Measuring Cultural Climate in a Uniformed Services Medical Center

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the employee perceptions of the cultural climate at a large uniformed service medical center in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The analyses are based on the responses of 1,751 medical center employees, whose demographic characteristics were representative of the medical center population. Analyses indicate the existence of systematic perceptual differences between: (1) the medical center and Department of Defense personnel, and (2) the following cultural groups: (a) male and female personnel, (b) military and civilian personnel, and (c) majority and minority personnel. Recommendations are provided for future areas of research that need to be conducted with respect to the phenomenon of cultural diversity and the development of positive cultural climates within both the military and civilian medical settings.