Last week, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that he's opening all combat job for women, because “We cannot afford to cut ourselves off from half the country's talents and skills.”
It was a tough decision, especially because objections from Marine Forces Commanders.
It's an important step for women's equality because the combat units are symbol of power and accomplishment, from which women were traditionally excluded.
The choice of words is especially important because it makes the argument stronger by focusing on women's value and merit and not on generic morality arguments that are too often used in the discourse around diversity. It will be great to see other male-dominated organizations adopt a similar tone in incorporating women into their workforces.