Generational differences in gender equity and social justice beliefs among U.S. military women

Introduction U.S. military policies and culture are evolving alongside broader social attitudes. This study tested whether beliefs about gender equity and social justice differ between Generation X and Millennial women with U.S. military experience. Methods A cross-sectional, exploratory, comparative survey was conducted with 148 female-identifying adults with U.S. military experience (Generation X: n = 55; Millennials: n = 93; 16.9% currently serving). Beliefs were assessed using the Quick Discrimination Index (QDI) and the Social Justice Advocacy Scale (SJAS). Between-group differences were evaluated with Mann-Whitney U tests (α = 0.05). Results No statistically significant generational differences were observed on the QDI ( U = 2133.50, p = 0.09) or the SJAS composite ( U = 2348.00, p = 0.51). Millennials scored higher than Generation X on the SJAS Confronting Discrimination subscale ( U = 1922.50, p = 0.01). Descriptive statistics (means, SDs, skewness) indicated generally positive endorsement of gender equity and social justice across cohorts. Discussion Findings are exploratory and should be interpreted cautiously given MTurk recruitment, modest sample size, and the absence of multivariate controls (e.g., education, race) or independent service verification. Null effects may reflect limited statistical power as well as genuine attitudinal convergence. Future research should draw verified active-duty and veteran samples, implement data-quality and service-verification procedures, adapt measures for military specificity, and use multivariate models to test mechanisms with greater precision.