“I just wanna be another person at school”: Disclosing Veteran Identity on Campus and Effects on Campus Engagement

Abstract

Objective:

To describe how veterans feel about disclosing their military status on campus and impacts on engagement with social and health-related services.

Participants:

Thirty-one university student veterans participating in a student veterans’ health study. Participants identified as White and male (90%) with an average age of 29.5 years and 6.7 years of military service.

Methods:

Qualitative interviews explored veterans’ perceptions of belonging on campus and the impact of veteran identity on educational experiences. Data analysis used an inductive, content-based approach.

Results:

Themes included: 1) varied feelings around disclosing military service history, with many preferring not to disclose; 2) visibility of resources on campus; and 3) use of resources on campus for social engagement, mental, and physical health.

Conclusions:

Findings illustrate student veterans’ complex experiences, and how feelings about disclosing veteran identity on campus relate to resource use. Campuses should acknowledge and explore this complexity with student veterans’ input to ensure that supports meet their needs.

Introduction

Research in higher education has paid significant attention to veterans on campus, including ways to better support them. Veterans differ from traditional students in demographic characteristics (e.g., likelier to be older, identify as male), social circumstances (e.g., likelier to be first generation students, married, have families, be employed off-campus), and life experiences (e.g., leadership, deployment, combat/trauma exposure, international travel).^1,2 Research has consistently emphasized mental health challenges, the impact of combat experiences, health-risk behaviors such as substance use and violence, difficulties connecting with others on campus, and academic challenges related to mental health and cultural and structural differences between the military and college settings.³ Based on these challenges, there are numerous recommendations for campuses, including creating veteran- and military-friendly policies, veterans services offices, and identity-based groups and programming; providing a dedicated veterans’ space on campus; conducting training for counselors, faculty, and staff; and facilitating exposure for non-veteran students through readings and recognizing military/veteran-related holidays.^4–6

Recently, there have been two important developments in these discussions: 1) an acknowledgement that veterans are a diverse group, in demographic characteristics and military service experiences, who may not all need or want the same services;^{e.g., 6,7,8} and 2) a call to focus on veterans’ strengths and the structural factors that can impact veterans’ success, as opposed to portraying student veterans as a group with deficits.^{e.g., 7,9} While acknowledged as important, there has been limited research on how diversity and potential stigma relate to veterans’ experiences on campus, including whether they want to be included or recognized and how this impacts their engagement with campus resources. Implicit in these discussions is the role of identity in veterans’ belonging on campus. Consideration of military identity among veterans and how it relates to reintegration into civilian life are important for understanding veterans’ health and well-being,^10–13 and their engagement with resources and services.^14,15 These identity-related differences may be magnified on college campuses due to the perceived gulf in age and experience between veterans and traditional undergraduate students.¹⁶ Previous research has demonstrated that veterans who identify more strongly with a college student identity have fewer mental health symptoms compared to those with a stronger military identity.¹⁷

Given the previous research, the goal of this paper is to qualitatively describe why and how student service members and veterans (hereafter: student veterans) make decisions around disclosing their military status on campus and how their identity impacts their social engagement and use of available social and health-related services on campus.

Methods

Qualitative interviews were conducted to explore individuals’ experiences and perceptions of their belonging on campus and how their veteran identity impacted their educational experiences. All study procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University at Buffalo.

Recruitment

Interviewees were recruited to participate in a study of student veterans’ health. Data were collected from Fall 2018-Spring 2019. Recruitment was conducted using flyers posted on campus, news ads, online announcements, and email messages. Interested individuals were screened via a questionnaire in REDCap®.

Eligibility criteria included: past or current U.S. military service, ≥18 years old, and currently enrolled as an undergraduate student. Of the 112 individuals who completed the screening, 86 were eligible. Primary reasons for exclusion were graduate student status or reporting no military service. Eligible participants received an email with the survey link and 77 participants completed the survey, answering questions about their military and educational experiences, physical and mental health, substance use, and social belonging. At the end of the survey, respondents were asked if they would be willing to participate in an interview. Of the 64 interested individuals, 31 completed the interview. The only significant difference from the larger study sample was that interview participants were more likely to have been deployed (p<0.05).

Data Collection

The interviews were conducted by two female medical anthropologists experienced in qualitative interviewing and working with military populations. Military-culture sensitive approaches to interviewing were employed, based on both this past experience and published guidance.¹⁸ Interviews were conducted in private rooms on campus, audio recorded, and transcribed.

Interviews were guided using a sector wheel methodology.^19,20 The wheel was a pie-like image, which contained different colored segments labeled “military experiences”, “educational experiences”, “health and well-being”, “social support”, and “substance use”. Participants used the wheel to choose the order in which topics were discussed. As noted by the developers of this method, this approach gives the participant control over the interview, allowing them to address topics in order of their comfort level and importance to their experience.²⁰ Interviewers used question prompts to stimulate discussion on each topic, eliciting participants’ detailed stories about their university experiences and the impact of their military service history (see Supplemental online material). Participants received $25 in compensation for their time.

Data Analysis

ATLAS.ti version 8 (Scientific Software Development, 2018) was used for analysis, with three research team members using an open-coding, inductive, content-based approach.^21,22 Themes were identified from the words of the participants, representing concepts, ideas, and perceptions that arose repeatedly within and across interviews.

Researchers independently reviewed transcripts to identify preliminary themes and codes before jointly developing a codebook, which was then used by two researchers to code a third of the transcripts. The third researcher reviewed this coding for agreement and consistency in code application. Researchers met to resolve discrepancies via group consensus and clarification of definitions. The remaining transcripts were coded by one team member and coding was reviewed by a second member to ensure agreement.

Results

Thirty-one interviews were completed. Interview participant demographic and service characteristics are described in Table 1.

Table 1:

Participant Demographic Characteristics (n=31)

Characteristic	Mean (SD) or % (n)
Age	29.5 (9.1) Range: 20–59
Gender	Male: 90% (28) Female: 10% (3)
Race *	Black: 10% (3) White: 90% (28) Asian: 7% (2) Other: 3% (1) Hispanic: 3% (1)
Currently Serving (Yes)	35% (11)
Branch *	Army: 45% (14) Navy: 26% (8) Marines: 10% (3) Coast Guard: 6% (2) Any Reserves: 48% (15)
Rank	Junior Enlisted: 61% (19) Senior Enlisted/NCO: 32% (10) Other: 6% (2)
Years of Service	6.7 (6.4)
Deployed (Yes)	58% (18)

^*Participants could select more than one response, so totals may not equal 100%

NCO=Non-Commissioned Officer

Analysis revealed several themes surrounding students’ military identity and its relationship to on-campus social engagement, belonging, and utilization of resources.

Disclosing Veteran Identity

There was significant variation in participants’ feelings about and comfort with disclosing their military identity on campus.

It was more common for participants to be reluctant to disclose their military identity or share related experiences with others on campus. One participant saw his identity as irrelevant to his classes: “Typically, it doesn’t come up. I don’t think anyone in my classes knows I’m a vet. I kind of keep that to myself.”

Another participant did their best to hide their military identity, except from friends, because they preferred “to be left alone”:

The students that I hang out with that I’m friends with on campus, they know, and we just have humorous discussions about it...There are some people who enjoy that “thank you for your service” stuff, and then there are other people who are just like, “Leave me alone.” I like to be left alone. I don’t like it to come up.

One participant elaborated that they avoided discussing their military identity with other students to keep from feeling like an outsider:

A lot of times it just doesn’t come up or I don’t like to bring it up. Like I said earlier, it’s one of those things where I don’t wanna feel I was a outsider part of the group or I don’t wanna feel I’m a veteran… I’d rather just be a normal person, just normal friends, normal life… As long as they don’t know you’re from the military you’re just a normal person.

Another participant described the impact of other students knowing his military status:

…it’s a really odd dynamic, and so… it makes me feel like I have to hide it. Because as soon as people figure out—it’s like they go into that mode where they’re like, “Oh, it’s—he’s in the military. We can’t, we can’t joke about this around him.”

Some participants were also reluctant to tell faculty about their military service history, though there were times when this was necessary, such as addressing scheduling conflicts due to reserve duties. For example, as one participant described:

I don’t think I’ve ever actually even told a faculty member. It’s just one of those things where it has no reason to come up. You’re a professor in a course or maybe you’re my academic advisor and you know because I asked you financial aid questions. Other than that, I don’t think it needs to come up. There’s no reason for you to know too much about my personal life unless maybe I’m going through a hardship and I’m asking for leniency on a paper or something of the sort.

Participants generally indicated being more forthright in discussing their military experiences with fellow servicemembers. One participant mused that their shared experiences are the basis for mutual understanding:

Mostly if I’m asked or if I see somebody who’s a veteran or somethin’, we just a have a conversation or a brief—sometimes they’re shut off too. They don’t talk much. Relatability is the first step usually to open them up. Usually once that happens, the floodgates open.

Participants also offered their perspectives on identity disclosure among servicemembers more broadly. Commonly discussed was the notion of “that veteran” – one who is outspoken or very outwardly-identifiable as a veteran. One participant noted that this is generally frowned upon:

I guess it’s just part of the culture to be nonchalant about it… It’s like if you see someone—I’m actually wearin’ my sweater today, but that’s because I have an event later tonight. Usually, if you see someone wearin’ three or four different things, you kinda joke about it. It’s, like, “Damn—”… I mean, I don’t really have a problem with it, but I see a lotta people that don’t like when people flaunt it.

Another participant explained that this tendency is strong with many veterans who recently left the service:

I don’t make being a veteran a big part of my identity now. And I think that’s a big thing. A lot of guys that come out… It’s still a huge part of their identity. You know, you see ‘em wearing… the little camo backpacks or their combat boots and, you know… they wanna be acknowledged for it, and that feeling is pretty strong for a couple years.

Some viewed this kind of behavior as attention-seeking or a way to show superiority:

I only tell the people I’m close to… I don’t wear anything that identifies me or any of that. If it comes up, it comes up. I don’t try to hide it. I don’t feel the need to tell everyone. I’m not like “Hey I’m [name] and I’m in the Navy, I’m pretty cool. I’m in the Navy.” I actually think I don’t really like people that overdo it. Because it’s like, you deserve respect, but don’t push your… you know.

Other times, I hear people speak out in class, and they’ll be veterans, and it makes me feel like the attitude that they give off is like, “I know more than everybody, I already went through a lot of things. I already went active. I’m not a student like you guys.” I try to stay away from that as much as possible… I just keep it to myself, but not really even consciously. I’m just somebody else besides my military experience, so I try to use that as much as possible in school.

For some, these feelings improved over time as they reintegrated and adjusted to the college environment:

I remember just being completely alienated. You know, at that time, I still felt there was a difference. You know, everyone was a civilian. I don’t feel that way now. At that time, I kind of held a resentment to everyone else around me- just because it was like I’m still dealing with traumatic experiences, and I kind of felt I was owed something for that and the fact that everyone else around me in that school was 18, 19, and had no conception of any of that bothered me…. but that’s changed.

It was less common for participants to indicate comfort with sharing their veteran identity and military experiences with others on campus, including friends, students, and advisors. One student notably enjoyed sharing his military experiences:

I do like talking about the military though. I do have fun doing it. We were hanging out at the bar the other day and we got to talking about the tanks. And they could see how excited I was getting, talking about the tanks. I do like it. And I don’t shy away from anything, I’ll talk about whatever. A lot of people are like “I don’t want to talk about that” or “Don’t ask me that question”. I don’t care. If I try to hide it, it’s just going to eat me up inside. So why try to hide it?

Visibility of Resources

Some participants were unaware of available veteran-specific and general student resources on campus. A few noted that the interview was the first time they heard of some resources, highlighting the need for the university and student-veteran organizations to better inform this population about available supports. One participant remarked: “I don’t know any of my benefits. I don’t know how to use my GI Bill or tuition assistance, so just holing myself in debt. It’s fine.”

Participants acknowledged the need for veterans’ organizations to be more visible on campus:

If they go through the veterans services here or the [veterans’ student group], normally, they can come together and find new people to connect with… right now we have about 50, 60…they said that they’re veterans and that they came over to the lounge to see what was going on… but there are still—there could be a load more… some people aren’t aware of it, some people don’t get enough emails or whatever it is. We try to bring as much as we can out there, but we’re still missing people through the cracks.

It’s probably on me for not reaching out but I don’t know where those resources are. Like, it’s realizing that the Veteran’s Office has moved, I didn’t know that that had happened… I haven’t seen any big advertising. And I don’t necessarily always think that’s appropriate but… I’m sure there’s a check box somewhere saying “Hey, I was a Vet when I applied here” and that puts us onto a listserv that says ‘hey these are the resources that we have’… somehow knowing that there is a quiet place that we can go on campus would’ve been huge 2 or 3 weeks ago.

However, others found engaging with veterans on campus a complex and at-times challenging process because of individuals’ feelings about disclosing their veteran identity. One participant noted the difficulties of striking a balance between advertising available services and providing too much visibility, which could deter some veterans.

‘Cause there’s a lot of vets on campus registered…They’re out there, but they obviously don’t wanna come in. Which is fine, and I get why. Because we’re not raising our hands.

I feel like we have our own space, which is nice. It’s not publicized as much, which I think is also good. I don’t know if that makes sense. ‘Cause I know when I was at [the community college] it was very public. Here, go to this. Go to this. Go to this. No. I don’t wanna be a part. This just came about where it’s hidden a little bit. I think that was good…In my opinion, I think you’ll get more people to actually come...That’s why I came to you guys. I found you, you didn’t find me….You’re not gonna get a guy who’s ten years, two deployments, three deployments in…You’re gonna put a sign on the wall saying, “Come to the vet’s office.” They won’t go… I feel like you need to have veterans that know veterans controlling it. You know what I mean?… It’s like, you don’t really know how these guys will react. You don’t know how these guys will feel. Trying to get in that mindset and not baby guys who’ve been two to three deployments in.

Engagement and Use of Resources on Campus

Feelings about disclosing military identity and the visibility of resources on campus, and whether they were labeled as veteran-specific, related to how participants engaged in social activities and accessed physical and mental health supports.

Social

Feelings around disclosing military identity impacted challenges that veterans experienced in relating to other students on campus. This was described as a result of a significant age gap and vastly different life experiences. Often, this led to participants keeping to themselves rather than engaging in campus social activities: “Being as I’m significantly older than many of my peers, about 11 years or so, I found myself isolated, not talking to anyone, sitting down with headphones.”

Another student relayed,

I just kinda keep to myself, and I was, like—it’s not that I’m a introvert. It’s just there really isn’t much common ground. You know? In class, we had the group projects-me and the dudes who are in my group. We’ll group text once in a while. But they’re 19 years old. So makes it a little difficult.

Non-academic responsibilities contributed to this separation, as having a family, off-campus employment, or long commutes made participating in clubs and activities, even veteran-specific ones, difficult.

[A] big part of that for me is it’s a commute. You know, I live 20–30-minutes’ drive away and if I were closer, I’d be more inclined to do it, but it’s hard for me to motivate myself to drive here and then maybe drive another 20 minutes looking for parking… And I do feel older and, you know, I’m not enmeshed in the same university culture that a lot of the younger guys are.

I’m about 45 minutes away because of my commute. When I get done work [sic], I’m not gonna come back. I was already here.

As with military identity disclosure, participants in our sample also found it easier to engage socially with other veterans on campus. The university where we conducted our study has an on-campus association and a designated space for military-affiliated students. These amenities were central to many of our participants’ university experience. Some felt that despite the diversity of backgrounds among members of this organization, shared military experiences helped to foster social connections:

My junior year here, they finally moved the veteran center…I spend every single day there now. Everyone’s a peer there whether they’re a kid who’ve spent only four years, did a short stint, or they’re a part-timist. Now I’m in there every day. I have friends, I have people I talk to. It makes school all that much better.

One described this organization and their designated room as a “safe space,” which they felt was difficult to find elsewhere on campus:

We joke all the time, and I mean this hundred percent honest—I feel like that’s my safe space. Where anything else outside is just so vastly different. I just feel like, over there, it’s just so relaxed. Everyone’s on the same page. A little bit more comfortable… Over there, you could say what you want. Someone gets offended, then you just talk about it and that’s okay. It’s obviously ‘cause we’re all the same mindset.

However, it is important to note that military experiences were not always a uniting factor and participants’ comfort with veteran-specific social resources was not universal. Some relayed challenges making connections with other veterans and did not find the student association or the designated space to be helpful. One student attributed this to differing military experiences:

It’s been tough. Tough relating to my peers here at school. You know, even going and talking to some of the people at the [veterans’ student group]. Most of the students there were, at least that I talked to, they were Reservists. They were doing other things from different experiences … there’s people who got a military discharge after a year, all these different things. And it’s just a vastly different experience than mine…I only really went to one meeting… and I was just looking around and I was like, “What am I doing here?”

Another participant felt that his interests just didn’t align with the other student veterans: “I tried, hanging out in the vet lounge. And they’re all just about drinking, and I don’t really drink that much anymore. And, like, all they do is go out to bars. So that’s not really my scene so much anymore.”

One veteran noted that they specifically avoided engaging with the on-campus veterans’ group to downplay their military identity: “I’m one of the veterans that probably don’t like to be like, “I’m a veteran.” I feel a lot of people or veterans that do take part in that like to be very outward about it. I just wanna be another person at school.”

Physical Health

Twelve participants discussed physical health challenges related to their military service that impacted their academic pursuits. Challenges included traumatic brain injuries, migraines, hearing loss, and musculoskeletal injuries that made walking across campus, taking notes, and sitting at desks difficult. For example, one student relayed,

I feel like I have enough issues as it is from the TBIs that I don’t need to hurt my brain any more than it already is. Learning is a little bit harder for me at this age, at this point. But, I’m determined to do it, so. I think in that aspect, it made it a little easier for me because I want to do it. But at the same time, it made it a little harder for me to retain things. Lot of repetition.

Another participant described the difficulties that resulted from several health challenges and their use of support resources on campus, noting that the VA communicated with the school’s accessibility office to provide accommodations when classes and schoolwork were missed.

The [accessibilities office] has been really good to me…. I have difficulty reading out of a book. That’s one of the reasons why I wear sunglasses is for migraine management, and so reading black and white just strains my eyes, so they’ll put it into PDF and I can change color or I can use a program that’ll read it to me, and it’ll highlight the words and change the color of the font. PDFs and the alternative text is easier for me to read and comprehend…[Also] Absences because of my injuries. On top of the PTSD and the TBI, there’s depression, there’s mood disorders, there’s IBS, and a bunch of other things, so if there’s a day I wake up, and I can’t even get out of bed ‘cause of arthritis or whatever. That helps out a lot…Then if there’s missed work, it allows me the opportunity to make up that missed work, make up tests.

However, another expressed frustration with communicating their limitations and receiving the necessary assistance and support,

I’ve been to the accessibility resource office here, and I’ve talked to the—even the professor. I went to him and I was like, “Listen. I’m processing this. I understand what you’re saying. I just can’t get it out…” How did I say it? “I just can’t let you know what I’m learning in the way you’re trying to ask.”…I couldn’t explain it to him. I let him know my injury. I told him in a short summary of what happened. I was like, “I had a traumatic brain injury. I just can’t let you know what you’re asking in this way.”

Participants’ feelings around disclosing their military service on campus often affected their willingness to access services for health-related needs. While some discussed disclosing this information and seeking accommodations, others indicated a reluctance to acknowledge the educational impact of physical health problems or seek out resources.

Interviewer: Do you feel the hearing affects you at all, do you have any trouble in classes? Interviewee: If I sit towards the front—So not really, but—yeah, not yet, but—I think eventually it will. It’s, like, definitely getting worse.

I wouldn’t say that in any pronounced effect…school’s going fine physical issues or not….It gets boxed. It’s in its own box. School is its own box. Health is its own box. Unless it’s something like a concussion that directly steps in that box, health stays in its own box.

Mental Health

Fourteen of our interview participants discussed challenges related to their mental health that directly impacted engagement on campus. Some experienced anxiety and other adverse reactions to big classes and crowded hallways, especially when new to campus.

I’ve been avoiding areas with lots of people. I still, not like now, when I walk in the student union I usually walk as fast as I can. Sometimes if people get a little too—like you’re leaving a class that has 300 students in it. There’s 300 people trying to come in before even anyone has left the other class. They’re standing in the middle, right in your way. I have gotten to the point now where I’ll just walk forward and they’ll get the idea to stay out of my way. I really don’t like crowds still but I’m cool with it. It’s not like it was before.

A few mentioned missing classes or having difficulty concentrating in class because of particularly poor mental health days.

Every now and then on campus, I get triggered, like with the construction going on over by [buildings]. Something fell and it sounded like a loud boom, and that set me off, and a bunch of bad things happened as I was going to my next class. I realized I just need to go home, so I left, ‘cause I was triggered and upset.

With my depression, sometimes it can be hard to get out of bed. I don’t want to go to class. With my anxiety, sometimes it takes me a solid five minutes to tune into class, ‘cause I’m looking around for a little bit, and I guess it ties into PTSD too, but I’m not entirely sure how yet.

For some, mental health struggles were so severe that they had previously dropped out of college, in some cases multiple times.

[T]he reason I contacted you guys was because, I actually dropped out of college three times. And, I originally attributed it to my military experience because I thought I was being ostracized because I felt like I didn’t belong. But I didn’t realize that it was actually an anxiety disorder….my explanation for “I don’t feel good” was “I don’t belong here,” so, naturally, I didn’t talk to anyone here.

I guess the mental health would—it has more in the past than it does now—where probably a lot of the times I’ve dropped out is because of that. It’s just ‘cause I get sick and tired and/or paranoid or just unwilling to deal with the anxiety of being around thousands of people and shoulder to shoulder in the halls. But aside from that, not too much.

Few participants discussed making use of resources on campus to support mental health. While the university offers a range of wellness programs and supports, participants were often not aware of them or felt it was not the type of support they wanted.

Interviewer: Have you used the wellness services? Have you gone in there at all? Interviewee: Nope. No, they like tea. I’m not a tea guy. They seem very young and energetic and bubbly, and yeah, no. It’s probably worked for the younger students

Some participants were reluctant to use services and accommodations despite having access to them:

No… most of the time I’m open and honest about everything like I have no issues talking. But… I don’t know if it’s that I don’t want to appear weak? I think the big thing is that I don’t ever want anyone to make an exception because of me… I don’t ask for things that I don’t feel like I deserve… I get told a lot of times that ‘the resources are there! You just need to use them!’. But that’s, that’s just not me.

That goes along with anxiety. I got the letter saying I can have extended time and I can pick my seat during exams, but I haven’t turned it in. I don’t feel like turning it in. I don’t want to.

A few found the university resources helpful. One discussed receiving mental health counseling on campus after seeing the campus as the source of his anxiety and thinking they would offer the best support. Another participant recalled his experience with campus-led mental health support groups, noting both their value and need for expanded capacity:

Yea, that was neat because I signed up for a couple of those groups. Which I noticed also about umm, millennials. They don’t hesitate to sign up. The anxiety group fills up…You can’t get into those groups. In fact, I gave up my chair for one of them. Yea, this kid really wanted in. Like, an anxiety group, anxiety and depression… that’s a neat thing that they have here. [This university has] got, if anything it’s probably too small. They probably need more.

Discussion

Our results demonstrate that student veterans and current service members have complex feelings around their military status and how it relates to their belonging on campus. They simultaneously express a need for veterans to be more visible and supported on campus, while also wanting to not be treated or viewed differently because of their service history. Indeed, many of our participants did not see their military service history as relevant to their educational experiences, noting that it “doesn’t come up” or “shouldn’t come up” in this context. The variation in feelings around disclosing veteran status on campus provides dimension and context to more general observations in the current literature that veterans are not homogeneous, and that educational settings need to take this into consideration as they seek to support student veterans.^7,8 This diversity extends beyond demographic or military service experiences to feelings around visibility and supporting veterans on campus. Our data expand on existing knowledge, are consistent with previous work,^16,23 and suggest that there may be a perceived stigma among servicemembers associated with disclosing their status. Further, our study provides further context to observations that veterans differentiate amongst themselves based on divergent military experiences,⁸ and highlights the ways in which having external obligations makes it hard to socialize on campus. Our data provide insight into the mechanisms behind why and how this diversity among veterans makes campus service provision challenging, why students choose to engage, and why some may be falling through the cracks. Establishing a veteran’s services office, veteran-specific social activities, and resources on campus is not sufficient for supporting these students, as it may only reach a subset of student veterans and omit those who hesitate to disclose military service history, but may want to be socially engaged or access resources.⁷

This desire to fit in and be seen as any other student may also contribute to the reluctance some participants expressed around using any campus supports, especially for health-related accommodations. It was common for participants to discuss challenges related to physical and/or mental health which impacted their education to varying degrees. In some cases, veterans who were experiencing physical and mental health-related difficulties downplayed those challenges and their impacts on their educational experiences, resulting in them not using accommodations or services for which they would be eligible. This is likely an intersection of several factors, including the desire to fit in on campus and not receive special treatment, but also an ingrained military identity derived from a culture that valorizes physical and mental strength and self-reliance while discouraging admitting difficulties, weakness, or help-seeking.^11,24 Preliminary quantitative work has identified this type of stigma as playing an important role in help-seeking attitudes among student veterans.²⁵

In other cases, veterans in our sample noted that they were not aware of supports and resources on campus, including the veterans’ lounge, student group, and the support office. There was often an ambivalence around this lack of awareness; participants were considering more engagement and were interested in the information, but had not sought out the resources themselves. This points to the need for a better way to identify and engage those veterans on campus who may want to take advantage of resources, but for a variety of reasons have not done so. It is crucial to involve veterans in this process of reaching out and engaging other veterans. We were struck by the insights of one of our participants, who emphasized the necessary balance between making resources known and accessible, but at the same time not so visible that it deters veterans who do not want to be singled out. These paradoxical feelings around disclosing identity, making connections, and being seen⁷ means that engaging a diverse range of veterans in planning, developing, and implementing campus services, is critically important to striking that balance.

Another important consideration, highlighted by our findings, is potential differences in identity disclosure and engagement related to the amount of time that has passed since an individual left military service. Some participants indicated greater feelings of alienation and discomfort in the campus setting (e.g., in crowded hallways and large classrooms) early in their educational experiences or soon after leaving the military, but noted that these improved over time. This finding is underscored by a few participants who shared that mental health challenges had led to them dropping out of previous educational programs, which could reflect the difficulty of this initial transition period and the consequences of inadequate support.

This again points to another dimension of heterogeneity in the student veteran population, suggesting that the timing of supports is also important as veterans may need different types of resources or want to engage differently depending on the length of time since their military service concluded. More intensive support early on may help veterans adjust to and process such challenges. However, this may also be a time when feelings of alienation and resentment make engagement more difficult. Therefore, consideration needs to be given to a broader, more comprehensive system of engaging and supporting non-traditional students on campus, with whom veteran students share many of the same challenges,⁶ but where they may feel more comfortable engaging in a setting not focused on their military identity. It is important to identify ways to support those most at risk, help them understand how their mental and/or physical health challenges may be impacting their educational engagement, and overcome barriers to help-seeking.

Limitations

This work is subject to limitations. Because the sample was drawn from a single institution, results might not generalize to other settings. However, many of our participants had experiences in other higher educational settings and spoke about them as well in the context of these interviews. As a qualitative study, findings point to themes that are important to validate in larger, quantitative studies, across a range of educational settings, and with a diverse sample of student veterans which reflects the heterogeneity of the population. Our results may be subject to volunteer bias and those who participated in the interviews may have had particularly strong feelings about how their military service history relates to their education. Nonetheless, results suggest a wide range of experiences among student veterans with a variety of military service histories. Finally, interviews were conducted by two civilian researchers who identify as women. It is possible that their civilian status and gender identity may have impacted interview dynamics and participant responses in unforeseeable ways, though we have no reason to believe this occurred systematically across participants.

Conclusions

Overall, this study illustrates the inherent complexity in student veterans’ experiences and the ways in which feelings about disclosing veteran identity on campus relate to use of resources for social engagement and physical and mental health. Future research is needed to explore variation in the student veteran population and its relationships to health outcomes and service utilization in a large, representative sample, to help better inform the development and implementation of campus programming. Campuses should acknowledge and explore the complexity of veterans’ experiences with the input of student veterans themselves to ensure that resources and supports meet their needs while balancing visibility with respect for student veterans’ desires to be treated as any other student on campus.

Data Availability Statement:

Limited portions of data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author [BV] upon reasonable request. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.