Understanding Student-Veterans: The Role of Buddies Along the Road of Higher Education

• In Event: Asserting Institutional Commitment to Supporting Students at the Margins

Abstract

Student-veterans are a growing demographic in higher education. Most studies on student-veterans and learning use transitional and deficit models in order to understand and support student-veterans in higher education. These approaches generally mischaracterize student-veterans as being a burden upon society and do not account for the role of peer relationships in the educational journeys of student-veterans. Data presented here are drawn from a pilot study examining the educational journeys of student-veterans in higher education through their personal narratives. We are specifically interested in how peers influenced the educational journey of student-veterans. We present data from the narratives of two student-veterans using Veteran Critical Theory to analyze how peers shape the experiences of student-veterans.

Authors

• David Brian Kartchner, Utah State University

• Kristin Anne Searle, Utah State University