Searching for "Authentic" Self: Black Women Student Veterans' Civilian Transition in Higher Education

• In Event: Black Women on College Campuses

Abstract

This study explores the civilian transition experiences of 12 Black women veterans at a Predominantly White Institution in the South. Guided by Intersectionality theory, our critical thematic analysis of participants’ narratives elucidated their arduous journey marked by invisibility, heightened anxiety, relentless drive, and search for an authentic self, showing their intensified marginality. This study offers an important knowledge base that calls for all stakeholders’ awareness and the creation of better support for Black women student veterans and other invisible sub-groups of student veterans on college campuses.

Authors

• Jae Hoon Lim, University of North Carolina - Charlotte
  Presenting Author

• Kiauhna Haynes, University of North Carolina - Charlotte
  Presenting Author

• Taniqua Canzater, University of North Carolina - Charlotte
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lisa R. Merriweather, University of North Carolina - Charlotte
  Non-Presenting Author