Strengthening Esprit de Corps: Enhancing Student Veterans’ Sense of Belonging in Colleges and Universities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine student veterans’ sense of belonging within higher education institutions, the experiences influencing their feelings of belonging, and strategies that higher education institutions can utilize to enhance student veterans’ sense of belonging on campus. Individual interviews were conducted with 10 undergraduate student veterans. Student veterans rated four experiences as being influential in their sense of belonging in higher education: institutional acknowledgement and inclusion efforts, veteran peer support and established veterans’ programs, engagement with program faculty, and perception of higher education as a pathway for continued service. Student veterans described four major experiences as interfering with their sense of belonging in higher education: lack of peer support as nontraditional-aged students, absence of differentiated instruction for adult learners, scarcity of campus understanding of the knowledge of skills gained through military service, and shortage of institutional acknowledgement and inclusion efforts.