Veterans Talent Index: Insights and Analysis from Veteran Professionals, Recruiters and Hiring Managers

This report provides an insightful look at our nation's newest group of veterans, referred to as Gulf Era II veterans, the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and Post 9/11 veterans. This unique group of veterans is facing unprecedented challenges as hundreds of thousands are leaving the military and entering the civilian workforce each year.Two years ago, Monster and Military.com launched the Veterans Talent Index in order to provide an ongoing and quantifiable metric of employment conditions for the transitioning veteran job seekers and the employers hiring them. Twice a year, groups of these specific seekers and employers are surveyed; this report marks the fifth survey.Since these indices were established two years ago, the efforts by both private and public organizations to employ veterans have grown. The government has stepped in with business tax credits and special employment laws to encourage hiring as well as to restore jobs for those who left to serve in the military. In 2011, the President challenged the private sector to hire and train 100,000 veterans and military spouses; by August 2012, this goal had been surpassed and by April 2013 U.S. businesses had hired or trained 290,000 veterans and military spouses. Private sector companies are working together to share best practices on recruiting, retaining and supporting veterans and specialized associations are developing online tools, transition programs and training programs to enable veterans

Self-employment among the Armed Forces Community

The Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick, QinetiQ and X-Forces Enterprise were commissioned by Forces in Mind Trust to understand what more could be done to support the Armed Forces Community in pursuing self-employment and thereby help to maximise their chances of a successful and sustainable transition. This research seeks to fill the current gap in knowledge and contribute to policy-making and service delivery

From Stigma to Standing: The Effects of Peer Leadership Participation on Student Veterans’ Ideas About Self and Others

The Veterans Embracing Transition (VET) Connect Peer Leadership Program is a University-based effort to assist student veterans in transitioning to campus and civilian life. Peer Leaders receive training to provide outreach to educate the campus community about the needs and perspectives of veterans (Klaw, Li, Avalos, & Diaz, 2016). As part of a larger project exploring the effects of VET Connect, exploratory findings in qualitative research indicate that through their participation in VET Connect student veterans gained a sense that civilians do indeed care (12, 92%) about veterans. Over half of the participants (8, 61%) reported changing ideas about themselves as veterans, seeing themselves at first as “not needing anybody” and then discovering that relationships were important to their sense of self. In their services as peer educators, these students discovered that they were not significantly different from other SJSU students as diverse and varied individuals. This study was conducted in collaboration with Jemerson Diaz. We worked on independent research questions and observations using data derived from the same larger study simultaneously under the supervision of Dr. Klaw

Bryant Connections: Thomas Duxbury and George Sutcliffe

During World War II, Bryant College created the Bryant Service Club, which sent tens of thousands of packages and letters to Bryant alumni and students who served in military units both at home and abroad. Although the Bryant Service Club tried to reach out to its alumni spread across “far flung fronts,” it was unable to reach every one. For different reasons, Thomas Duxbury, a Navy seaman stationed in the Pacific, and George Sutcliffe, a United States Army Air Force fighter pilot, stationed in England, Belgium, France, and Belgium, did not receive packages or letters from the Bryant Service Club. However, they are forever linked by their Bryant connection. In addition, their extensive wartime travels, both within the United States and abroad, are examples of how America was a nation on the move and in great turmoil during World War II

Understanding Support for Student Veterans and Servicemembers in Public Undergraduate Engineering Programs

Current efforts to increase research in diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering education have included research with military students pursuing undergraduate degrees in engineering at civilian, public academic institutions. In this thesis research, military students are defined as undergraduate students who a) have completed their service in the U.S. Armed Forces and are considered military veterans, and/or b) are current enlisted service members, such as in the U.S. Reserves or National Guard. An emerging topic of interest within the military student literature in engineering education has sought to explore the influence of “institutional agents” within military students’ experiences. The research that exists on this topic suggests that institutional agents in student-facing positions, such as faculty and academic advisors, can directly influence the persistence and success of military students in engineering. This thesis research study, situated within 2- and 4- year institutions in the western United States, fulfills two primary objectives. First, this work develops new knowledge regarding institutional agents’ awareness of the assets, capabilities, and intersecting identities that military students bring to their engineering studies. Second, this study synthesizes promising practices that are currently used to support military students at both the institutional and engineering college levels. Findings highlight the importance of having diverse support personnel, such as veterans, in student facing roles in higher education. Findings also suggest that the context of an institution, including its size, community support, and location from the nearest military installation, impact institutional agents’ abilities to support military students. This study discusses ways of addressing these institutional limitations to create support programs that are successful long-term, including through 1) creating continuity of care in veteran resource offices and voluntary resources like veteran student clubs and mentorship programs, and 2) creating a regional community of military student support personnel where ideas for promising practices can be shared

A Look into Increasing the Number of Veterans and Former Government Employees Converting to Career and Technical Cybersecurity Teachers

The current state of technology with recent explosions in the digital processing of paperwork, computer networking use, and online and virtual approaches to areas, which until very recently had traditional and non-computerized ways of operating, led to a steady increase in the demand for jobs in the area of computer science and cybersecurity. The education system, the pipeline for the incoming workforce, needs to keep up with this tremendous pace in technology and the job market. The current K-12 school system has been extensively challenged to fill out necessary positions in order to address the increasing need for programs that respond to industry and government entity gaps in employment. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a large segment of the economy to swiftly move to virtual working and virtual learning. This further increased the already large demand for cybersecurity jobs and accelerated the pace at which the development of necessary education pathways is required. The education system, on all different levels, needs to adjust to this pace in order to enable a large number of future graduates to fill these new jobs. There is currently a large gap in the number of K-12 level teachers available in the area of career and technical education. One possible solution to this problem may come from a specific segment of the workforce, veterans. This paper will provide an overview of different challenges that many veterans are facing after joining career switcher programs for future teachers

Investigating the Experiences of Military Professionals who Return to Engineering Graduate School

Those graduate students known as returners, who have a gap of at least five years between their undergraduate degree conferral and their return to school for a graduate degree, have a wide variety of different experiences. While many of them spend those gap years in employment at an industrial employer, some of them serve in the military in various capacities. As military experience is different from working at an industrial employer, one might expect that these returners will be different in their outlook, skills, or approach to learning. In this study, the differences between military returners and returners from industry are examined. Twenty-one returners were interviewed, of whom seven had either served in or worked directly for the military as a civilian. The interview protocol covered the participants’ decision-making process, challenges they experienced in the program, and whether and how their past experiences interacted with or had an influence on their education. The transcripts of these interviews are analyzed, and the two groups are compared, with key differences and similarities, such as their approach to leadership, noted. In addition, the findings from this analysis are compared to military personnel entering an undergraduate program, as reported in the literature

A Case Study of Student Veteran Efficacy in the College of Engineering and Information Technology at Georgia Southern University

This thesis addresses the issues student veterans face in their transition from military to academic life while pursuing an undergraduate degree in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) at Georgia Southern University’s College of Engineering and Information Technology (CEIT). Historically this transition has been a difficult one. Through the implementation of a mentorship program comprised of military veterans on the staff and faculty of Georgia Southern University as well as assistance and participation from members of the case study researcher team and primary researcher this program assisted incoming military student veterans as they assimilated into the collegiate atmosphere. The mentorship program was designed to assist each student veteran during their transitional phase back into the academic world and throughout their time as a college student. The program was also to assist these student veterans as they manage their perceived stress levels, work through their academic and social challenges and prepare them for their future employment. The data presented in this document was gathered during the 2016-2017 school year

Enhancing the Well-Being of America's Veterans and Their Families: A Call to Action for a National Veterans Policy

This meeting was convened by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Social Work Policy Institute (SWPI) in collaboration with supporting partner, the University of Southern California School of Social Work (USC) and its Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families. This symposium was convened on June 12-13, 2013 as a catalyst for improving both policies and practices, and to explore the feasibility of promoting a national veterans policy. The more than 50 participants represented national organizations, government agencies, community service providers, foundations and universities. The participants had expertise in health, behavioral health and human service delivery systems and a large number of the participants were veterans, family members of veterans, or both.The symposium participants' diverse perspectives and experiences in agencies, organizations and universities helped to stimulate thinking about the policies that support our nation's veterans, and to look at how we can leverage what we already have, identify what changes are needed, and suggest how we can best balance federal, state and community roles, responsibilities and resources to enhance the well-being of our nation's veterans and their families