Literature Review:
Veteran's academic success in college*
Name
University
Word count = 2258
OUTLINE
Research Question:
What factor's impact on veteran's academic success in college?
Conceptualization:
Veteran
Employment
Education
Disability
Integration
Operationalization:
Did they serve in the U.S. military?
i. Yes
1. Army
2. Air Force
3. Coast Guard
4. Marines
5. Navy
ii. No
1. Do they have someone in their direct family who served?
a. Yes
b. No
What is the source of their income?
i. New employment
ii. Savings
iii. Unemployment Benefit
iv. GI Bill
v. No source of income
What is their level of education before and after getting out of the military?
i. Do they have some college?
ii. No college?
iii. Completed college?
What makes them want to go back to college?
i. To get a degree?
ii. To use their GI Bill benefits to earn some income as they finish school
What issues do they encounter when they go back to school?
i. Difficulty concentrating
ii. Difficulty learning and adjusting
iii. Cannot relate with the students/professors
iv. Need to work and support self/family
What helps with their student success?
i. Military training helps with obtaining goals
ii. Veterans Resource Centers
iii. Fellow Veterans
iv. GI Bill benefits help them focus on studies and not on bills
Do they have some form or disability that could make it difficult to return to college?
i. Physical Disability (loss of limb, loss of vision, loss of mobility)
ii. Mental Disability (anxiety, adjustment disorder, PTSD)
What factors make it easy or hard for them to integrate back to society after the military?
i. Military help prepares them to adjust to civilian life
ii. Mental Health preparedness
iii. Mental Trauma
iv. Physical Trauma
v. Family support
vi. Employment readiness
vii. Education plan
Concepts
Variables
Indicators
Veteran
Did they serve in the US Military
Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy
Employment
What is the source of their income
Have a job ready, Savings, Unemployment Benefits, GI Bill Benefits
Education
Do they have college experience
Some, Yes, completed college
Disability
Do they have disabilities connected to their military service
Yes, Do they have access to physical and mental health care, Do they utilize Disability Resource Centers, Do they connect with the Veterans Resource Center
Integration
Factors that make it hard or easy to integrate back to society after the military
Military prepare them before getting out, no family support, nowhere to go after the military, no source of income after the military, no mental and physical health access,
INTRODUCTION
Continuing studies and completing them is as essential as it can get. Students all around the world are enrolled in educational institutions to complete their studies and land a job that is unique to their field and study. Veterans, however, are a different case. Conventional students or regular students have different viewpoints of educations than those of veterans. There have been many studies suggesting that the number of veterans enrolled in an educational institute will increase as the time is passing and this will continue for many years (Ghosh and Fouad, 2016: 99-111). These veterans face many issues and difficulties while continuing their studies. Veterans experience numerous impediments, for example, the absence of help from administrations, regulatory hindrances, the helplessness to fit in with conventional undergrads, and trouble progressing from the organized military environment to the casual and less strict environment of a civilian. There can be more problems, but these are the most common of the issues, and they persist everywhere.
DISCUSSION
Veteran students can be from anywhere from the branch of military services. They can be serving or retired. Even military bureaucrats can be considered veteran as they enroll in colleges to complete their education mostly after their service. the measure of the organization assumes a basic job in helping understudy veterans succeed. Indeed, although state schools appear to be reasonable, are exceptionally positioned, and offer an undergrad scholarly ordeal equivalent to non-public schools, a few factors adversely impact educational achievement. State colleges, in contrast to their private partners, are financed by the state government. The wellbeing of these colleges is dependent upon state backing, and they are worked by strict state guidelines. Classes at open establishments fill rapidly, so undergrad veterans probably will not most likely get the precise timetable they need or desire. Most state-funded colleges give a predetermined number of areas for each course, and class sizes might be exceptionally extensive, which implies that the earth may not be as customized or as sustaining as it may be at private or small educational institutions. Access to personnel likewise might be constrained, on the grounds that every worker at bigger organizations might be in charge of training many students, bringing about less, or possibly restricted, time accessible to commit to every and every student.
Furthermore, a few personnel might be more centered around directing examination and distributing than instructing, further constraining their accessibility. At last, if veterans are independent or not slanted to join student and educational associations then going to a bigger school places them at a significantly higher danger of feeling forlorn or secluded (Semer and Harmening, 2015). These social, individual, calculated, and passionate components are bound to proceed for a drawn-out period of time at bigger educational organizations, where classes are extensive, the student body might exceed thousands, and students frequently stay secretive. Crosswise over time, these variables may normally detrimentally affect GPA and furthermore affect the overall studying conditions for veteran students.
Moreover, the availability of all the student services has been low in public institutions as compared to the private ones. State establishments have proclaimed themselves and been perceived as "veteran cordial"; in any case, this signature does not ensure that veterans will persevere and succeed scholastically and will be able to pursue their dream to completing their education. Cases that foundations are "veteran compassionate" and that they have bigger and more advantageous veterans' affiliations have pulled in veterans. However, these equivalent organizations may have neglected to hold them because of lacking help and support. This has failed many public or governmental institutions to provide veterans with the education they desire. The facility and services are poor, and most specifically the societies are not eager to help and accept veteran students. Proper guidance is an essential part before one can enroll in any college or university. Veterans are misguided at all the time about the benefits that the institutions will provide them to complete their studies. Lower GPA, low confidence level, no proper guidance on how to use their education and in which field will they suit best after completing their studies are the most problematic issues that colleges fail to provide (De La Garza, Wood and Harris III, 2015: 293-298). This results in bad decisions.
It has become a common theme to keep overhauling the academic ethics after each couple year. This theme is followed worldwide and kept inside the boundary walls of the colleges. This trend puts up difficulties for students especially veteran students to utilize their time and energy for the right college. Moreover, a study suggests that once the selection phase is passed and a veteran is pursuing his degree, the issue he or she faces is related to his professional career. As most of the veterans have spent of their lives in the military, they get suspicious and less confident about their academic career which sometimes results in giving up on studies and leaving them in between. Some veterans are still serving personnel, and they become nervous about utilizing their education before or after their retirement. Proper counselling is required for making up to these individuals and guiding them about their educational career must become an important part of education for veterans in every institution. This counselling will result in a better understanding of their emotional needs and will guide them to participate in classes and seminars actively, so they can feel , and the stereotyping can end. The case of stereotyping is present as some student do question their need for continuing education after such a big gap. There are other such questions that might not be intended to hurt their emotional state, but it does give them the concern of whether or whether not they should study.
Veteran students are tough as they have gone through a strict routine of physical and mental exercises. Their whole life they have been on borders or away from home to another country, their mental state is different from their non-veteran counterparts. Just considering this little factor by teachers and instructors, can change the overall concept of how to guide the veterans. When we translate the consequences of information investigation, we start to comprehend the examples of school encounters and results for studying veterans. In another study, it is promptly observed that veterans report lower school GPAs and lower dimensions of the feeling of having a place on grounds regardless of having more elevated amounts of scholarly cooperation and connection, scholastic time, and shared work contrasted with their partners who are not veterans (Ahern et al., 2015). Further, according to a study, it was found that a veteran adversely and altogether influence one of these results—school GPA—even in the wake of controlling for the dimensions of scholarly support and connection, scholastic time, shared work, extracurricular commitment, and time utilized, alongside a lot of precollege qualities and other school encounters. The results come out the same.
It was analyzed that the veterans who indulged in extracurricular activities, attended the seminar, actively participated in classrooms and educational forums were suffering from lower GPA scores. The proper guidance was missing. The faculty who were engaging with the veterans were not so educated about the conditions and issues that the veterans faced. It was also suggested that veterans who were not participating in any of the activities and were feeling isolated, had a better GPA score than the later ones. Faculty members must be educated enough on these issues, so the veteran students can achieve more in terms of academic achievements and further their studies to even higher education. The basic thing that was established from all the studies and researches was that proper guidance was not given to the veteran students. These students tend to pick institutions that are cheaper and are at close range to them rather than opting out for more prestigious and career driven colleges. This ultimately leads to lower academic achievements and low career growth (Perkins, 2019: 1-15). Guidance from teachers and instructors and the factor of isolation are the factors on which the veterans face difficulty pursuing their higher education.
Student Veterans of America is an organization that helps veterans to engage and communicate with experienced students' veterans. This helps them understand the university and college life and how they can get a better education without feeling isolated or deprived, just like this organization. There are many other organizations that are helping veterans to enroll themselves in the educational institution by giving them proper guidance and sharing their experiences. This, in turn, has given a ray of hope to many military personnel to achieve their educational dreams and further their studies under these programs. Also, many universities and colleges are also offering special programs and counseling to the veterans and military personnel under which they can get their desire education and feel a sense of relief by connecting with their peers. This factor of communication was essential in dealing with the problems that the veterans were facing. The stereotype factor was not an issue as it was a figment of imagination because of low self-esteem among the veterans while pursuing their educational path. This organization also helps the teaching staff and faculty about understanding the issues being faced by the veterans and how they can help resolve them (Reyes, 2018: 37-48). This organization has spread all across America, and many such other organizations are rapidly evolving. Proper orientation for the veterans is being held in many educational institutions for guiding them and giving them help related to their student course. This great change in the educational sectors has resulted in more veterans enrolling in universities and colleges, and it has been seen that these little efforts has help veterans to graduate with better GPA scores. This trend is being widely appreciated as many veterans are retiring at an early age and only through getting a proper education, they can run their families and land a job. Serving their motherland and now serving their families, veterans are devoting their lives for others.
CONCLUSION
This change has allowed more veterans to enroll and get higher education and as a result, more universities are getting ready to entertain them at all possible levels. Many studies have suggested that colleges and universities are accepting more veterans by providing them proper guidance about the educational environment and how they will experience a different lifestyle from the military one. The focus is to make their experience good and give them the basic necessities of a college student. Without discrimination or stereotyping. Veterans who feel agreeable and associated with grounds are more probable to be held, graduate, and seek after further instruction. Similarly, essential, veterans who trust they are in a safe spot can give a remarkable point of view to classroom dialogs, indispensable for the improvement of all understudies. It should be understood from the start that who veterans are, what have they experienced in their life as military personnel or as a member of services and how they can be supported as a student so that they can achieve their goals as a simple college student.
REFERENCES
Ghosh, A. and Fouad, N.A., 2016. Career transitions of student veterans. Journal of Career Assessment, 24(1), pp.99-111.
Semer, C. and Harmening, D.S., 2015. Exploring Significant Factors that Impact the Academic Success of Student Veterans in Higher Education. Journal of Higher Education Theory & Practice, 15(7).
De La Garza, T., Wood, J.L. and Harris III, F., 2015. An exploratory assessment of the validity of the Community College Survey of Men (CCSM): Implications for serving veteran men. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 39(3), pp.293-298.
Ahern, J., Worthen, M., Masters, J., Lippman, S.A., Ozer, E.J. and Moos, R., 2015. The challenges of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans’ transition from military to civilian life and approaches to reconnection. PloS one, 10(7), p.e0128599.
Perkins, D.F., Aronson, K.R., Morgan, N.R., Bleser, J.A., Vogt, D., Copeland, L.A., Finley, E.P. and Gilman, C., 2019. Veterans’ Use of Programs and Services as They Transition to Civilian Life: Baseline Assessment for the Veteran Metrics Initiative. Journal of Social Service Research, pp.1-15.
Reyes, A.T., Kearney, C.A., Isla, K. and Bryant, R., 2018. Student veterans’ construction and enactment of resilience: A constructivist grounded theory study. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 25(1), pp.37-48.
