversation, as well as the comments on the FP website, ignore the fact that there is a selection equation for people who seek jobs in the national security sector. One of the important variables in that selection equation is gender, and if you are a man the likelihood you will apply to jobs in the national security sector, I suspect, is demonstrably higher than if you are a woman. This is certainly an oversimplification as there are some subfields where women are "selecting in" at high rates than men (e.g., climate change and national security, human rights). The broader trend still holds -- more men apply for jobs across the national security and defense sector...but this is changing. Shouldn't we be a little smarter about the trend over the last decade and note the growth of women across the national security and defense and how the gap between men and women in the natonal security and defense sector over the next decade will likely continue to narrow?
I agree with Handle above:
I agree with Handle above: Gender ratios are meaningless. If it was exclusively men or women, it might be notable but otherwise, who cares?
I notice he focuses on the
I notice he focuses on the defense / foreign policy think tanks. It is no great surprise that they are male dominated. But those are far, far from the only dot orgs in Washington. I bet if you did a similar study of think tanks that focus on touchy-feely issues, you'd find a preponderance of women.
CNAS women might be few in
CNAS women might be few in number, but they compensate for their beauty--they are the hottest cougars this side of the Potomac.
"CNAS women might be few in
"CNAS women might be few in number, but they compensate for their beauty--they are the hottest cougars this side of the Potomac."
If I responded to this, I'd have to violate the "don't be a jerk" policy.
Let's just say... I disagree.
You're being a jerk by
You're being a jerk by disagreeing that they're beautiful and aged well perfectly.
Interesting study on
Interesting study on minorities in SOF.
http://mldc.whs.mil/download/documents/meetings/201004/SOFDiversityPRINT...
included is % of minorities in Rangers and Delta. There is only a 1% difference between the two.. Ranger's at 3% and Delta at 4%, Delta being the smaller of the two groups.
Too bad there isn't a category for women in these combat arms groups. Maybe one day.
"You're being a jerk by
"You're being a jerk by disagreeing that they're beautiful and aged well perfectly."
Yeah, but I could be a much more vicious jerk and attach scathing comments to specific names.
I miss Charlie and her POV.
I miss Charlie and her POV.
Is that what we're calling it
Is that what we're calling it these days, "her POV". You dirty horn dawg!
"included is % of minorities
"included is % of minorities in Rangers and Delta. There is only a 1% difference between the two.. Ranger's at 3% and Delta at 4%, Delta being the smaller of the two groups."
Your statistics for Rangers do not equal what is shown in the link you posted. The link also has no mention of Delta in it.
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