From Service to Studies: Navigating Student Service Member/Veteran (SSM/V) Identities in College (Poster 46)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 1:30 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in Higher Education

Abstract

Navigating the cultural transition between military service and academia is critical for student service members and veterans (SSM/Vs) to succeed in college. From 73 interviews across five public universities, this study highlights a couple of identity issues for SSM/Vs: (1) the stigma and hypervisibility of military identities and (2) cultural schisms between military and campus cultures, including sociocultural factors that complicate identities. SSM/Vs manage these challenges through strategic projections of identity that include: (1) strategic muting, (2) seeking salience, and (3) linear “head down” academic-goal focus. The current research advances understandings of how SSM/Vs transition to college and navigate the stigma and cultural schisms that problematize their identities.

Authors

• Henry McGinn Smith, North Carolina State University

• Matthew Wolfgram, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Michael I. Swart, University of Wisconsin - Madison