Date of Award

9-1993

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Abstract

This study investigated the correlation between measures of academic achievement and success in the Air Force commissioning process. The correlation between area of high school attendance and success was also examined. Any significant differences in the correlations for black officer candidates and other officer candidates were determined. An extensive literature review revealed that no similar Air Force study had ever been conducted. Discriminant function analysis was performed on a sample of approximately 14,600 U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) cadets and 6,500 Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) cadets. The researchers found that measures of past academic success were only slightly correlated with success. The researchers also found that although area of high school attendance was slightly correlated with success for other USAFA candidates, there was no correlation for black candidates. The researchers concluded that using these factors alone to predict success would be inadequate. There are other non-quantitative factors that are crucial to predicting commissioning success. Furthermore, there are unique non-quantitative factors that are crucial to predicting success for black cadets. The authors stress the need to continue this research. Potential areas of future research are suggested.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GSM-LAR-93S-4

DTIC Accession Number

ADA275905

Comments

Presented to the Faculty of the School of Logistics and Acquisitions Management of the Air Force Institute of Technology

The authors' Vita pages are omitted.

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