A new academic report from the University of Pittsburgh suggested that the Marine Corps drop all gendered identifiers for training personnel.
The academics advised the Marine Corps that recruits should no longer refer to drill instructors as “sir” or “ma’am,” according to the Marine Corps Times. The Army, Navy and Coast Guard have already de-emphasized the use of gendered terms, instead having recruits refer to training staff by their last names or as “drill instructor.”
The University of Pittsburgh’s Neuromuscular Research Lab, Warrior Human Performance Research Center and Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition received $2 million to study gender-integrated recruit training in military settings in 2020. The 738-page report was published in June 2022.
The major findings included the “lack of common definition of gender integration at recruit training.” The authors subsequently argued that gender-integrated training helps recruits learn to work in gender-integrated environments, dispels gender biases and stereotypes, diversifies perspectives and subsequently builds bonds and increases motivation and competition.
The report blamed the Marine Corps’ lack of female representation for “sexist and derogatory language in the training environment,” and found that male recruits surveyed in the study “showed benevolent and hostile sexism” at rates “that were much higher than their female peers.” The Marine Corps has the lowest percentage of female members of any U.S. service branch. (RELATED: Pentagon Investigator Claims Military Service Members Experienced Paranormal Activity After Visiting Haunted Ranch)
The proposal to drop gendered terms is allegedly under consideration, but it is not clear whether the change will be made, the Times noted. “That’s going to take some effort,” Chief of Staff for Marine Corps Training and Education Command Col. Howard Hall told the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in December, according to the Times. “Honestly, that’s not a quick fix. What are inculcating in our young recruits that will or will not be reinforced when they graduate and enter the fleet Marine force? So again, we want to avoid any quick-fix solutions that introduce perturbations down the line.”
You can read the full report here:
