| dc.description.abstract | The United States Military Academy (USMA) is often referred to by leaders around the world as the premiere leader development institution. Each year, USMA is responsible for providing the nation with upwards of 1,000 second lieutenants who are ready to lead the men and women honorably and in service to the nation. Along with such an important mission in the 21st century comes the imperative of building diverse organizations. As such, USMA recognizes the importance and implications of building diverse teams and has invested significant resources in its outreach efforts and supporting tenet programs to identify highly qualified candidates across the nation.
The Minority Outreach Program (MOP) is responsible for outreach initiatives across the country that increase awareness of the opportunity to attend USMA and U.S. Army opportunities in minority communities.
The capstone team utilized a mixed-methods research approach. We sought to identify which supporting tenets of the MOP most impact on a minority candidate’s choice of USMA as an option. Moreover, this research sought to identify how strategies are implemented to identify optimal candidates from minority backgrounds for admission to USMA. Using historical institutional data, we designed a logistic regression model to understand which tenets of the MOP were most influential in a minority candidate’s choice of USMA. To provide more context to our quantitative output, we conducted a series of interviews with key stakeholders, executed document analysis, and field observations. | |
