Naval officer selection in Canada : an evaluation of the Maritime Officer Selection Test (MOST)

Abstract

Two studies evaluating the Maritime Officer Selection Test (MOST) were conducted. Study 1 ( N = 744) examined the psychometric properties of the individual items and their factorial structure. Study 2 ( N = 224) assessed convergent validity and sought to determine whether using the MOST for the selection of future naval officers might discriminate against women, thereby precluding them from pursuing a career within the Canadian Navy. The results of the first study indicate that most examinees do not have enough time to complete the test, which invalidates previous evaluations of its internal consistency. Additionally, the two studies suggest that the MOST does not measure what it was intended to assess (i.e., memory, selective attention, and decision-making), but that it does nonetheless evaluate other ability constructs required for naval officer training performance (i.e., spatial scanning and general reasoning). With regards to adverse effect, the absence of differential item functioning and similarities in success rates across genders indicate that using the MOST does not preclude women from pursuing a career within the Canadian Navy.