Three years ago we wrote about changes to hairstyle standards for military women and the the invisible work behind this policy change. Earlier this year, the Air Force updated Department of the Air Force (DAF) Instruction 36-2903 include visual aids to help Airmen understand and implement the updated standards, both for women’s hairstyles and other areas of clothing and appearance.

Yet even three years after the updated policy was released, it appears that women’s hair standards are still a topic of debate – sparking conversations among Airmen, in command town halls and even behind closed doors in the conversations of senior leaders. Why, after years, does this question remain controversial?

There are two reasons why updating hair standards for women is an ongoing conversation within the Air Force. First, updating standards within a massive institution with deeply ingrained norms and complex bureaucracy is a tricky task. Institutions are structures that guide the behavior of individuals in the systemAnd standards are the rules (implicit or explicit) that shape behavior. Changing institutions is difficult because change itself is difficult – and changing an extensive bureaucratic institution like a branch of military service does not happen overnight. In fact, research McKinsey & Co. reveals that 70% of change programs in an organization fail, and that there is an entire industry dedicated to change management precisely for this reason. But institutions change, as the current trend shows Reoptimization of DAF for great power competition — so why is Air Force hair policy so difficult?

Second, and more specifically, women’s hair standards remain controversial because they imply a change in social norms. Social norms create a common understanding of what is acceptable in a group. It’s one thing to update Air Force bureaucracy through educational change, but getting buy-in from group members is another story and can be painful for both change makers and policy approvers. .

One way to change social norms is through modeling, but women are a minority in the air force and most senior Air Force leaders who are women do not maintain long hair, leading to a lack of prolific models to imitate. The group’s adherence to this updated standard faces other challenges: Because the updated hair standards are a visible marker of change applicable to a minority population, those not affected by the updated standard up-to-date may become resentful of the policy change, resulting in Fractionation within the group and increased conflict on updated hair standards.

Old social norms are deeply ingrained: The Air Force updated its hair policy to address systemic medical concerns and operational needs of service members, but the change has transformed the image expectations of military women, years old several decades. Considering the context in which women face harsher judgment on their appearance than men, a historic update in hair policy coupled with such an easily visible change exposes the military to increased criticism – and even more so when the military fails to follow the standards.

The way to overcome these challenges is to first recall the value of standards: Military standards enable both interoperability and innovation. Aligning on a common standard of dress and appearance promotes a shared identity among all Airmen, while updating those standards to foster inclusiveness and promote operational preparation highlights the innovative nature of institutional change.

Providing another unifying function, responsibility for maintaining standards is shared: individual members must understand, follow and reinforce the standard, even if the issue does not directly concern them. Commanders must lead from the front and hold their men accountable to that mandate, creating a culture that includes respectful on-the-spot corrections for team members. Finally, senior leaders must continue to communicate the motivation behind inclusive policy change: when the military can contribute authentic self to workthey are better equipped to serve. In today’s day global context of growing conflict And persistent recruiting challengesis there not a clear path for any motivated person wishing to join our completely voluntary force a laudable goal?

Ultimately, the military should exercise the same diligence that was necessary to advocate for hair policy change following the updated standard. Most senior leaders supported a hair policy change because it makes sense to update outdated standards to optimize readiness and inclusion. Moving forward, the Air Force should continue to refine and modernize its outdated policies so service members can be the best version of themselves in uniform to execute the mission most effectively.

In the grand scheme of military operations, hair policy standards may seem minor – but this change represents how the Air Force is evolving as a force and positioning itself for future threats. The American public trusts the military because of its high standards. The Air Force can build this trust by uniting behind these high standards and the common identity of American Airmen that these standards promote.

Lt. Col. Kelly Atkinson, USAFR, is an admissions liaison officer at the U.S. Air Force Academy and a political scientist at RAND. Lt. Col. Alea Nadeem, ANG, is commander of the 150th Security Forces Squadron and a member and past chair of the Women’s Initiatives Team. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the position of the Department of the Air Force or the authors’ civilian employers.