Relationship of Mental and Educational Levels of Navy Male Enlisted Personnel to Job Outcome Criteria

The objectives of the research were to 1 validate enlistment standards against job outcome criteria, 2 compare the average job outcomes of personnel who were below enlistment standards with those of personnel who met standards, and 3 develop background information about job outcome measures. A sample of 71,000 males enlisted during 1976 was extracted from Navy records. They were classified according to membership in five mental level ML categories and three educational level categories. A subset of the sample who enlisted erroneously, due to Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery misnoming, were identified and their enlisted performance compared to that of fully qualified enlistees. They were compared on six job outcome and three advancement examination criteria extracted from Navy records. Study conclusions were Level of education acquired prior to accession is strongly associated with success. High school graduates have substantially better advancement, attrition and disciplinary records than either non-high school graduates NHSOs or individuals with general education development GED certificates. GEDs have somewhat better performance than NHSG certificates, but the differences were not that great Personnel in high ML categories had better advancement and attrition records than low ML personnel, however, this may be a function of high ML personnel being assigned to ratings with faster advancement potential. In summary, enlistment standards screen out the least capable as indicated by marked decreases in promotion and retention of individuals unqualified.