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ORCID
N/A
Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Sociology
Degree Type
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
2015
Month Degree Awarded
May
Abstract
Scholars describe both the military and the family as “greedy institutions,” or institutions that require expansive time and energy commitments, and alter participants’ master status (Segal 1986; Coser 1974). However, the military’s employment benefits may counteract its greedy elements. I use data from the 2008 Survey of Active Duty Members to examine commitment to military employment in wartime, accounting for greedy elements of military service (such as geographic mobility, risk of bodily harm, and separations), job benefits, family structure, and gender. The results show that women in dual-service marriages, unmarried men, and those who experienced separations reported lower career commitment and affective organizational commitment. In contrast, the use of military job benefits was positively associated with commitment. Counterintuitively, parenthood, geographic mobility, and being stationed in Afghanistan were also positively associated with commitment. These findings complicate the military’s label as a greedy institution, and contribute to the literature on work-family conflict and gendered organizations.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/6925884
First Advisor
Jennifer H. Lundquist
Second Advisor
Donald Tomaskovic-Devey
Third Advisor
Michelle Budig
Fourth Advisor
Sanjiv Gupta
Recommended Citation
Brummond, Karen M., "A "Greedy" Institution with Great Job Benefits: Family Structure and Gender Variation in Commitment to Military Employment" (2015). Masters Theses. 183.
https://doi.org/10.7275/6925884
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/183
Included in
Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Work, Economy and Organizations Commons