A new Marine Corps study has concluded that male units were faster, stronger and more efficient than teams that included women in about 69 percent of the 134 evaluated tasks, according to USA Today.
The gender integration research summary, released Thursday, found that all-male ground squads were more lethal than squads that contained women and that women were more likely to become injured doing intense training.
Around 40 percent of women sustained injuries to their tendons, muscles and ligaments compared to men, who only had about 18 percent incidence of injury, according to WTSP News 10.
The study comes on the heels of a Pentagon order to open specialty branches to women. They will, however, be able to request that exceptions be made to certain positions.
The year-long study plus the recent graduation of two women from the infamously challenging Army Ranger School only adds fuel to the heated debate on both sides, according to the Washington Post.
The last time a study like this was done to compare the effectiveness of women in combat was in 1992 from the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces, and their findings were not favorable to women either, according to NPR.
