ERIC Number: ED659378
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 316
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3836-2260-5
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Changes: Understanding How Military-Connected Students Acquire Social and Cultural Capital in Higher Education
LeNaya Hezel
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, George Mason University
Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill went into effect in 2009, there has been tremendous growth in the number of military-connected students enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities. In response to this influx, higher education stakeholders developed dedicated resources and services to remove barriers students often faced when transitioning from the military to civilian cultures. This study introduces a critical analysis to understand how institutions with diverse resources and services for military-connected students transition those students to a civilian higher education culture and whether those resources and services effectively facilitate this transition. Using social and cultural capital as a theoretical framework, this institutional ethnography investigated how military-connected students transitioned into higher education at four non-profit universities in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States: two campuses with military-connected student resource centers, one with a dedicated office to serve military-connected students, and one with a dedicated administrator to certify GI Bill benefits. Methods included observations of campus structures and military-connected student interactions with different campus stakeholders, semi-structured interviews with students, alumni, and campus administrators and faculty, and analysis of government, non-government organizations, and campus documents. Results indicated how some campuses created military-connected-specific services that sometimes provided social and cultural capital that primarily served to meet federal regulation requirements. The mil-con students utilizing all-encompassing services were successful as students but centered their military-connected identity without fully integrating elsewhere in the campus community. Campuses that embedded transition services for military-connected students facilitated opportunities for students to cultivate social and cultural capital in both military-connected-specific and civilian spaces to transition to campus. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Social Capital, Cultural Capital, Military Personnel, Veterans, Federal Legislation, Military Service, Nontraditional Students, Student Adjustment, Higher Education, Ethnography, Educational Resources, Student Attitudes, College Students, College Faculty, Teacher Attitudes, Stakeholders, Administrator Attitudes, Self Concept, Federal Regulation
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: G I Bill
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A