Looking for a Few Good Men: Predicting Patterns of Retention, Promotion, and Accession of Minority and Women Officers

This paper is concerned with social representativeness in the offi cer corps. We briefl y review the literature on offi cer accession, retention, and promotion that documents the conventional wisdom that offi cers are predominantly white males. This may in turn, sustain a process in which white males are stereotyped as having the attributes of successful offi cers; hence more white males will be sought to fi ll force requirements. In view of this possibility, it is of special interest to see how well minorities and women fare in the offi cer accession process.