Carra S. Sims

Senior Behavioral and Social Scientist

Washington Office

Education

Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

One Page Bio

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.

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Overview

Carra S. Sims is a senior behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation working in Project AIR FORCE, Arroyo Center, and the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center on U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and Department of Homeland Security manpower and wellness. Her current and past research includes investigating the effects of workplace stressors (including military deployment, discrimination, and sexual harassment) on job attitudes and performance; assessing quality of life issues faced by wounded warriors, military families, and caregivers; evaluating employee selection systems, including the use of the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test in the Air Force officer selection system; exploring the effects of organizational climate and culture on job attitudes and behaviors, and how best to change organizational climate and culture; and determining the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for success in various military and civilian jobs. Prior to joining RAND, Sims examined issues of climate, stress, and morale for the Army Trends Analysis Research Unit at the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. She has published several RAND reports and her work has appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology, among other venues. She received her Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Today's Army Spouse Survey
Continuing Down the Road to Reintegration: Status and Ongoing Support of the U.S. Air Force's Wounded Warriors
Today's Soldier: Assessing the Needs of Soldiers and Their Families
Identifying Promising Approaches to U.S. Army Institutional Change: A Review of the Literature on Organizational Culture and Climate

Commentary

Sexual Harassment in Today's Rapidly Changing Workplace
Carra Sims, a senior behavioral and social scientist, has studied sexual harassment in the workplace for over a decade. In this Q&A, she discusses the changes that have taken place in recent years and the issue of accountability in matrixed organizations and in the gig economy.
Sep 23, 2019 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology

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
Tailoring Medical Standards for Air Force Personnel
To serve in the U.S. military, individuals must meet medical standards to ensure that they are fit to serve. The authors explore the implications to U.S. Air Force culture of tailoring such standards to expand or limit the pool of qualified personnel.
Apr 8, 2021
Research Brief
Harassment and Discrimination in the FEMA Workplace: Topline Results from the Workplace Survey Support Study
This brief summarizes findings and recommendations from a study of the prevalence and characteristics of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, racial/ethnic harassment, and racial/ethnic discrimination at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Dec 2, 2020
Report
Harassment and Discrimination on the Basis of Gender and Race/Ethnicity in the FEMA Workforce
Researchers assessed the prevalence and characteristics of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, racial/ethnic harassment, and racial/ethnic discrimination at FEMA. This report documents the survey results.
Dec 2, 2020
Report
Physical Task Simulations: Performance Measures for the Validation of Physical Tests and Standards for Battlefield Airmen
This report describes RAND's assistance to the Air Force in designing physical task simulations to evaluate the physical capabilities required to perform critical physical tasks in six battlefield airmen occupational specialties.
Feb 20, 2020
Report
2017 U.S. Air Force Community Feedback Tool: Key Results Report for Air Force Headquarters
This report presents results from a self-reported needs assessment of airmen, spouses of airmen, and Air Force civilian employees intended to help leadership and service providers better address the major challenges that community members are facing.
Nov 14, 2019
Research Brief
How Army Families Address Life's Challenges
A survey of more than 8,500 Army spouses examining their problem-solving processes found that the most common problems involved work-life balance, military practices and culture, and spouses' own well-being. Spouses most often wanted social support.
Oct 21, 2019
Infographic
Army Spouse Survey: Data to Help the Army Meet Spouses' Unique Needs
A survey of Army spouses identified challenges that Army families face and resources they need, including how spouses prioritize needs and how the Army can best address their most-pressing unmet needs.
Oct 8, 2019
Report
Today's Army Spouse Survey: How Army Families Address Life's Challenges
This report identifies challenges that Army families face and resources they need, from the perspectives of spouses, including how spouses prioritize needs and how the Army can best address their most-pressing unmet needs.
Oct 3, 2019
Report
Evaluation of the Strength Aptitude Test and Other Fitness Tests to Qualify Air Force Recruits for Physically Demanding Specialties
This report evaluates the Strength Aptitude Test and related fitness tests to identify strategies for ensuring airmen can meet job-related physical requirements.
Aug 10, 2018
Report
Assessing the Needs of Soldiers and Their Families at the Garrison Level
This report provides information on the results of a garrison-level analysis of survey data from the RAND Arroyo Center's 2014 formal needs assessment survey of active component soldiers and an exploration of help-seeking via focus groups.
Jul 24, 2018
Report
Identifying Promising Approaches to U.S. Army Institutional Change: A Review of the Literature on Organizational Culture and Climate
This report uses a review of organizational culture literature to help address the U.S. Army's organizational challenges, such as behavioral health treatment stigma, negative workplace behaviors, and growing participation of women in combat.
Dec 5, 2017
Report
Today's Soldier: Assessing the Needs of Soldiers and Their Families
This report describes results of surveying 7000 soldiers about the problems that they and their families face, their needs for assistance, use of Army and non-Army resources to address those needs, and the implications of unmet needs for soldiers.
Oct 9, 2017
Report
Fit for Duty? Evaluating the Physical Fitness Requirements of Battlefield Airmen
Describes a methodology for establishing physical fitness standards for four Air Force occupational specialties, as part of a broader Air Force effort to measure the physical readiness of airmen to perform their jobs.
May 9, 2017
Report
Continuing Down the Road to Reintegration: Status and Ongoing Support of the U.S. Air Force's Wounded Warriors
The U.S. Air Force (AF) wanted to gauge the current status of its wounded warriors, including their use of and satisfaction with AF programs designed to serve them. This report presents the analysis of a second wave of surveys of AF wounded warriors.
Jan 6, 2017
Research Brief
Exploring Opportunities for Efficiency and Joint Provision of Services Using Nonappropriated Funds
In examining two areas (accounting and employee benefits) where the Department of Defense might spend less nonappropriated funding, RAND assessed costs and challenges and identified ways to manage organizational changes in the face of resistance.
May 31, 2016
Report
Sustaining Service Members and Their Families: Exploring Opportunities for Efficiency and Joint Provision of Services Using Nonappropriated Funds
RAND researchers assessed U.S. Department of Defense efforts to determine whether any administrative activities paid for with funding that was not congressionally appropriated could be consolidated -- and, if so, whether savings would occur.
May 31, 2016
Journal Article
Measurement Invariance Across Administration Mode: Examining the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist
The accuracy of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening was not affected by using two modes of administering the PTSD Checklist (PCL). The benefits of using both phone and computer outweigh the risk of using two administration modes.
Apr 20, 2016
Report
Navigating the Road to Reintegration: Status and Continuing Support of the U.S. Air Force's Wounded Warriors
Gauges the current status of the Air Force's wounded warriors, including their use of and satisfaction with Air Force programs designed to serve them.
Jun 22, 2015
Report
Strength Testing in the Air Force: Current Processes and Suggestions for Improvements
Examines the usefulness, validity, and fairness of the Air Force's Strength Aptitude Test, with a focus on its implementation at military entrance processing stations and the process for setting strength requirements for career fields.
Dec 5, 2014
Research Brief
Evaluating Innovative Leader Development in the U.S. Army
This brief summarizes an assessment of an Army program to enhance adaptability in leaders and promote innovative solutions in training for and conducting unified land operations.
Nov 19, 2014
Report
Innovative Leader Development: Evaluation of the U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program
This report presents the results of a systematic evaluation of the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program.
Nov 19, 2014
Report
Air Force Personnel Research: Recommendations for Improved Alignment
This document discusses how personnel research within the U.S. Air Force supports organizational policy decisions, the history of personnel research in the Air Force, and the present personnel research efforts and the organizations that house them.
Sep 15, 2014
Report
Strategically Aligned Family Research: Supporting Soldier and Family Quality of Life Research for Policy Decisionmaking
The Army wants to develop a research agenda that defines the quality-of-life needs of soldiers and families, helps gauge the success of programs, improves coordination of research efforts, and determines how best to allocate resources.
May 31, 2013
Report
Military Caregivers: Cornerstones of Support for Our Nation's Wounded, Ill, and Injured Veterans
RAND and the Elizabeth Dole Foundation lay the groundwork to inform policy and program development relative to the needs of military caregivers that often differ from the needs of the general caregiving population.
Mar 7, 2013
Report
The Use of Standardized Scores in Officer Career Management and Selection
This report reviews how standardized tests are used as part of a broader selection system for each of the services at different points in an officer's career and discusses key issues that should be considered when using such tests.
Mar 8, 2012
Report
Reducing Attrition in Selected Air Force Training Pipelines
The Air Force has a continuing interest in reducing high attrition and training-block failure (washback) rates, as both increase training and recruiting costs. This report describes research into these issues for nine career fields.
Feb 2, 2012
Research Brief
Developing U.S. Army Officers' Capabilities for Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational Environments
Identifies and describes the knowledge, skills, and abilities that enable Army officers to succeed in joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational contexts.
Dec 6, 2011
Report
Developing U.S. Army Officers' Capabilities for Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational Environments
Identifies and describes the knowledge, skills, and abilities that enable Army officers to succeed in joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational contexts.
Feb 10, 2011
Report
The Air Force Officer Qualifying Test: Validity, Fairness, and Bias
Reports the results of an examination of the worth and validity of the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test.
May 10, 2010
Research Brief
The Air Force Should Continue to Use the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test for Officer Selection
The Air Force Officer Qualifying Test is valid and useful and should not be replaced, although other tests could be used to complement it.
May 10, 2010
Report
Cross-Cultural Skills for Deployed Air Force Personnel: Defining Cross-Cultural Performance
Created a framework of 14 categories of cross-cultural performance, developed a survey to confirm the importance of the categories, and analyzed the results to clarify what cross-cultural training should enable Air Force personnel to do.
Apr 16, 2009