The Ethical Issue of Women Serving on Submarine’s
Chad Morey
Excelsior University
Thesis
An ethical issue in the navy is whether or not women should be allowed to serve on submarines. Women serving on submarines present ethical dilemmas due many constraints that accompany serving on submarines. Some ethical dilemmas include different medical complications that could arise for women, fair treatment both for women and men, adequate living space and privacy. The stakeholders impacted from this issue are women in the military, the men currently on submarines, and the submariner’s significant other.
Issue
In the U.S. Navy, women were not given the opportunity to serve on submarines. Many view this as discrimination. According to Trevino and Nelson (2011), “Discrimination occurs whenever something other than qualifications affects how an employee is treated” (p. 116). Women have proved in the military that they have the ability to perform at the same high level as men. Specifically, women have been serving on surface fighting warships since 1993. Not allowing women to serve on submarines can be viewed as unfair and unethical. In the military or in a civilian business, as long as the employee meets the qualification and standards they should be given the same opportunity as anyone else. This ethical issue seems cut and dry as being unethical yet, there are underlying ethical dilemmas that congress and admirals of the navy have to look at prior to making a decision.
Certain medical issues could arise for women that have the potential of causing problems. If a female submariner were to get pregnant and was unaware, would the environment of the submarine cause medical problems for herself and the fetus? According to the research done by Kane and Horn (2001):
The submarine atmosphere, containing chronically elevated CO2 and other contaminants, and submarine environmental factors such as noise and vibration...