Transitions of Student Military Veterans into Engineering Education

Michelle M Camacho,Susan M Lord,Joyce B Main,Catherine E Brawner,Catherine Mobley

doi:10.3390/socsci10060228

Abstract

As student veterans transition to four-year institutions from the military, they navigate pathways that are often neither linear nor easy. Using Turner’s theory of liminality, we examine student veterans’ perspectives of the transition from military to civilian life. Interviewees include 60 student veterans from all military branches from four universities in the USA. Student veterans describe successes and challenges as they matriculate into engineering education as transfer students. Analyses of qualitative data yield original findings about the importance of mentors and student veteran networks for fostering student veterans’ educational interests and in promoting their persistence. This study uses a framework of liminality to highlight the bridge between prior military position and a forthcoming reentry into society with a new professional identity as an engineer. In describing their studies, student veterans greatly valued military-learned skills, such as patience, discipline, and technical skills, that give them an advantage in their engineering studies. These findings will be relevant to researchers studying transitions in general and researchers investigating veterans or other populations experiencing transitions. University leaders, including student affairs administrators, faculty members, and others who serve the student veteran community will also benefit from the results.

Highlights

Published: 15 June 2021In February 2020, a bipartisan bill, Supporting Veterans in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Careers Act, seeking to improve representation of veterans and military spouses in STEM fields, was passed into law (S.153 2020)
Rodriguez et al 2018), student veterans often credited skills learned in the military, such as technical skills, discipline, patience, motivation, and learning from failure with helping them successfully transition to college
In the liminal space of a university context, student veterans adapt to ambiguity and paradox with skills learned in the military

Summary

Introduction

Published: 15 June 2021In February 2020, a bipartisan bill, Supporting Veterans in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Careers Act, seeking to improve representation of veterans and military spouses in STEM fields, was passed into law (S.153 2020). Transitions from the military into higher education. The National Veteran Education Success Tracker (NVEST) has published findings suggesting positive academic success for veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill to help fund their transition to a civilian career (Cate et al 2017). Student veterans often describe themselves as highly adaptable leaders (Main et al.2019) Their former military lives were highly structured in an environment of rigid discipline and rituals, student veterans who persist in higher education have learned strategies that help them navigate their university experiences, which generally may not offer as much structure. Their transitions into higher education vary based on factors including educational experiences, sometimes called, “college knowledge,” as well as their ability to balance external obligations and responsibilities. Some student veterans describe challenges with psychological issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and service- or combat-related disabilities (Elliott et al 2011)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion