Lawrence M. Hanser

Senior Behavioral Scientist

Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. and M.S. in psychology, Iowa State University; B.A. in psychology, Marquette University

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

More Experts

Overview

Lawrence M. Hanser (he/him) is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. He previously served as associate director of the Manpower, Personnel, and Training Program within RAND Project AIR FORCE.

As an industrial/organizational psychologist, Hanser’s research has focused on people and organizations, and the interface between them—specifically on the design of organizations, and how people are selected and trained to be successful in them. He has led and participated in projects focused on understanding the skill requirements of senior leadership positions in the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the impact of these requirements on development and succession planning. He has examined the career patterns of U.S. Army civilians, paths to increasing professionalism among U.S. Air Force personnel, and entrance testing of applicants to military service. Recent work includes considerations of different ways the new US Space Force could choose to develop and manage its personnel.

Hanser received his Ph.D. and M.S. in psychology from Iowa State University and his B.A. in psychology from Marquette University.

Research Focus

Previous Positions

Chief, Selection and Classification Technical Area, Manpower and Personnel Research Laboratory, U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Recent Projects

Organizing and Training for the Contested, Degraded, and Operationally Limited Space Force
Career patterns of U.S. Army civilian employees
Admission standards at U.S. military academies
Entrance standards for enlisted military personnel

Selected Publications

Jennifer Li et al., Enhancing Professionalism in the U.S. Air Force, RAND (RR-1721-AF), 2017

Shanthi Nataraj and Lawrence M. Hanser, Career Paths in the Army Civilian Workforce: Identifying Common Patterns Based on Statistical Clustering, RAND (RR-2280-A), 2018

Brien Alkire, Sherrill Lingel, and Lawrence M. Hanser, A Wargame Method for Assessing Risk and Resilience of Military Command-and-Control Organizations, RAND (TL-291-AF), 2018

Douglas Yeung et al., Recruiting Policies and Practices for Women in the Military: Views from the Field, RAND Corporation (RR-1538-OSD), 2017

Chaitra Hardison et al., How Effective Are Military Academy Admission Standards?RAND Corporation (RB-9905-OSD), 2016

Lawrence M. Hanser et al., United States Service Academy Admissions: Selecting for Success at the Military Academy/West Point and as an Officer, RAND Corporation (RR-723-OSD), 2015

Lawrence M. Hanser et al., Improving Development Teams to Support Deliberate Development of Air Force Officers, RAND Corporation (RR-1010-AF), 2015

Honors & Awards

Scholarly Achievement Award, Academy of Management
Fellow, Association for Psychological Science

Recent Media Appearances

Commentary: San Francisco Chronicle

Commentary

The Realities of Silicon Valley's Lack of Workforce Diversity
Major Silicon Valley tech firms have released statistics indicating their workforces are largely made up of white men. Corporate America is on the receiving end of a complex chain of social and educational factors that continue to leave minorities behind in terms of college graduation, and both minorities and women behind in terms of STEM degrees.
Oct 2, 2014 San Francisco Chronicle

Publications

Report
Air Force Professional Military Education: Considerations for Change
Professional military education is a complex system that accommodates thousands of Air Force officers yearly. The Air Force needs to rebalance the assignment of students to Air University and to other PME or fellowship programs outside the Air Force.
Jul 12, 2021
Report
Career Paths in the Army Civilian Workforce: Identifying Common Patterns Based on Statistical Clustering
This report examines what the career of a "typical" Army civilian looks like. It identifies seven common career patterns among individuals who entered the Army civilian workforce between 1981 and 2000 as General Schedule employees.
Oct 31, 2018
Tool
A Wargame Method for Assessing Risk and Resilience of Military Command-and-Control Organizations
Guide to conducting a command-and-control (C2) risk and resilience tabletop exercise, a new wargaming method of assessing metrics for C2 structures in terms of risks from adversary efforts or the operational environment and resilience to those risks.
Jun 21, 2018
Report
Command and Control of Joint Air Operations in the Pacific: Methods for Comparing and Contrasting Alternative Concepts
This report recommends methods for comparing and contrasting alternative organizational concepts for command and control of joint air operations in the Pacific in different scenarios.
Jan 18, 2018
Report
Recruiting Policies and Practices for Women in the Military: Views from the Field
This report helps inform strategies to recruit women through the results of focus groups with recent recruits and recruiters.
Jun 28, 2017
Report
Enhancing Professionalism in the U.S. Air Force
This report considers the U.S. Air Force definition of professionalism as a starting point to address the question: What can the Air Force do to increase the professionalism of its personnel?
Apr 14, 2017
Research Brief
How Effective Are Military Academy Admission Standards?
This brief summarizes the results of analysis of the applicant scoring systems that the U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy use for admission.
Jul 22, 2016
Report
United States Service Academy Admissions: Selecting for Success at the Air Force Academy and as an Officer
This report examines admission standards at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) and officer outcomes to evaluate whether the USAFA admissions formula should be adjusted.
Jul 22, 2016
Report
Leveraging the Past to Prepare for the Future of Air Force Intelligence Analysis
This report describes steps the U.S. Air Force can take to help ensure that it has the capability needed to provide intelligence analysis support to a broad range of service and combatant commander needs.
Apr 27, 2016
Report
Improving Development Teams to Support Deliberate Development of Air Force Officers
This report examines the ways development teams assist Air Force officers with their professional development and assesses the future of these teams.
Nov 24, 2015
Report
United States Service Academy Admissions: Selecting for Success at the Military Academy/West Point and as an Officer
This report explores the relationship between the current scoring of data for applicants to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and two subsequent outcomes: probability of graduating and probability of officer promotion.
Mar 12, 2015
Report
The Future of the Army’s Civilian Workforce: Comparing Projected Inventory with Anticipated Requirements and Estimating Cost Under Different Personnel Policies
To help the Army participate in planned reductions in the DoD civilian workforce, the authors examined how the Army might manage supply to meet projected demand for civilian employees over the next several years under a range of scenarios.
Jun 18, 2014
Report
Improving Demographic Diversity in the U.S. Air Force Officer Corps
Examines the relative scarcity of minorities and women among senior leaders (i.e., colonel and above) in the uniformed Air Force, with the goal of identifying contributing factors and potential policy responses.
May 20, 2014
Report
Elements of Success: How Type of Secondary Education Credential Helps Predict Enlistee Attrition
This report examines how attrition rates for enlistees with distance learning or homeschool credentials compare with those of high school diploma holders in light of Armed Forces Qualification Test scores.
Feb 20, 2014
Report
Year of the Air Force Family: 2009 Survey of Active-Duty Spouses
Air Force families confront issues related to children, finances, employment, and the effects of moves and deployments but, by and large, remain satisfied with Air Force life.
Mar 3, 2011
Report
Final Report of the Panel on the Department of Defense Human Capital Strategy
An expert panel's review of the DoD's 2006 human capital strategy, with recommendations for future iterations.
Sep 25, 2008
Research Brief
Assessing the New York City Police Department Firearm Training and Firearm-Discharge Review Process
This research brief summarizes the results of an assessment of the NYPD's firearm training and firearm-discharge review process, including a review of reflexive shootings, officers involved in shootings, and less-than-lethal force options.
Jun 3, 2008
Report
Evaluation of the New York City Police Department Firearm Training and Firearm-Discharge Review Process
In January 2007, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly asked the RAND Corporation to examine his department's firearm training and firearm-discharge review. This monograph reports the authors' observations, findings, and recommendations.
Jun 1, 2008
Research Brief
Test and Evaluation Facilities and Capabilities: Is the Air Force Overinvested?
This research brief describes a RAND examination of the costs and benefits of a proposed consolidation of Air Force test and evaluation facilities that had raised concerns among a broad set of interested parties, including members of Congress.
May 28, 2008
Report
Cost-Benefit Analysis of the 2006 Air Force Materiel Command Test and Evaluation Proposal
The Air Force proposal to consolidate and divest a portion of Eglin Air Force Base's test and evaluation capabilities has both financial merits and risks that the Air Force should address.
May 15, 2008
Research Brief
Is the Navy Developing Flag Officers with the Expertise They Need?
This research brief summarizes a study that examined the kinds of expertise required by senior Navy officers, whether recent pools of officers possess this expertise, and the skills that may become more important for Navy leadership in the future.
May 14, 2008
Report
Developing Senior Navy Leaders: Requirements for Flag Officer Expertise Today and in the Future
Identifies the expertise requirements of senior Navy leadership positions, as well as the types of experience likely to become more important in the future, to better understand how the Navy should develop its officers.
May 7, 2008
Report
Absorbing and Developing Qualified Fighter Pilots: The Role of the Advanced Simulator
The Air Force should develop new ways to measure and credit different types of flying and nonflying experience to determine when fighter pilots are prepared for various combat and staff positions.
Sep 9, 2007
Research Brief
New Approaches to Developing the Air Force's Senior Leader Workforce
To help improve the Air Force's general officer (GO) development approach, RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) conducted a study of GO positions and Senior Executive Service (SES) positions and the competencies required for each.
Nov 25, 2005
Report
The Role of Deployments in Competency Development: Experience from Prince Sultan Air Base and Eskan Village in Saudi Arabia
Uses survey data to consider the utility of Prince Sultan Air Base /Eskan deployments as a setting for broadening the skills and competencies of Air Force staff
Dec 20, 2004
Report
Integrated Planning for the Air Force Senior Leader Workforce: Background and Methods
Describes the background for and methods used in a study carried out to better understand how to develop leaders who possess the operational knowledge and technical skills needed to perform effectively in senior Air Force positions.
Dec 13, 2004
Research Brief
Do Air Force Personnel Broaden Their Skills During Deployments?
RAND Project AIR FORCE conducted a survey to identify the settings in which individuals learn occupational skills and universal competencies outside of their primary occupations, with an emphasis on deployments.
2004
Report
What Is the Required Level of Noncontingency Temporary Duty for Air Force Personnel?
Examines the extent to which contingency temporary duty may be impinging on noncontingency temporary duty to the potential detriment of Air Force training and readiness.
2003
Research Brief
Military Recruiting: Trends, Outlooks, and Implications
RAND was asked to first make a quick assessment of the recruiting situation and then carry out a longer-term, in-depth analysis to examine recruiting trends, identify potential problems, and recommend ways to counter them.
2001
Report
Evidence of Positive Student Outcomes in JROTC Career Academies
This report focuses on an examination of the effects of the JROTC Career Academy program on student outcomes, including grades, attendance, and graduation.
2000
Research Brief
Changing the Policy Toward Homosexuals in the U.S. Military
In January 1993, President Clinton mandated the end of sexual-orientation discrimination in the U.S. military. RAND was asked to provide a comprehensive analysis of the issues involved and evaluate different courses of action that could be taken to implement the president's objectives.
2000
Report
Implementing High School JROTC Career Academies
In 1992, the U.S. Departments of Defense and Education joined together to create a high school program aimed at encouraging at-risk youth to remain in school until graduation.
2000
Report
The Warfighting Capacity of Air Combat Command's Numbered Air Forces
This documented briefing examines the numbers and kinds of personnel assigned to the Air Combat Command's Numbered Air Forces (NAFs) that will be necessary to meet warfighting requirements.
2000
Report
Estimating AFQT Scores for National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) Respondents
This is the first report of a two-part project that estimates the determinants of individual enlistment decisions using the 1992 and 1994 waves of the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS).
1998
Report
Lessons for the National Assessment of Educational Progress from military standard setting
Lessons for the National Assessment of Educational Progress from military standard setting
1998
Report
What Helps and What Hurts: How Ten Activities Affect Readiness and Quality of Life at Three 8AF Wings
... to examine how peacetime operations, exercises, inspections, and a range of other activities affect diverse elements within an Air Force wing, concentrating on the high pace of operations that leads to stress and its unwelcome consequences.
1997
Report
Accountability in Workforce Training
In this issue paper, the authors argue that current congressional proposals to change federal workforce training programs may undermine this purpose because they pay little attention to accountability.
1995
Report
A Framework for Characterization of Military Unit Training Status
Information routinely available to defense and national leaders about the adequacy of military training is not very helpful in their decisionmaking.
1995
Report
JROTC Career Academies' Guidebook
JROTC Career Academies' Guidebook
1995
Report
Improving Perkins II Performance Measures and Standards: Lessons Learned from Early Implementers in Four States
The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 required states to develop outcome-based accountability systems built around statewide performance measures and standards.
1994
Report
Beyond Vocational Education Standards and Measures: Strengthening Local Accountability Systems for Program Improvement
The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act Amendments of 1990 (Perkins II) mandate significant changes in federal vocational education policy.
1993
Report
Sexual Orientation and U.S. Military Personnel Policy: Options and Assessment
This report presents the RAND study that resulted from a request to assist the Secretary of Defense in drafting an Executive Order to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the U.S. Armed Forces.
1993
Report
Local Accountability in Vocational Education: A Theoretical Model and Its Limitations in Practice
Recent policy initiatives have sought to improve vocational education through increased accountability. The purpose of this study was to analyze existing local accountability systems in vocational education.
1992
Report
Who Should Train? Substituting Civilian-Provided Training for Military Training
In light of expected changes in the size and structure of the force, and the increasing importance of the reserve forces, Congress has asked whether initial skill training for technical occupations could be provided by civilian institutions.
1991