Student Veterans Research Articles

Operation Veterans to Social Workers: A Military Social Work Certificate Program

ABSTRACTService members, Veterans, and their families have special needs for mental health services, but the nation lacks a sufficient pool of social workers competent in military culture. Noting the need for military cultural competency and an increasing number of student Veterans, a graduate school of social work created a military social work training program embedded in an existing MSW program. Operation Veterans to Social Workers (OVSW) were designed to increase culturally competent mental health services to this population by recruiting Veteran MSW students into a Military Social Work certificate program that included a specialized field placement with a trauma-informed clinical focus.

The Green Zone Initiative: Combining Virtual and Face-to-Face Training to Support Veterans in Higher Education

The purpose of the Green Zone Initiative is to address the needs of the nearly 700 student Veterans at a state comprehensive university who are enrolled either on campus or online. The number of service members reintegrating into civilian life is higher than at any time in history since the Vietnam War. As Traumatic Brain Injury is the signature wound of this war, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as the civilian-military divide are all having a monumental impact on our veteran population across America. Student Veterans re-entering civilian life and adjusting to college are under additional pressures which place them in a category of students who may need additional resources and supports to be successful. The purpose of the Green Zone Initiative is to educate and equip faculty and staff to identify those needs and provide support and direction to those resources.

From Benefits to Success: Veterans’ Educational Outcomes in the Post-9/11 Era

ABSTRACT The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides unprecedented federal funding for veterans to attend post-secondary education and make the transition to the civilian workforce. However, there is little empirical research on recipients’ educational outcomes, especially in community colleges. This study investigated the variables that influence completion and transfer rates among Post-9/11 student veterans enrolled at a Texas community college. Institutional and National Student Clearinghouse data were employed in a logistic regression to discover if any variables were associated with successful completion or transfer; the overall model predicted 86.5% of the population’s outcome. Finally, a linear regression with first-semester GPA as the dependent variable was run. The results suggested a statistically significant negative relationship between minority racial status and GPA, a statistically significant positive influence for full-time enrollment status, and a statistically significant positive effect for older student veterans on GPA. The article ends with recommendations for policy, practice, and future research.

Attachment, Communication, and Relationship Functioning Among College Student Veterans and Nonveterans

This study examined attachment processes of college student veterans and nonveterans and further examined how veteran status and attachment style directly and indirectly predict relationship functioning. Results indicated that student veterans were more often dismissing in their attachment style but less often preoccupied than nonveteran students. Veteran status moderated the association between attachment style and dyadic consensus. The contributions of attachment and communication processes to overall relationship adjustment differed for student veterans and nonveterans.

Student-Veterans’ Perceptions of Barriers, Support, and Environment at a High-Density Veteran Enrollment Campus

For institutions of higher education with high numbers of enrolled veterans, understanding how these students perceive services specifically designed for them is an important next step in developing effective campus service models. Through analysis of survey data (n=328) collected at a campus with a host of established services and a high number of military connected students, this study adds to the literature on the transition experience and utilization of resources. This investigation focuses on the interaction between prior-military and disability characteristics and how service-connected injuries impact student-veterans’ quality of life, integration on campus, and challenges with the built campus environment. Findings are discussed through the lens of a seminal transition framework, with practical application strategies offered for creating and delivering individualized support for student veterans.

Discovering a New Purpose: Veterans' Transition to Nursing Education.

With the downsizing of military forces and the support of GI Bill benefits, a growing number of veterans are returning to college. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the researchers sought to understand the transition experiences of 11 veterans enrolled in baccalaureate nursing programs. Data suggest the transition process is challenging, marked by significant change in structure and culture from one context to the next. Veterans return to school to learn and seek meaning and purpose in the pursuit of a nursing degree. Faculty understanding of military culture is a first step in guiding the student veteran to success in nursing education.

Perceptions of Legal Legitimacy among University Students with and without Military Service

We know that individuals who have and have not served in the military often hold different assessments of social institutions. We also know from a separate body of research that perceptions of the legitimacy of a society’s legal system is an important social indicator that varies on a number of demographic, experiential and identity factors. Yet, research has not explored if and how veteran status is associated with perceptions of legitimacy. We began addressing this gap in the literature by surveying veteran and nonveteran students. The results of this exploratory study showed that veterans did not differ from nonveterans in their perceptions of legitimacy, but a different set of factors shaped the assessments of veteran students. Further, our examination of veteran-specific factors showed that exposure to combat was negatively associated with legitimacy and that veteran identity contributed to increased trust in the legitimacy of legal institutions.

Promoting Faculty Education on Needs and Resources for Military-Active and Veteran Students.

The numbers of post-9/11 service members transitioning out of the military are escalating. Our diverse nursing student population will increasingly include Veterans or those engaged in military service. This article describes an educational session directed at nurse faculty about the needs of these students. The event focused on the array of experiences and issues experienced by active military students or Veterans as they are deployed, transition back into civilian life, or return to college. This educational forum was well attended and praised by nurse faculty who reported increased levels of awareness, knowledge, and resources pertinent to this student population. Student-centeredness is valued in nursing education. Compliance with pertinent policies, engagement with community resources, and conveying personal interest in our students is especially valuable for students engaged in military service. Other nursing programs are encouraged to adopt a similarly designed event. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(6):347-353.].

An exploratory study: Informing health and prevention services for transgender and gender nonconforming student service members and veterans.

An exploratory study: Informing health and prevention services for transgender and gender nonconforming student service members and veterans.

AANAPISI Perspectives of Asian American Veterans in College

AbstractAsian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions can align their support systems for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students and veterans to create conditions for AAPI student veterans to thrive in college.

Student Veterans’ Coping with Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms: A Glaserian Grounded Theory Study

The present study investigated the ways in which student military veterans cope with their posttraumatic stress symptoms. The participants were a total of 21 military veterans attending a U.S. university. The results of the grounded theory data analysis reveal the core category of modulating intrusions, a process indicating how student veterans cope with recurrent and unwanted posttraumatic stress experiences. Our findings also demonstrate that veterans cope by either avoiding or allowing themselves to experience the pain associated from their traumatic experiences. The proposed framework can be meaningfully used to facilitate the development of adaptive coping among veterans with posttraumatic stress.

Understanding the Experiences of Nursing Student Veterans.

The aim of this study was to understand the experiences of veterans enrolled in prelicensure nursing programs. As the number of veterans enrolling in higher education continues to remain high, nurse faculty working with veteran students are faced with the challenge of meeting their unique educational needs and assisting them as they transition to professional nursing roles. A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted to understand the experiences of veterans enrolled in prelicensure nursing programs. Findings from interviews with nine veteran nursing students revealed four themes: maneuvering through the mental mind shift, battling conflicting forces, avoiding landmines, and accepting support. Based upon these findings, recommendations are presented for nursing programs and faculty to use to support students.

Interpersonal relationship quality mediates the association between military-related posttraumatic stress and academic dysfunction among student veterans.

Large numbers of United States service members and veterans are enrolling in colleges and universities. Many are experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms secondary to their military service, and these symptoms are associated with academic dysfunction. However, little is known about the mechanism(s) through which posttraumatic stress increases risk for academic difficulties. The goal of the current study was to evaluate perceived interpersonal relationship quality as a mediator of this association. The current study investigated the indirect effect of posttraumatic stress on academic dysfunction through three indices of perceived interpersonal relationship quality (i.e., family distress, family support, and social network support) in a clinical sample of 2,120 student service members and veterans. Participants were further divided into four groups based on relationship status and gender (i.e., partnered women, nonpartnered women, partnered men, and nonpartnered men), and moderation by group was examined. For all four groups, there were significant indirect effects of posttraumatic stress on academic dysfunction through greater family distress and lower social network support. Further, the overall indirect effect of posttraumatic stress on academic dysfunction was stronger for partnered women compared with the three other groups and was attributable to the stronger path from family distress to academic dysfunction for partnered women. Poor perceived relationship quality may be a modifiable risk factor for academic dysfunction among student service members and veterans experiencing military-related posttraumatic stress. Partnered women may be especially well-suited to interventions that enhance the interpersonal context of posttraumatic stress as a way to optimize academic outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychological well-being in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans: Risk and protective factors.

Much research on military veterans has focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other negative outcomes, with few studies of positive outcomes. This study focused on psychological well-being (PWB) in relation to PTSD symptoms and the additional risk factors of sleep problems and depression, as well as a protective factor, self-regulation. Two hundred thirty-eight student veterans completed questionnaires online, with 115 completing follow-up questionnaires 2 months later. Path analyses revealed significant associations of PWB with depression and self-regulation in expected directions within and across time points. Links of overall PWB with PTSD and sleep were mostly small and nonsignificant, but some differences were found for distinct domains of PWB. Finally, a significant interaction revealed that the negative association of baseline PTSD with 2-month PWB grew stronger as levels of self-regulation increased. This finding may indicate that higher scores on our measure of self-regulation reflected emotional overcontrol and rigidity, but further research that attempts to replicate these findings is needed. Overall, findings support the need for examining a broader set of risk and protective factors predictive of outcomes in veterans who served during the recent era of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Researcher vulnerability: implications for educational research and practice

This paper explores the concept of researcher vulnerability through a review of the extant research literature and each author’s feelings of vulnerability connected to their research with vulnerable populations while exploring both sensitive and seemingly innocuous, yet important, topics in education using qualitative methodology. Specifically, a reflection of our respective study of the academic and social transitions of student combat veterans, and the academic and gender socialization of adolescent African American males is presented as means of illustrating the phenomena of researcher vulnerability. Implications of vulnerability for research, practice, and theory are discussed.

Vulnerable Vets? How Gatekeeping and Stereotypes Shape Access to Student-Veterans in the Qualitative Interview Process

Based on in-depth interviews we conducted with more than 30 student-veterans enrolled in higher education institutions, in this paper we examine the methodological challenges of collecting qualitative interview data from this population. Situated within the larger interdisciplinary literature of doing qualitative research with vulnerable groups, we explore the implications of student-veterans being labeled as vulnerable by ethics review boards and institutional agents such as veteran’s organizations. Based on our research experience, we argue that framing student-veterans as vulnerable can lead to further stereotyping of this group and to difficulties in accessing an already under-researched population. In addition, our inability to hear the voices and experiences of student veterans can impact the kind of services and support that higher educational institutions can provide them.

Insourcing library outreach: Engaging technical services in outreach to student organizations

In recent years, library outreach has become an increasingly important aspect of public services work. In order to expand capacity and engage patrons, libraries should consider expanding their library outreach programs to include the efforts and expertise of technical services personnel. In this article, librarians from Texas A&M University will share how public services librarians, cataloging experts, and preservation librarians collaborated to provide support for a student-led textbook lending library for student veterans. Through this collaboration, the library was able to develop new outreach opportunities that highlighted technical services expertise as well as lend support to an important campus effort to improve the affordability of college textbooks for veterans.

Student veteran career pathways: A proposed framework for higher education

Student veteran career pathways: A proposed framework for higher education

Mission-Centered Engagement with Asian American Student Veterans

This article draws qualitatively on the experiences, reflections, and expressions of Asian American student veterans through Asian American Studies courses and activities the authors have led in the decade between 2006 and 2016, at an urban public research university that is federally designated as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution, and recognized annually among four-year universities as “best for vets.” Beginning with a brief introduction to Asian American military service historically and currently, we note the lack of research and resource materials available nationally that is informed by or responsive to the backgrounds, perspectives, and needs of Asian American student veterans in college. We then provide a synthesis of rich documentary evidence based on Asian American student veterans’ voices, to illustrate the value of Asian American Studies curricular strategies and pedagogical approaches, particularly through digital storytelling, that create integrative contexts for their holistic connections and contributions as Asian Americans, as veterans, and as university students. Beyond the classroom and campus, we also offer concrete examples of community-centered connections through Asian American Studies that enable Asian American student veterans to engage with public sites and local civic organizations that share significant legacies of Asian American veterans’ leadership and service across generations.

Participating in Change: Engaging Student Veteran Stakeholders in Advocacy Efforts in Clinical Higher Education

Two independent research teams led by graduate students from clinical disciplines studied the lived experiences of student veterans transitioning from the military into higher education. Additionally, these projects provided graduate students with training in the research process, application of evidence-based practice in preparation for professional responsibilities and advancement, and collaboration with student veteran stakeholders as coinvestigators and project team members. One study piloted a student veteran orientation course with the aid of veteran stakeholders to better address the overall needs of student veterans on campus. The other study engaged student veteran participants as coinvestigators using the photovoice methodology to illuminate their perspectives on social relationships. Findings in each study added greater depth to previously discovered trends, and revealed insights into student veteran educational priorities, the impact of the transition process on social roles and relationships, graduate research project design, and community advocacy. This study added insight into the factors that affect student veterans’ higher education experience, which can be used to inform future studies conducted at the graduate level, examine interdisciplinary approaches to research and advocacy, amplify the voice of student veterans, and encourage interaction in research between civilian and veteran students.