Abstract

This study shows the changes of female Air Force officers' attitudes to sex role over ten years. The subject is 18 female officers who entered the Air Force Academy in 1997, the first year of sex-integrated education. Sex role attitudes are measured in the three areas of traditional sex role identity, attitudes toward women managers and military women. The surveys are conducted in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2007. Two control groups are selected: 40 male officers of the same class of the subject group for the longitudinal analysis, and 204 cadets for the cross sectional comparison. The results are as follows. First, the female and male Air Force officers show increasingly progressive attitudes toward sex role compared to their attitudes they had when they were cadets. Second, the progressive level of female officers' attitudes toward sex role shows changes. The level decreases in 1999 and increases in 2007 almost to the initial level of 1997. Third, the female pilot officers show more progressive attitudes toward sex role than male pilot officers and male and female non-pilot officers although the statistics do not show significant level. Fourth, the sex role attitudes between the officers and the cadets are not significantly different. Fifth, the gender difference exists in the sex role attitudes all through the ten years. The results are discussed in terms of sex-integrated education, gender-related issues and empowerment of female leaders in the military.