The Effect of the Summer Training Program on Midshipmen Career Choice at the United States Naval Academy

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the Summer Training Program (STP) on vocational development of midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy. To test this relationship a sample of 615 first-class midshipmen and 615 second-class midshipmen from the classes of 2O02-2O04 completed a survey regarding their experiences on summer cruise. Survey answers were grouped into several factors derived from a review of the literature in vocational psychology. The relationship between these factors and warfare community preferences of the respondents were analyzed using cross- tabulations, univariate tests and multivariate models. Cross-tabulations showed that only 25% of midshipmen change their warfare community preference during the last two years at the Academy. Independent Pearson Correlations (r) showed the effect of each of the different factors on warfare community selection. Of the different variables identified gender, academic major, running-mate qualification/experience, and ship morale were found to have an impact on the intention to select surface warfare at the conclusion of the summer training experience. The multivariate models (logit) verified that the above variables were significant in determining the choice of warfare community and also showed that observed ship morale was the dominant factor above all others in helping to form career interests.
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