Avery Calkins

Associate Economist; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Washington Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, University of Michigan; M.A. in economics, University of Michigan; B.S. in economics, Carnegie Mellon University

Overview

Avery Calkins is an associate economist at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She is a labor economist with a focus on occupational choice related questions. Her RAND research covers various topics in the realm of military personnel management and policy, including but not limited to work on military recruiting and retention, compensation, talent management, sexual harassment and assault, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan, an MA in Economics from the University of Michigan, and a BS in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Avery Calkins, Ariel J. Binder, Dana Shaat, Brenden Timpe, "When Sarah Meets Lawrence: The Effects of Coeducation on Women's College Major Choices," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 15(3), 2023

Lytell, Maria C., Michael L. Hansen, Avery Calkins, Matthew D. Baird, Nastassia Reed, Kristin J. Leuschner, and Clifford A. Grammich, Retention of Racial-Ethnic Minorities in the Regular Army, RAND Corporation (RR-A2011-1), 2023

Calkins, Avery, Michael G. Mattock, Beth J. Asch, Ryan A. Schwankhart, and Tara L. Terry, Army Aviation Special and Incentive Pay Policies to Promote Performance, Manage Talent, and Sustain Retention, RAND Corporation (RR-A2234-1), 2023

Schell, Terry L., Sarah O. Meadows, Avery Calkins, Matthew Cefalu, Linda Cottrell, and Rebecca L. Collins, Types of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Active-Duty Army, RAND Corporation (RR-A1385-3), 2023

Calkins, Avery, Tiffany Berglund, David Schulker, and Louis T. Mariano, Benchmarking Demographic Diversity in Air Force Functional Areas Against Near-Equivalent Civilians: The Air Force Occupational Diversity Benchmarking Workbooks, RAND Corporation (RR-A988-3), 2023

Calkins, Avery, Matthew Cefalu, Terry L. Schell, Linda Cottrell, Sarah O. Meadows, and Rebecca L. Collins, Sexual Assault Experiences in the Active-Component Army: Variation by Year, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Installation Risk Level, RAND Corporation (RR-A1385-2), 2022

Calkins, Avery, Beth J. Asch, What Happened to Military Recruiting and Retention of Enlisted Personnel in 2020 During the COVID-19 Pandemic?RAND Corporation (RR-A1092-1), 2022

Calkins, Avery, Matthew Cefalu, Terry L. Schell, Linda Cottrell, Sarah O. Meadows, and Rebecca L. Collins, Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in the Active-Component Army: Variation in Most Serious Event Characteristics by Gender and Installation Risk, RAND Corporation (RR-A1385-1), 2021

Publications

Report
Retention of Racial-Ethnic Minorities in the Regular Army
To help the Army accomplish its diversity goals, RAND Arroyo Center examined retention of racial-ethnic minorities in the Regular Army's enlisted and officer ranks and how racial-ethnic composition changes as soldiers progress in their careers.
Nov 30, 2023
Research Brief
Striving for Diversity: Observations on Racial and Ethnic Talent in the Regular Army's Senior Officer Corps
This brief discusses research on the progression of racial and ethnic minority officers through the ranks and ways to improve promotion rates to increase diversity in senior Army leadership.
Nov 30, 2023
Report
Army Aviation Special and Incentive Pay Policies to Promote Performance, Manage Talent, and Sustain Retention
This report presents results of an effort to determine how the U.S. Army This report presents results of an effort to determine how the U.S. Army might modernize special and incentive pays to better reward Army aviators' career advancement while cost-effectively achieving retention objectives.
Aug 7, 2023
Report
Review of Reserve Component Activation Data Quality
In this report, the authors quantify the frequency of errors in reserve component (RC) activation data, discuss the potential sources of each type of error, and estimate the potential impact of these errors on RC member benefits.
Jul 25, 2023
Report
Types of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Active-Duty Army
This report describes results of analyses that identify different types of sexual assault and sexual harassment experiences and assess how common each type is in the Army. It uses data from the 2018 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey.
Feb 24, 2023
Report
Benchmarking Demographic Diversity in Air Force Functional Areas Against Near-Equivalent Civilians: The Air Force Occupational Diversity Benchmarking Workbooks
To allow decisionmakers to discover potential barriers to a diverse and inclusive workforce, the authors created a method to measure diversity in the Department of the Air Force occupations using near-equivalent civilian occupations as benchmarks.
Feb 22, 2023
Research Brief
Actions the Army Can Take to Reduce Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, and Gender Discrimination
This research brief highlights top-line findings from four different projects that have implications for strategies to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault in the U.S. Army.
Oct 20, 2022
Infographic
Characteristics of Active-Duty Soldiers' Most Serious Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Experiences
This infographic presents characteristics of sexual harassment and sexual assault experiences among U.S. active-duty soldiers, with a focus on identifying differences across several demographic and military characteristics.
Oct 20, 2022
Report
Sexual Assault Experiences in the Active-Component Army: Variation by Year, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Installation Risk Level
Researchers describe the most common types of behaviors that occurred during active-component soldiers' most serious experiences of sexual assault, characteristics of alleged perpetrators, and times and places in which these experiences occurred.
Oct 20, 2022
Report
Civilian Cyber Workers in the U.S. Department of Defense: Demographics, Retention, and Responsiveness to Training Opportunities
Although training is necessary to ensure the continual productivity of the U.S. Department of Defense civilian cyber workforce, simulations indicate that training without consideration of external pay opportunities could adversely affect retention.
Jul 15, 2022
Report
End-of-Pilot Assessment of the U.S. Army's Consolidated Recruiting Program
The Army conducted a pilot test of a program in which recruiters were authorized to recruit individuals into any of its three components. This analysis found that the program's effects were small and not statistically meaningful.
Jun 15, 2022
Report
What Happened to Military Recruiting and Retention of Enlisted Personnel in 2020 During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
In this report, researchers provide an exploratory and descriptive analysis of the changes in military enlisted recruiting and retention during the first six months of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Jan 18, 2022
Draft
Gender, Grades, and College Major During the Dot-Com Crash
Investigates the mechanism behind the gender difference in reaction to the dot-com crash using administrative data on students from a four-year public university.
Dec 14, 2021
Draft
When Sarah Meets Lawrence: The Effect of Coeducation on Women's Major Choices
Leverages variation in the timing of women's colleges' transitions to coeducation to study how exposure to a gendered social environment affects women's human capital investments.
Nov 17, 2021
Research Brief
Characteristics of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Army: Implications for Prevention Efforts
This research brief highlights top-line findings from two projects that have implications for strategies to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault in the U.S. Army.
Aug 2, 2021
Report
Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in the Active-Component Army: Variation in Most Serious Event Characteristics by Gender and Installation Risk
This report describes the most common types of behaviors that occur during active-component soldiers' most serious sexual harassment and gender discrimination experiences, characteristics of (alleged) perpetrators, and times and places in which these occur.
Aug 2, 2021

Using AI to Identify Youth Suicide Risk: What Does the Evidence Say?

Disrupting the Chinese Military in Competition and Low-Intensity Conflict

America's Indo-Pacific Alliances Are Astonishingly Strong

Resilient Reconstruction in Ukraine

Preventing Domestic Violent Extremism: Insights from RAND Research

The Policy Currents Podcast

Developing Strategies for Summer Learning

Improving Psychological Wellbeing and Work Outcomes in the UK

Planning for the Rising Costs of Dementia

Helping Coastal Communities Plan for Climate Change

Avery Calkins

Education

Overview

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Publications

Retention of Racial-Ethnic Minorities in the Regular Army

Striving for Diversity: Observations on Racial and Ethnic Talent in the Regular Army's Senior Officer Corps

Army Aviation Special and Incentive Pay Policies to Promote Performance, Manage Talent, and Sustain Retention

Review of Reserve Component Activation Data Quality

Types of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Active-Duty Army

Benchmarking Demographic Diversity in Air Force Functional Areas Against Near-Equivalent Civilians: The Air Force Occupational Diversity Benchmarking Workbooks

Actions the Army Can Take to Reduce Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, and Gender Discrimination

Characteristics of Active-Duty Soldiers' Most Serious Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Experiences

Sexual Assault Experiences in the Active-Component Army: Variation by Year, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Installation Risk Level

Civilian Cyber Workers in the U.S. Department of Defense: Demographics, Retention, and Responsiveness to Training Opportunities

End-of-Pilot Assessment of the U.S. Army's Consolidated Recruiting Program

What Happened to Military Recruiting and Retention of Enlisted Personnel in 2020 During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Gender, Grades, and College Major During the Dot-Com Crash

When Sarah Meets Lawrence: The Effect of Coeducation on Women's Major Choices

Characteristics of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Army: Implications for Prevention Efforts

Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in the Active-Component Army: Variation in Most Serious Event Characteristics by Gender and Installation Risk

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