Ethics and Education: A Markov Chain Assessment of Civilian Education in Air Force Materiel Command

Education is a frequent area of concern when attempting to improve organizational performance. In this paper, absorbing Markov chains were used to assess education levels of civil servants within Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC). The results suggest that AFMC will have 47% of its workforce with an advanced, college degree by the year 2030. Given an increasingly educated workforce within AFMC, ethical implications for management strategy were explored. Specifically, the authors examined the ethics of managing a highly-educated workforce in ways which are procedurally similar to those used for a workforce which was historically less educated. Through a thematic bifurcation, ethical solutions were presented which will either provide more autonomy for the highly-educated workforce or attempt to change the internal credentialing process so that the current management strategies are aligned to a more appropriately-educated workforce.