West Point Women’s Views on Leadership: Perceptions From First Women Graduates Through Current Cadets

Abstract

As the nation’s oldest service academy, the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point has provided U.S. Army officers since 1802. While women have attended West Point and the other military service academies since 1976, there is little published scholarly research on the lived experiences of these women and even less on their leadership development. In this qualitative study, women from across the 4-plus decades of coeducation at West Point discussed how their West Point experiences both positively and negatively informed their leadership development. In addition to sub-themes around leadership, themes involving sexism/misogyny and confidence/self-esteem emerged. In addition to being the first study to document the leadership development experiences of West Point women, this study adds to the literature on women and leadership in higher education in general.