Assimilation of Women Student Veterans: Perceived Interactions with Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Expression

Abstract

This phenomenological case study aimed to explore the transition of women student veterans from the military to higher education. As of 2021, women represented nearly 20% of the United States military; as of 2020, women veterans represent about 27% of veterans pursuing degrees on our campuses (Gorbulja-Maldonado, 2021). This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of how a group of women student veterans describes their transition into higher education and how the hyper-masculine culture of the United States military informed their perceptions of their race, ethnicity, and gender expression. The individual transitions of twelve women student veterans were discussed and analyzed using individual interviews. The theoretical foundation for analyzing the interview data was Schlossberg’s Theory of Transitions, Diamond’s Military Adaptive Transition Theory, and Culver’s Gender Identity Development of Women in the Military Theory. Additionally, this study relies on Intersectionality as a lens to best understand the transition of women student veterans. Intersectionality provides a framework for educators to see students as complex individuals with intersecting identities from which they operate in and out of academic spaces. Two main research questions guided this study: 1) How does the culture of the United States military inform a Woman Student Veteran (WSV)’s transition into American higher education? and 2) How is the identity development of a WSV impacted by their perceived interactions with race, ethnicity, and gender expression? Six main themes were found within the data set, along with relevant subthemes. For the first research question, three main themes emerged relating to the academic habits of the participants: a) Strong Academically, b) Adaptability, and c) Veteran Status (Hesitant vs Not Hesitant). For the second question, three main themes emerged relating to their perceptions of their relationship with their femininity and race. Those themes are a) Renegotiating a Sense of Service to Self, b) Relationship with Femininity, and c) Campus Engagement. The findings of this study provide higher education administrators, staff, and faculty with an in-depth understanding of how the hypermasculine culture of the United States military informs how women student veterans transition to academic spaces. This study adds to the growing body of literature around women students, women student veterans, and the use of the intersectional lens of student support. Keywords: women, student veteran, intersectionality, transition