The Health and Resilience (H&R) Research Division within the Office of People Analytics (OPA) has conducted congressionally mandated assessments at the Academies since 2005. 1 Title 10, United States Code (U.S.C.), Sections 4361, 6980, and 9361, as amended by Section 532 of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2007, codified an assessment cycle at the Military Service Academies (MSA) that consists of alternating surveys and focus groups. This requirement applies to the DoD Service Academies (U.S. Military Academy [USMA], U.S. Naval Academy [USNA], and U.S. Air Force Academy [USAFA]). These regular assessments are known as the Service Academy Gender Relations (SAGR) project.
In order to provide actionable insights to inform prevention efforts at the Academies, OPA, in conjunction with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO), conducted the 2021 Academy Climate and Networking Study (2021 ACNS). The results of the 2021 ACNS are designed to equip the Academies to continue to enhance and refine their prevention efforts in three ways. First, these findings will allow the Academies to better identify students who are likely to be highly influential in order to leverage these students in prevention efforts. Next, these findings highlight norms on campus that can contribute to risk of violence and harm; targeting these norms is a promising intervention avenue. Finally, these findings highlight ways to engage students that are more likely to be effective.
The purpose of this executive report is to describe the statistical and study methodology employed on the 2021 Academy Climate and Networking Study (2021 ACNS) and provide top-level findings.
Note: Prior to 2025, OPA research products used the term “gender” to describe men and women. These groups were defined using survey items and/or administrative data categories for “male” and “female”; therefore, references to gender should be understood to mean “sex”.