Retention of Women in the CAF

AIM

The 2017 Canada’s Defence Policy Strong, Secure, Engaged determined that the Canadian Armed Forces should represent Canada’s diverse population, and as such it would “increase the proportion of women in the military by 1 percent annually, to move from the current 15 percent to 25 percent representation by 2026” (SSE, 2017). However, despite the CAF’s best efforts, this goal continues to be a challenge – currently, women make up only about 17% of combined regular and reserve forces. The aim of this paper is to discuss the issues surrounding the retention of women in the CAF, and to provide recommendations for Senior Appointment CWOs/CPO1s to help overcome these barriers.

INTRODUCTION

Women took active part in the Canadian military conflicts since the 20^th century, mainly in supporting roles, such as nurses and drivers during WWI and WWII. Since then, women’s participation rate has grown across all elements and branches of the CAF, yet the female representation has continued not to equal that of men, nor have women been equally represented across all trades (Women in Canadian Military resource kit). In particular, when the recruitment of women stagnated in the mid-2010s and it was noted that more and more women started leaving the forces, the Canadian government took action and acknowledged that in order for the CAF to be considered a professional and modern organization that values diversity and equality and is truly representative of its population, new recruitment and retention strategies had to be established in order to increase the number of female personnel within the ranks. Hence the birth of the Strong, Secure, Engaged Defence Policy, a document that – amongst many other initiatives - defined quotas and strategies aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of women within the CAF. However, nearly a decade later, the SSE proposals seem not to have yielded the desired effects, and the question of why women continue to be under-represented within the CAF and leave their positions at rates higher than men remains unanswered.

This paper will attempt to answer this question by exploring some of the barriers that are believed to prevent women from staying in the CAF. Firstly, the issues presented by the perception of “sexualized culture”, misconduct and discriminaton of women within the military workplace will be examined. Next, a look at the perception of continued male-dominance within the forces, leading to limited opportunities for advancement/visibility of women at higher levels of the military. Then, the challenges of work-life balance will be discussed as one of the key concerns for women employed within the CAF. Finally, recommendations for Senior Appointment CWOs/CPO1s as to how they can contribute to retaining more women in our military will conclude the discussion.

DISCUSSION

a) Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is a crucial component when discussing the challenges of retention of women in the CAF. In recent years, the CAF has been plagued by problems with sexual harassment, misconduct, and “sexualized culture”, lack of diversity, inclusion and equity in the workplace, as well as by general perceptions of a male-dominated and challenging working environment for women. All the above barriers make it difficult for women to find comfort and stability, or a sense of belonging/ identity within the CAF.

The Deschamps Report published in 2015 found that approximately 4 of 5 “members of the Regular Force saw, heard, or were personally targeted by sexualized behaviour in the military workplace”, and that 27.3% of women “have been victims of sexual harassment at least once since joining the CAF”. Despite concentrated efforts of Operation HONOUR aimed at combating sexual misconduct, examples of problematic behaviours continue to appear (Pierotti, 2020, pp.7-9), and often the results of investigations feel to victims as inadequate and disappointing.

Moreover, “the power dynamic between the more numerous male leaders and the less numerous female subordinates” continues to “create more opportunities for further sexual misconduct and makes it difficult for women to speak out” (McCristall, 2023, p.3). Workplace harassment, to include inappropriate/misogynistic comments, jokes, displays, etc., aimed at women has been less frequently reported, but remains an equally disturbing source of anxiety for women in the CAF, making their workplace feel uncomfortable, unwelcoming and even unsafe. Futhermore, women note that male leaders tend to negatively target women “depending on their apperance, behaviour and mannerisms”, resulting in women being viewed as either attractive (and thus receiving unwanted male attention) or too masculine (in turn, being treated more poorly because of their supposed “butch” status) (McCristall, 2023, pp.4-5).

In addition, many female soldiers continue to feel that male dominance and lack of inclusivity within the forces impact their occupational advancement; women often feel “overlooked, subjugated, and needing to work harder than their male cohorts – often not recognized for their efforts”, and that men are often promoted despite having fewer qualifications (McCristall, 2023, pp.4-5).

b) Glass Ceilings

Many female soldiers find it difficult to stay in the CAF as they do not see sufficient advancement opportunities or many glass ceilings being shattered. The CAF, and especially its leadership, continues to be male-dominated, with masculinity being deemed as more effective and privileged for leadership advancement and higher positions selection, and women continue to feel gender-biased in their leadership opportunities, despite their abilities and qualifications. “Regardless of their abilities, women have been continually compared to their male counterparts, are segregated into more feminine roles, and are seen as less capable of performing work typically occupied by men”. This gender-bias has often led women to adopt more masculine attitudes, appearances and behaviours in order to seem more effective and suitable for leadership positions. And often, when women do occupy male-dominated roles, they can experience condescending or patronising treatment from their male co-workers (McCristall, 2023, p.2).

In other instances, women who have been under pressure to fit in in the predominantly male military culture have been seen to judge and discriminate against other women based on unwritten “proper femininity” standards and/or adopted patriarchal hierarchies. Similarly, with so few females in the organization, women are sometimes purposely or inadvertently pushed into competition with other women, which puts further stress on their sense of self-value and belonging (Biskupski-Mujanovic, 2023, p.3).

As it was stated in the introduction of this paper, the CAF has 17% of women in its ranks; however, only about 8% of them are represented at the general/admiral level (Pierotti, 2020, p. 9). Considering that it takes about 30 years to reach these most senior ranks, this lack of female role models and representation at the highest levels makes is daunting for serving women to envision the possibilities and to stay motivated to climb up the leadership pyramid. More significantly, “the small number of women making institutional decisions means that their voices are few enough that long-term internal change is going to be very difficult until women become a much larger presence in the CAF”. Or, in other words, it likely means that men will continue to make “the majority of decisions surrounding the increase of female representation and the underlying policies”… (Pierotti, 2020, p. 9)

c) Work-Life Balance

For most women serving in the CAF, the work-life balance equation is arguably the most important factor in their decision to either stay or leave the forces. As women’s roles in society and the CAF continue to evolve, the one constant that seems to remain is the expectation for women to be the primary childcare providers. And since women are also more likely than men to be single parents, it all adds up to many more challenges faced by female soldiers in relation to parental leave, childcare support, geographic relocations and deployments (Pierotti, 2020, p.8).

Women are often afraid – and frequently rightfully so - that they will miss or will be passed over for advancement opportunities when on extended maternity leave or leave of absence related to raising children. As such, serving women sometimes find themselves having to make careful, long-term plans around starting a family vs progressing within their military careers. Mothers who need to complete trade or leadership courses (all of which are not optional in terms of career progression) have to tackle the issue of having their children taken care of while they are away for several weeks or sometimes months at a different base/in another province. Similarly, deployments are difficult for serving mothers, not only because the military often makes women feel like they need to make a choice between their careers and their children, but also because they simply feel bad about being away from their children for many months. Moreover, having to frequently uproot their children’s/spouses’ lives to meet frequent posting requirements is not an easy task, emotionally and financially (e.g., if the spouse is a civilian, they are likely to lose their income when they move), and continues to be a source of great stress for female soldiers with families. Another issue related to the expectation of CAF members’ to move frequently relates to the recent instability of the housing market, namely that the relocation benefits do not compensate individuals for having to sell or buy their homes at a loss or at a greatly inflated value. This causes families additional financial hardship and further reluctance to relocate, esp. to areas where affordable housing does not exist (Chetwynd, 2018, p.17).

And as much as the CAF has been making great efforts to become a better employer by improving its personnel polices in terms of more flexible work arrangements, more choices for career management, less frequent re-locations, and better family supports (as exemplified by the introduction of The CAF Journey), female soldiers will likely have to keep shouldering the competing responsibilities presented by the military and the family institutions.

d) Role of SA CWOs/CPO1s in retention of women

Senior Appointment CWOs/CPO1s need to be playing a major role in the CAF’s efforts to retain women within its ranks. Due to their membership in SA Command Teams, the CWOs/CPO1s are uniquely positioned not only to lead by personal example, but also to be able to provide ground truth, recommendations and advice to their commanders, who in turn have the means to influence initiatives, strategies and policies that can continue to change the CAF’s culture, and make the organization a diverse, inclusive and safe workplace for military women to thrive in.

SA CWOs/CPO1s should employ their CAF competencies of social capacities (communication, interpersonal relations), change capacities (developing self and others), and professional ideology and expertise (credibility and influence, action orientation and initiative, organizational awareness, envisioning) in order to create a climate that unifies the institution and builds a workplace where mutual respect, dignity and inclusion are prevalent, and where women feel that they have the opportunity to contribute and achieve their full potential.

Senior leaders need to be the primary agents of change by setting personal examples; by demonstrating their own commitment to culture change through repeated statements of the importance of change, and through tangible actions like adopting own behaviours that are in line with their statements to their subordinates. SA CPO1s/CWOs should also promote and champion CAF’s directives and publications, like Chief, Professional Conduct and Culture initiatives or Trusted to Serve, which emphasize the importance of recognizing and embracing the diversity of the team’s talents and perspectives, challenging unacceptable behaviours, and making the right decisions to support and champion cultural change across the organization.

All SA leaders, but particularly the male ones, need to act as ambassadors for equality and inclusion of women within the CAF workplace. Since men comprise at least 85% of the CAF, and therefore they are the ones who make the majority of decision regarding women’s representation in the CAF, then men need to be the ones responsible for making changes to the military culture and to truly welcome women to the institution (Pierotti, 2020, p.10). SA CWOs/CPO1s should also look out for discrimination against women in terms of career advancement, and help to ensure that promotions and leadership positions allocation for female members are truly based on merit, performance and qualifications, and not on perceived weaknesses or shortcomings as women.

In addition, SA CPO1s/CWOs should promote education, intellectual curiosity, and reflection as a means of cultural transformation for all their subordinate leaders as they are the ones who have direct influence on soldiers (within the regular training system and via OSSIDE courses). Senior leaders should furthermore encourage grass-root initiatives or local solutions, like unit advisory groups or committees, culture advisors, JRs’ culture change proposals/initiatives, etc., as these means may prove the most important and long-lasting due to their organic roots. Honorary Colonels, who are strong institutional leaders in their own right within their civilian organizations, or local expertise engagement, could also inform and assist local initiatives.

SA CWOs/CPO1s should also encourage informal sister-in-arms friendships and more opportunities for female social networking amongst serving women as a means of improving inclusivity and fostering a more encouraging working environment for women. On the formal side, mentorship of women and female-to-female mentorship programs for new and serving members should be encouraged and promoted. Such mentorship would assist new recruits to adapt faster and better into the CAF culture, while at the same time helping the culture change to be adapted more willingly and organically (and it would perhaps also give the more experienced female soldiers a sense of purpose and fulfillment in being a mentor) (Biskupski-Mujanovic, 2023, p.4).

Although the SA CWOs/CPO1s cannot directly influence governmental/DND policies, they can certainly use their positions as senior advisers to recommend changes, improvements and creative solutions to their commanders, who often do have a direct impact or at least can influence or effect policy changes. This would certainly apply to much needed enhancements and transformations of personnel policies, especially those related to childcare, parental leave, postings and deployments – all issues that are close to heart to all serving women who are responsible for raising families.

And if formation CWOs/CPO1s do not have a way of advising on policy changes, then they can certainly employ local solutions to local problems. They exercise their professional judgment and compassion/understanding by examining their subordinates’ personal situations and potentially allowing their female members more flexibility and choice when it comes to work demands, geographic relocations, having to spend time away from home for the purposes of training, deployments, or just to manage the unpredictability of family life. Simply, the SA NCMs should know their soldiers and promote their welfare as best as they can within their local setting.

CONCLUSION

This paper has discussed the issue of retention of women in the CAF. In particular, several barriers facing serving women have been examined to determine why the CAF has not been able to achieve the 25% representation of women as outlined in the Strong, Secure, Engaged Defence Policy document published in 2017. The first barrier that was analyzed involved the CAF’s organizational culture, which has proven detrimental to female members due to its still existing sexualized/misogynistic nature, and the lack of true acceptance of diversity and inclusivity in the military workplace. Other obstacles faced by women in the CAF centered around gender discrimination when it comes to career advancement for females and the scarcity of visibility of women at the highest levels of CAF’s leadership, both of which discourage or outright prevent women from seeking leadership opportunities within the forces. The last source of retention concerns that was looked at was the limited flexibility of the CAF’s personnel policies as they relate to serving women in their roles as mothers and primary childcare providers. Finally, the paper proposed a series of solutions, initiatives or actions that SA CWOs/CPO1s can contribute towards the CAF’s efforts of retaining female soldiers within the organization, and thus meeting the SSE women representation goals.

The CAF’s efforts to remove barriers that prevent women from staying in the ranks must continue in order to allow for promotion of a higher level of diversity, equality and inclusion within the organization. Increased representation of women will also enable the CAF to have greater capacity and capabilities to serve its people, both domestically and overseas. Retaining more women within the CAF will additionally bring in new perspectives and broader range of cultural, gender and other unique attributes that will directly contribute to CAF’s efforts to develop a deeper understanding of increasingly complex world, to effectively respond to the challenges it presents, and to generally enhance military effectiveness by drawing on all of the strenghts of Canada’s population.

Increasing the retention of women in the CAF will continue to take time and a variety of efforts, and the SA CWOs/CPO1s need to vigorously employ a variety of our professional competencies to show the serving women that we are committed to achieving this goal and that we will take whatever actions necessary to provide women with a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming working environment. If the serving female soldiers can believe that these efforts are genuine and heartfelt, we may yet be successful in retaining more of them, thus making our organization that much better for it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Biskupski-Mujanovic, Sandra, “Breaking the Glass Floor: CAF Culture Change Through Mentorship for Women”, Canadian Global Affairs Institute, 2023

Chetywnd, Jason, “Accepting the Inevitable and Planning for the Future Needs of the CAF”, Canadian Forces College, JCSP Service Paper, 2018

Department of National Defence, “Strong Secure Engaged: Canada’s Defence Policy”, 2017

Department of National Defence, “CAF Competency Dictionary”, 2021

Government of Canada/Historica Canada/Memory Project, “Women in the Canadian Military: Resource Kit”

McCristall, Phillip and Babando, Jordan, “Challenges Within the Canadian Military: An Exploratory Study of Female Veteran Lived Experiences”, Asia-Pacific Journal of Canadian Studies, 29(2), December 2023

Pierotti, James, “Barriers to Women in the Canadian Armed Forces”, Canadian Military Journal, Vol. 20, No. 4, Autumn 2020