Social Status and Minority Recruit Performance in the Navy: Some Implications for Affirmative Action Programs

Aptitude, motivation, training completion, and job survival measures were compared for 1,091 blacks, 192 Hispanics, 186 Asian, and 1,785 white recruits who entered Navy paramedical training during 1973. The minority groups were found to have lower aptitude and motivation scores, on the average, than the majority group, but tended to do as well as, and in some cases better than, the majority group on the performance measures. The effect of social status on recruit expectations of the working environment is hypothesized to account for the apparent discrepancy. Based upon these data, it is suggested that the Navy can select minority group personnel for technical training whose chances of remaining on the job are quite good irrespective of their aptitude and motivation scores.