Social Capital Development Among Student Military Service Members/Veterans Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Ten
  In Roundtable Session: Problematizing the Pandemic: The Impact of COVID on Student Experiences (Table 9)

Abstract

Student service members/veterans (SSM/Vs) are an emergent group of nontraditional students who contribute to the diversity of U. S. universities. Compared with traditional students, however, SSM/Vs face unique challenges even when their institutions function normally. Given the importance of social support networks to SSM/Vs, and the social disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic on campuses, this quantitative paper explores correlations between the pre-pandemic social networks of a panel of SSM/Vs to students’ academic/career path trajectories. Results show that SSM/Vs who began the pandemic with high network density were less likely to suffer negative COVID-19 impacts, while SSM/Vs with more student ties reported more setbacks. Results also show that SSM/Vs with higher network turnover were more prone to report negative pandemic impacts.

Authors

• Xin Xie, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Ross J. Benbow, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author