Announcing the Final Examination of Tanya Armstrong for the degree of Doctorate of Education
Date of defense: April 5, 2017
Time and room: 11:00 a.m. Ed Complex room 305
Dissertation Title: An Investigation of the Help-Seeking Behaviors of Women Student Veterans
Women with military experience are attending colleges and universities across the United States. It is important to understand how they describe their experiences as students and how their help-seeking behaviors impact their success (DiRamio & Jarvis, 2011; Baechtold & Da Sawal, 2009). Using Schlossberg’s Adult Transition Theory (1981, 1984) as a framework, this qualitative phenomenological study explored the help-seeking behaviors of women student veterans. In addition, the events that caused them to seek help and the resources they utilized are described. The research questions that guided the study were: (1) Does the prior military experience of women student veterans influence their willingness to seek help? (2) What are the events that cause women student veterans to seek help? And (3) What are the resources that women student veterans utilize? Using Smith, Flowers and Larkin’s (2009) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this two phase mixed method design employed a sequential descriptive strategy employing a profile questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews (N=9).
Several themes emerged as a result of the study. Women student veterans’ help-seeking behaviors are influenced by their military experiences. Additionally, the results indicated women student veterans feel separate than male veterans and non-veterans. Furthermore, different supports are utilized dependent upon the student and where the student is in the transition process. These findings are among other important answers to the research questions. The findings of this study, may provide researchers student personnel professionals and military educational constituencies with a foundation to begin policies and programs that account for the challenges that this population face as they transition from the military to college.
Baechtold, M., & De Sawal, D. M. (2009). Meeting the needs of women veterans. New Directions for Student Services, 2009(126), 35-43. DOI: 10.1002/s.314
DiRamio, D., & Jarvis, K. (2011). Veterans in Higher Education: When Johnny and Jane Come Marching to Campus: ASHE Higher Education Report, Volume 37, 3 (149). John Wiley & Sons.
Schlossberg, N.K. (1981). A model for analyzing human adaptation to transition. Counseling Psychologist, 9(2), 2-18
Schlossberg, N.K. (1984). Counseling adults in transition. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
Smith, J.A, Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. London: SAGE.
Committee in charge:
Dr. Thomas D. Cox
Dr. JoAnn Whiteman
Dr. Carolyn Hopp
Dr. Liz Grauerholz
Outline of Studies
Major: Educational Leadership
Educational Career
Humanities and Social Sciences (BA) 2000, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Educational Leadership (MA) 2003, University of Central Florida
Approved by Dr. Thomas D. Cox, Committee Chair on March 28, 2017
The public is welcome to attend.
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