The Department of the Air Force (DAF) publishes directives, memorandums of instructions, and other guidance highlighting the importance of diversity. Indeed, DAF Senior Leadership is on record stating diversity is a mission imperative. Yet, demographic data have historically been masked for most boards making decisions about career development and promotions. The 2021 Central Professional Military Education (CPME) Program Boards provided an opportunity to test the effect of changes that would make race, ethnicity, and gender data visible to board members.

In addition, the DAF implemented two other diversity and inclusion–related changes for the 2021 CPME board: Board members underwent unconscious bias training, and instructions to board members concerning consideration of race, ethnicity, and gender were modified. Without careful study of the implementation, policymakers will not know whether the changes for the selection boards have had the intended effect, and whether there are unintended consequences that require mitigation efforts. The Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force asked RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) to conduct an evaluation that measures the effectiveness of the changes and to provide insights that inform future policy refinements. This report presents the results of that evaluation.

The research reported here was commissioned by the Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, and conducted within the Workforce, Development, and Health Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE as part of a fiscal year 2021 project, “Evaluating the Effects of Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Considerations into Developmental Education Selection Boards.”