Title 10 USC §481 requires the Department to conduct a quadrennial survey to assess racial/ethnic relations in the military called the Workplace and Equal Opportunity Survey. One of the key features of this survey is the ability to derive estimated past year rates of racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination. The purpose of this executive note is to provide the estimated prevalence of past year racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination in the active duty by sex and race ethnicity using survey data from the 2017 Workplace and Equal Opportunity Survey of Active Duty Members. Results indicate active duty women were more likely than men to experience racial/ethnic harassment and/or discrimination in the 12 months prior to taking the survey regardless of race/ethnicity. However, racial/ethnic differences were observed within sex such that racial/ethnic minority members, particularly Black members, were more likely than White members to indicate experiencing racial/ethnic harassment and/or discrimination regardless of sex. Findings highlight the importance of understanding the intersection of race/ethnicity and sex to inform the prevention of racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination in the military.
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”.